Sarah Butter is a Lecturer in Psychology at Ulster University. Sarah’s primary research interest is in the area of mental health, particularly psychosis, as well as understanding the role of trauma and social adversity in developing mental health difficulties. Sarah is also interested in negative self-referential processes (e.g., self-criticism, perfectionism, shame) and their role as a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychopathology. Her research has involved applying quantitative modelling techniques to both cross-sectional and longitudinal survey data and linked administrative health data sources.

Sarah currently contributes to teaching psychology in both the School of Psychology and School of Medicine. In the School of Psychology, Sarah is the module co-ordinator for PSY111 Introduction to Psychology 2 on the undergraduate BSc (Hons) Psychology programme. Sarah is the Psychology Lead for the graduate-entry MBBS programme in the School of Medicine. She also leads the Year 1 and Year 2 student-selected component (SSC) within the School, where she oversees mini research projects (literature reviews and secondary data analysis) conducted by medical students.

Sarah completed her PhD at Ulster University in 2019 before working as a postdoctoral researcher at a number of institutions: Administrative Data Research Centre at Ulster University, the Stress, Trauma & Related Conditions lab at Queen’s University Belfast and on the ESRC-funded COVID-19 Psychological Research Consortium Study at The University of Sheffield. Since 2022, Sarah has worked as a lecturer in psychology at Ulster University. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.