Personal profile
Research interests
Dr Maria Loades is a Reader (Clinical Tutor) for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programme. Maria qualified as a Clinical Psychologist from the University of East Anglia in 2008. After qualification, she worked in a variety of mental health settings, predominantly in community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). She completed a post-graduate diploma in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for children, young people and families at the Anna Freud Centre/University College London in 2013, and a Postgraduate Certificate in the Supervision of Applied Psychology Practice at the University of Oxford in 2015. She was accredited by the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapists (BABCP) as a Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist and is also registered with the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC).
Maria's research programme focuses on enabling adolescents to access effective treatments for emerging mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. Maria secured an NIHR doctoral research fellowship in 2016 to further her research into depression in adolescents with fatigue in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Bristol and the Royal United Hospital, Bath. She was also a co-Investigator on a Wellcome Trust funded project to develop a universal school based programme to prevent anxiety and/or depression in young adolescents in the Western Cape, South Africa.
Maria currently holds an NIHR Advanced Fellowship award (2023-2028) to improve access to early help for adolescents with depression symptoms in the UK using self-help online single session interventions (SSIs). She leads the informal spotLight on Adolescent Mood Problems (LAMP) research group, and is part of the Child Mental Health and Development Group.
Research interests
- Developing and delivering scalable Cognitive and/or Behavioural treatments for children and young people
- Adolescent depression, particularly enabling access to evidence based help early
- Therapist competence in delivering CBT, particularly in the field of child and adolescent mental health
- Coproduction and participatory research with young people
- Better meeting the needs of under-served populations in child and adolescent mental health service provision
Education/Academic qualification
PhD , Doctor of Philosophy, University of Bristol
Award Date: 29 Oct 2021
Doctor of Clinical Psychology, University of East Anglia
Award Date: 1 Jan 2008
Master of Social Science, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 1 Jan 2006
Bachelor of Social Science, University of Cambridge
Award Date: 1 Jan 2004
External positions
Honorary Clinical Psychologist, Wilts & BANES Mental Health Support Teams, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
1 May 2023 → …
Clinical Psychologist, Bristol Child Psychology Practice
1 Sept 2021 → 30 Apr 2023
NIHR Research Fellow, University of Bristol
1 Oct 2016 → 28 Feb 2022
Senior Clinical Psychologist, Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust
20 Jul 2014 → 1 Sept 2018
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
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SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being -
SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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IAA How Can We Connect with South Asian youth seeking mental health support?
Nisar, A. (PI) & Loades, M. (CoI)
4/05/26 → 19/12/26
Project: Research council
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Bath NIHR Mental Health Research Group
Jacobsen, P. (PI), Betts, J. (CoI), Brown, C. (CoI), Button, K. (CoI), Fairchild, G. (CoI), Freeman, T. (CoI), Halligan, S. (CoI), Hines, L. (CoI), Lambert, J. (CoI), Loades, M. (CoI), Russell, A. (CoI), Stallard, P. (CoI), Sunderland, P. (CoI) & Taylor, E. (CoI)
National Institute for Health Research
1/01/25 → 31/12/29
Project: Central government, health and local authorities
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Improving access to timely evidence-based help for youth mental health using single session interventions
Loades, M. (PI)
National Institute for Health Research
1/05/23 → 28/02/29
Project: Central government, health and local authorities
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Sharing information about mental health services: To reach adolescents where they are, we need to market early help provision on social media
Loades, M. (PI), Desrochers, D. (Researcher), Edgar, S. (PI), Luximon, M. (PI) & Sung, B. (PI)
1/04/22 → …
Project: Research council
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The development, implementation and feasibility of a psychosocial intervention for persistent fatigue in patients with endometriosis
Loades, M. (CoI) & Roomaney, R. (PI)
Project: Research-related funding
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Exploring the use of single session interventions in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in England: A freedom of information-based study
Dallison, S., Leigh, G., Payne-Cook, C., Archard, P. J., Dryden, W. & Loades, M. E., 4 Feb 2026, In: Frontiers in Psychology. 17, 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Immediate Effects and Experiences of a Digital Single-Session Behavioural Activation Based Intervention for Adolescents: A Single Arm Pre-post Programme Evaluation of Project ABC in the UK
Munir, S., Perry, G., Lambert, J. & Loades, M., 19 Mar 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Letter to the editor: Redesigning Mental Health Support for Youth -early interventions need to move away from the diagnostic model
Loades, M. E., 4 Jan 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Child and Adolescent Mental Health. 2 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Letter › peer-review
Open Access -
Parents' experiences of their adolescent child's depression: a qualitative systematic review and meta-synthesis
Kika, N., Lambert, J., Higson-Sweeney, N., Wallace, V., Bhatt, H., Perry, G., Reynolds, S. & Loades, M., 9 Jan 2026, In: BMC Psychology. 14, 1, 188.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Acceptability and feasibility of interventions to prevent serious mental health conditions in at-risk young people
Jenkins, T., Jacobsen, P., Lambert, J., Betts, J., Loades, M., Freeman, T., Hampshire, C. & Price, L., 4 Sept 2025.Research output: Contribution to conference › Poster › peer-review
Open AccessFile13 Downloads (Pure)
Datasets
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Systematic Review of Depression in Paediatric CFS/ME
Loades, M. (Creator), Crawley, E. (Creator) & Sheils, E. (Data Collector), University of Bath, 2016
DOI: 10.15125/BATH-00127, https://doi.org/10.15124/CRD42015016813
Dataset
Prizes
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Fellowship to attend Global Consortium for Depression Prevention at Brown University, USA
Loades, M. (Recipient), 1 Jul 2023
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)
Activities
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JMIR mental health (Journal)
Loades, M. (Peer reviewer)
31 Oct 2025Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial roles › Publication peer review
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Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (Journal)
Loades, M. (Peer reviewer)
15 Nov 2025Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial roles › Publication peer review
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Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry (Journal)
Loades, M. (Peer reviewer)
14 Nov 2025Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial roles › Publication peer review
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Being a Clinical Psychologist – and helping young people with their mental health
Loades, M. (Speaker)
27 Sept 2024Activity: Public, Community and School Engagement › Public talk, lecture, debate, seminar, workshop
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Developing a CBT-based, parent-delivered, psychoeducational intervention for children in Grades 5 – 7 attending two public primary schools in the Western Cape, South Africa
Loades, M. (Supervisor)
15 Jan 2022 → …Activity: External examination and supervision › External supervision / mentoring