Hazel Godfrey

In addition to my PhD in Psychology, my earlier degrees were a BA in Linguistics and Psychology, BSc (Hons) in Psychology, and a MSc in Psychology.

My PhD research focussed on understanding why pain makes it hard to think. Specifically, I tested whether a bias to attend to pain-related information was magnified in chronic pain. Other research projects I have been involved in span work on the use of online resources and mobile apps for chronic pain management; understanding face recognition and prosopagnosia (face blindness – the inability to recognise faces); health and wellbeing in older veterans; and the role of the left and right hemisphere in emotional language.

My current mahi rests on this foundation of research in pain science, cognitive psychology, and health; with experience in scientific and social science methodologies and methods. Since 2021, I have refocused my scholarship to focus on meaningfully integrating lived experience in education, research and clinical contexts. I weave research-informed and lived-experience expertise (my own and others’) into exploring how university students, the public and healthcare providers learn about stigmatised personal experiences like pain.