Rebecca Graber

I am a health and social psychologist interested in how supportive social relationships facilitate psychological resilience in the face of adversity - that old adage of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." (Although I'd argue it's a lot more complicated than that!) I am particularly interested in the role of peer relationships in fostering resilience, and exploring the mechanisms underlying "social support." I enjoy using multiple methods and critical perspectives to explore subjective experience, with a dual focus on developing rich, novel theory and using that to guide effective, feasible practice.

I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Brighton School of Applied Social Sciences, teaching across a range of topics. My research, teaching and project supervision generally covers:

- Psychological resilience and well-being in the face of socioeconomic disadvantage, health risks, and childhood disadvantage
- Friendships, social development and social relationships and the self
- Understanding and promoting healthier patterns of risk behaviours (such as alcohol use) in young people


I have recently collaborated with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) to report the "state of the evidence" for psychological resilience research and draw lessons for practitioners and researchesr working in the fields of climate change and disaster response. I also currently co-supervise on the Doctorate in Counselling Psychology and Psychotherapy at Metanoia Institute.

Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Sussex on an MRC-funded grant with Dr Richard de Visser and colleagues. We developed a resilience-based classroom intervention to promote healthier choices with respect to alcohol use among young people. This is following on from an ERAB-funded project looking at the lived experience of young moderate drinkers and non-drinkers, identifying best practice in healthy choices and developing a framework of perceived effective behavioural strategies.

I completed my PhD at the University of Leeds under the supervision of Prof Anna Madill and Prof Rhiannon Turner (now of Queen's University, Belfast), two fantastic researchers and mentors. I identified a single supportive close friendship as an important facilitator of resilience amongst socioeconomically vulnerable young people, developed a model of psychological processes through which friendship support facilitates resilience, and critically explored how young people's subjective experience of friendship, resilience and socioeconomic vulnerability is shaped by their interlinked experiences of interpersonal relationships and lived geographies.

I have taught at the University of Sussex, University of Chichester and University of Leeds on modules in Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology, Positive Psychology and Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods. I have previously worked on projects looking at educational and social uses of social media, international clinical psychology training, and clinical psychology trainees' clinical skills. I have statistical expertise in Structural Equation Modeling and regression-based analysis, and have expertise in pragmatic use of mixed methods, empirical (descriptive) phenomenology, interpretative phenomenological analysis, thematic analysis, grounded theory, and other techniques.

I'm from New York City originally, but have (fortunately? unfortunately?) pretty much lost that accent! I also lived in Canada for a bit, Montreal, lovely place. But I'm still a sucker for a good slice of New York pizza. Can't be equaled!

CONTACT ME AT: R.Graber AT brighton DOT ac DOT uk