IMH Seminar Series – Using mental imagery with people with intellectual disabilities

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Important information for undergraduate students

This seminar is part of the Institute for Mental Health (IMH) Seminar Series and will be delivered online for undergraduate students.

During the seminar, questions can be submitted using the Zoom Q&A function. Please ensure that questions are polite, respectful, and directly related to the presentation. The Q&A is moderated, and it may not be possible to address all questions during the session.

Abstract

Psychological interventions for both managing mental health conditions and improving psychological wellbeing are now routinely used in the general population. However, we have been slow to develop these interventions for people with intellectual disabilities, due to concerns about the nature of their mental imagery and their ability to use and report mental imagery in a psychological intervention. This presentation will report findings from qualitative studies into the phenomenology of mental imagery in people with intellectual disabilities and describe an anxiety intervention based on various mental imagery techniques that was co-designed with people with intellectual disabilities. Initial findings from testing this intervention in NGS settings will be covered and plans for a feasibility study discussed.

Speaker biography

Olivia Hewitt is a clinical psychologist who has worked in Intellectual Disability services in the NHS for 19 years. Having completed her PhD at the University of Birmingham with Professor Peter Langdon in 2025, she has moved NHS Trusts and is now the lead consultant clinical psychologist for learning disabilities in Oxford Health NHS Foundation trust. She also holds an honorary senior research fellow position in the Intellectual Disabilities Research Institute (IDRIS) at University of Birmingham.