Dr Francesca Brencio PhD

• APPA Certified Philosophical Counsellor, Registered Certificate Number CC00512/2023
• Italian National Scientific Habilitation as Associate Professor, Academic Recruitment Field: History of Philosophy
• Italian National Scientific Habilitation as Associate Professor, Academic Recruitment Field: Theoretical Philosophy
• BA in Theology
• PhD Philosophy and Human Sciences - Passed without corrections
• BA Hons. In Philosophy - Grade: 110/110 summa cum laude

Dr. Francesca Brencio joined the University of Birmingham in August 2024 as Teaching Fellow in Mental Health with a full-time teaching position.

She studied Philosophy at University of Perugia (Italy), Theology at the Theological Institute in Assisi associated to Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis (Vatican City) and awarded a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Human Sciences from the University of Perugia (Italy). She was a post-doctoral researcher at the Western Sydney University (Australia) and visiting post-doc at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Germany). From 2018 to 2024 she was Associate Researcher in Philosophy at the Research Group “HUM018: Filosofía Aplicada: Sujeto, Sufrimiento, Sociedad” at the University of Seville (Spain).
Executive Committee Member of The Royal College of Psychiatrists Special Interest Group in Philosophy, since 2018 she actively collaborates with The Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice at St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford (UK). Since January 2022 she is a member of the Philosophy of Psychiatry Educators Network as part of the International Network for Philosophy and Psychiatry.

In March 2021 she received The Seal of Excellence, awarded by the European Commission in the frame of EU Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-2020. 

From September 2023 to July 2024 she was among the leading researchers of Co-production Scheme on OCD, entitled “Stuck on the puzzle. A philosophical inquiry on OCD”, as part of the broad international project entitled Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology, funded by Wellcome Trust Grant at the University of Birmingham (UK), led by Prof. Matthew Broome.

Together with Prof. Matthew Broome, Director of the IMH at the University of Birmingham (UK), she co-leads The Birmingham Network for Phenomenology and Mental Health, funded by the University of Birmingham Interdisciplinary Research (IDR) Network+ Scheme, which runs from March 2025 to March 2026.

Dr Brencio is involved in teaching activities for the MSc programme in Mental Health for on-campus and distance-learning students. Specifically, for the DL MSc programme she teaches the following modules:

• Philosophy and Psychopathology in Mental Health
• User involvement in Mental Health
• Biopsychosocial Approaches to Mental Health: Epidemiology and Diagnosis
• Research Methods in Mental Health: Qualitative Approaches and Meta Synthesis

Dr. Brencio supervises Master Students and Postgraduate students in Phenomenology, Philosophy of Psychiatry, Phenomenological Psychopathology, Phenomenologically Informed Interviews and Analysis and Applied Ethics.

Currently, Dr. Brencio is supervising the following PhD students:

Joanna Swiecinska

• Title of the project: The Impact of Islamic Therapy on Mental Health in Muslim Converts: A Phenomenological Analysis 
• Role: 1st supervisor
• Course: PhD Psychology

Aleasha Nambalirwa

• Title of the project: Exposed child: The disclosure of HIV status in family systems. A phenomenologically informed study
• Role: 1st supervisor
• Course: Clinical Psychology Doctorate (ClinPsyD)

A distinguished scholar in the phenomenological and Heideggerian tradition, Dr. Brencio’s scholarly focus lies at the intersection of phenomenological psychopathology and psychiatry. Her investigations encompass fundamental aspects of human experience, including perceptual processes, attentional mechanisms, emotions (individual and social emotions), affective life, and the role of the body in psychopathological experiences. Her work illuminates the subjective dimensions of psychopathological experiences, with a special interest in depression and schizophrenia.

Before joining The Institute of Mental Health and the School of Psychology, Dr. Brencio was involved in the following research projects:

As principal investigator

2023-2024 | University of Perugia, Italy

Title of the research project: Enhancing Pedagogical Metacognition in Literacy Instruction: Understanding Process Factors and Developmental Learning Disorders

As Co-Investigator

2024-2025 | Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva "Villa Miari", Santorso, Italy

Conducting Phenomenological Interviews into Post-Stroke Patients' Conscious Proprioception: Examining Alterations in Upper Limb Muscle Tone and Spasticity-Associated Cognitive Processes Through Qualitative Methodologies

2020 | University Hospital Freiburg, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Germany

Contribution in clinical research examining psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Study protocol received institutional ethics approval (174/20) and was registered with German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00021395).

Selected Memberships: 

• Member of the European Association of Phenomenology and Psychopathology (EAPP)
• Executive Committee Member of The Royal College of Psychiatrists - Special Interest Group in Philosophy
• Member of The Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice at St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford (UK)
• Member of the Philosophy of Psychiatry Educators Network as part of the International Network for Philosophy and Psychiatry
• American Daseinsanalityc Institute
• Associazione Italiana di Psicologia Fenomenologica
• Associazione Italiana Psichiatria e Filosofia
• The British Society for Phenomenology
• The Nordic Society for Phenomenology