Dr Shanti Farrington
- u_sshanker at bournemouth dot ac dot uk
- Principal Academic in Psychology
Biography
My research interest and focus has always been to translate findings from cognitive research into clinical/counselling application.
From a clinical perspective I am interested in understanding the trauma-informed psychotherapeutic approaches in clients with PTSD and complex trauma. The research questions vary from how neurologically healthy individuals cope with unwanted or traumatic memories to how that changes after a traumatic brain injury or stroke. Especially, when their usual method of dealing with unwanted memories is impaired, how do they cope? How does one integrate cognitive and counselling principles into neuro-rehabilitation.
From a cognitive perspective my research is focused on mechanisms of cognitive control, understanding the role of forgetting (including aspects of motivated forgetting or supression induced forgetting, incidental forgetting, the role of forgetting when individuals may experience severe trauma etc.) and how forgetting is affected by individual differences in emotional regulation, attention and ability to inhibit)...
While from a more applied perspective a lot of my interest and research focuses on how the individual differences in forgetting may be related to neurological and/or other clinical disorders. How does neurodiversity factor into the ability to inhibit unwanted memory and how does that affect aspects of counselling - especially in PTSD or complex trauma? What are the other factors such as adverse childhood experence, copings strategies, differences in culture and/or ethinicity, therapeutic relationship etc. play a role in recovery and/or rehabilitation? What are other psychological aspects that are key in rehabilitation specifically in people living with stroke, brain injury and dementia.
I use cognitive, behavioural, neuropsychological and qualitative approaches in healthy controls and neurological patients. Contribute to various applied projects in areas like trauma, suicide and resilience. I often use methods including fMRI/MRI with focus on lesion analysis approaches in clinical population. I also occasionally use electrical stimulation (tDCS/TMS in healthy controls) to understand the brain mechanisms underlying cognition.
I am a member of the Ageing and Dementia Research Centre (ADRC) and the Health and Clinical Research group.
I supervise students (BSc., MSc. and PhD) and contribute to various research projects and am engaged in collaborative work with South Asia (Nepal and India) focusing on Mental Health and Well-being.
As a fully-qualified counsellor (using Humanistic Integrative Approach) I am a member of the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and currently working on my Doctorate of Counselling Psychology Training.
moreJournal Articles
- Wheeler, A., Sweeting, F., Mayers, A., Brown, A., Farrington, S., 2026. Improving perinatal mental health outcomes: The role of support in assisting breastfeeding experiences following birth trauma. Midwifery, 152.
- Wheeler, A., Sweeting, F., Mayers, A., Brown, A., Farrington, S., 2025. The Positive Cycle of Breastfeeding—Mental Health Outcomes of Breastfeeding Mothers Following Birth Trauma. Healthcare Switzerland, 13 (6).
- Simkhada, B., Magar, S.T., Simkhada, P., Farrington, S., van Teijlingen, E., 2024. The impact of cultural practice and policy on dementia care in Nepal. BMC Geriatrics, 24 (1).
- Wheeler, A., Farrington, S., Sweeting, F., Brown, A., Mayers, A., 2024. Perceived Pressures and Mental Health of Breastfeeding Mothers: A Qualitative Descriptive Study. Healthcare Switzerland, 12 (17).
- Bradley, L., Shanker, S., Murphy, J., Fenge, L.A., Heward, M., 2023. Effectiveness of digital technologies to engage and support the wellbeing of people with dementia and family carers at home and in care homes: A scoping review. Dementia, 22 (6), 1292-1313.
- El-Zein, R., Murphy, J.L., Shanker, S., Thomas, P.W., 2022. The Effectiveness of Dietary-Induced Ketogenesis on Cognition in Older Adults: A Scoping Review of the Literature. SN Comprehensive Clinical Medicine, 4 (1).
- Shanker, S., Wasti, S.P., Ireland, J., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., 2021. The Interdisciplinary Team Not the Interdisciplinarist. Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences, 3 (2), 1-5.
- Shanker, S., Wasti, S.P., Ireland, J., Regmi, P., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., 2021. The Interdisciplinary Team not the Interdisciplinarist: reflections on Interdisciplinary Research. Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences, 3 (2).
- Varkovetski, M., Pihkanen, K., Shanker, S., Parris, B.A., Gurr, B., 2020. What type of inhibition underpins performance on Luria’s Fist-Edge-Palm task? Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 42 (6), 544-555.
- Grzeschik, R., Conroy-Dalton, R., Innes, A., Shanker, S., Wiener, J.M., 2019. The contribution of visual attention and declining verbal memory abilities to age-related route learning deficits. Cognition, 187, 50-61.
- Hicks, B., Carroll, D., Shanker, S., El-Zeind, A., 2019. ‘Well I’m still the Diva!’ Enabling people with dementia to express their identity through graffiti arts: Innovative practice. Dementia, 18 (2), 814-820.
- Shanker, S., Panikker, D.M., 2017. What Lies Beneath? An exploration of Secrets held by Urban Youth DOI:10.25215/0403.123. The International Journal of Indian Psychology.
- Turnbull, O.H., Bowman, C.H., Shanker, S., Davies, J.L., 2014. Emotion-based learning: Insights from the Iowa Gambling Task. Frontiers in Psychology, 5 (MAR).
- Salas, C.E., Vaughan, F., Shanker, S., Turnbull, O.H., 2013. Stuck in a moment, Concreteness and psychotherapy after acquired brain injury. Journal of Neuro-disability & Psychotherapy,, 1 (1), 1-38.
- Nair, G., Van Dyk, K., Shah, U., Purohit, D.P., Shah, A.B., Grossman, H., Perl, D., Ganwir, V., Shanker, S., Sano, M., 2012. Characterizing cognitive deficits and dementia in an aging urban population in India. International Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease..
- Race, E.A., Shanker, S., Wagner, A.D., 2009. Neural priming in human frontal cortex: Multiple forms of learning reduce demands on the prefrontal executive system. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 21 (9), 1766-1781.
Books
- Mottram, C., Woodward, A., Farrington, S., 2025. The Psychology of Stress.
- Farrington, D.S., Woodward, A., 2024. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TRAUMA.
Conferences
- Simkhada, B., Thapa Magar, S., Simkhada, P., van Teijlingen, E., Shanker, S., 2023. Cultural practice and policy in dementia care in Nepal. In: the Ninth National Summit of Health and Population Scientists in Nepal. This annual conference organised by the NHRC (Nepal Health Research Council) 11/04/2023 Kathmandu, Nepal.
- El Zein, R., Shanker, S., Murphy, J.L., 2021. Dietary intakes in community-dwelling older adults during the COVID-19 outbreak. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NUTRITION SOCIETY, 80 (OCE1).
PhD Students
- Abi Wheeler, 2025. Breastfeeding, Birth Trauma and The Lasting Impacts on Perinatal Mental Health, (In progress)
- Raysa El Zein, 2022. Feasibility of a dietary intervention using coconut oil on cognition and quality of life in older adults: a Randomised Controlled Pilot study, (Completed)
Profile of Teaching PG
- Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology
- MSc FCP Roots and Ranges
- Clinical & Cognitive Neuropsychology: MSc - Clinical and Developmental Neuropscyhology
- Ageing & Neurodegenerative Disorders: MSc - Clinical and Developmental Neuropscyhology
Profile of Teaching UG
- Experimental Methods and Statistical Analysis (EMSA) 2b
- Biological and Cognitive Psychology (BOCS)
- Biopsychology
- Experimental Methods and Statistical Analysis (EMSA 1b)
Grants
- Promoting dementia research in Nepal and India (Bournemouth University, 17 Jan 2022). Completed
- UKIERI Student Mobility to India for Research and Clinical Experience (UK-India Education and Research Initiative, 01 Jul 2020). Completed
- The key issues in Dementia in South Asia. (Bournenmouth University, 05 Dec 2019). Completed
- Scoping study to understand the maternal health, ageing and wellness in rural India to develop a grass-root centre addressing these issues. (Bournemouth University, GCRF, 01 Mar 2018). Completed
- BRANES – Building Resilience and Awareness through Neuropsychology Education in the Society (British Psychological Society Public Engagement Grant, 01 Dec 2016). Completed
Public Engagement & Outreach Activities
- Pint of Science is an annual science festival that takes place every May and brings researchers to your local pub to show you the latest happenings in the world of science. (14 May 2018-16 May 2018)
- BRANES – Building Resilience and Awareness through Neuropsychology Education in Society (06 Mar 2018)
- The art of bouncing back. (08 Jul 2017)
- Pint of Science is an annual science festival that takes place every May and brings researchers to your local pub to show you the latest happenings in the world of science. (15 May 2017-17 May 2017)
- Spotless Mind: the science behind selective forgetting. (http://soapboxscience.org/) (11 Jun 2016)
Attended Training
- BU Certificate in Programme Leadership, 01 Oct 2021
Qualifications
- PhD in Psychology (Neuropsychology) (Bangor University, Wales, 2016)
- MSc in Foundations of Clinical Neuropsychology (Bangor University, Wales, UK, 2012)
- MSc in Psychology (University of Madras, India, 2005)
Memberships
- British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), Member (2020-), https://www.bacp.co.uk/
- The Higher Education Academy, Fellow (2017-),
- British Psychology Society, MBPsS (2014-), http://www.bps.org.uk/
- Society for Neuroscience, Member (2007-), https://www.sfn.org/