Our experts

Area of expertise

• Anxiety disorders and trauma in children and adolescents
• Social anxiety disorder
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

Biography

Dr Rachel Evans is a Specialist Clinical Psychologist who joined the Trauma, Anxiety and Depression Clinic (TAD) in 2022.

Following her BSc and MSc, Rachel worked as a Clinical Research Assistant at the Anxiety and Depression in Young People (AnDY) Research Clinic at the University of Reading. In this role she provided assessment and low-intensity CBT for young people with anxiety disorders and depression. 

She also contributed to and published clinical research regarding child anxiety disorders. During her doctorate she completed a range of clinical placements including specialist training and supervision in CBT for anxiety disorders and trauma. Her doctoral research focused on social anxiety disorder in adolescence. This research examined outcomes from widely used psychological treatments and explored some of the theorised maintenance factors for social anxiety in young people. Rachel continues to have a particular clinical and research interest in the assessment and treatment of social anxiety in young people.

After qualifying from her clinical doctorate in 2020, Rachel worked as a Clinical Psychologist in a South East London Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) where she worked with a multi-disciplinary team to provide assessment, psychological interventions, care coordination and risk management for young people aged 6-17 with a wide range of mental health and neurodevelopmental difficulties.

Alongside her part-time role in the TAD clinic, Rachel is a Clinical Tutor on the Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYP-MH; formerly known as CYP-IAPT) Post Graduate Diploma in CBT. In this role, Rachel provides lectures and workshops to trainee CBT therapists working with young people experiencing anxiety and depression across a range of services.  

Education and training

• BSc Psychology with Professional Placement, Cardiff University, 2014
• MSc Clinical Aspects of Psychology, University of Reading, 2016
• Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, Institute for Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (King’s College London), 2020

Publication list

Evans, R., Chiu, K., Clark, D. M., Waite, P., & Leigh, E. (2021). Safety behaviours in social anxiety: An examination across adolescence. Behaviour research and therapy, 144, 103931.

Evans, R., Clark, D. M., & Leigh, E. (2021). Are young people with primary social anxiety disorder less likely to recover following generic CBT compared to young people with other primary anxiety disorders? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Behavioural and cognitive psychotherapy, 49(3), 352-369.

Evans, R., Hill, C., O'Brien, D., & Creswell, C. (2019). Evaluation of a group format of clinician‐guided, parent‐delivered cognitive behavioural therapy for child anxiety in routine clinical practice: a pilot‐implementation study. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 24(1), 36-43.

Evans, R., Thirlwall, K., Cooper, P., & Creswell, C. (2017). Using symptom and interference questionnaires to identify recovery among children with anxiety disorders. Psychological Assessment, 29(7), 835.