Rate My Professor Bridgette Thwaites

Bridgette Thwaites serves as Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Division. She holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy and brings expertise in clinical pharmacy, psychopharmacology, and patient safety to her research. Her academic interests center on mental health, particularly mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder. Thwaites investigates patient experiences, functioning in mood disorders, treatment-resistant depression, substance use alongside mood disorders, innovative psychotherapies, peer-led mental health services, cognitive interventions, and pharmacotherapies including ketamine for depression. Her work often employs qualitative methods like meta-syntheses and integrative reviews to capture lived experiences and inform clinical practice.

Thwaites has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed articles. Key publications include 'Evaluating Access, Service Delivery, and Experiences of a Peer-Led Acute Alternative Mental Health Service' (2025), a mixed-methods evaluation of peer-led community mental health treatment; 'Forecasting the course of bipolar disorder using rest-activity rhythms: Protocol for a multi-study modelling project' (2025), exploring sleep and circadian rhythms for relapse prediction; 'Experiences of Functioning in Mood Disorders: Systematic Review and Qualitative Meta-Synthesis' (2025); 'The Feasibility of Delivering Two Brief Psychotherapies for the Treatment of Depression in Primary Care' (2025); 'The changing doctor-patient relationship in psychiatry: observations on recent trends in autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, gender dysphoria and mental distress' (2024); 'Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of ketamine versus ketamine and behavioural activation therapy for adults with treatment-resistant depression in the community' (2024); 'Tailoring cognitive interventions to individuals' cognitive profiles: commentary on "Prevalence of cognitive impairments and strengths in the early course of psychosis and depression" by Stainton et al.' (2023); 'The experience of “treatment-resistant” depression: A qualitative meta-synthesis' (2023); and 'The experience of mood disorder and substance use: An integrative review' (2022). Her contributions advance understanding of patient-centered care in psychological medicine.