Caitlin Hitchcock

Associate Professor Caitlin Hitchcock is a clinical psychologist and academic in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, serving as Head of the Mechanisms of Mental Health Lab. She holds the position of Associate Professor in Psychology and is Deputy Director of the Brain and Mental Health Hub. Hitchcock's research bridges cognitive science and clinical psychology, focusing on the cognitive mechanisms that underpin mood disturbance, affective disorders, and posttraumatic stress. Her program elucidates how processes such as autobiographical memory specificity, flexibility, and perseverative thinking contribute to emotional disorders. Drawing from experimental paradigms, she develops and evaluates novel interventions, including memory training protocols like MemFlex and AI-delivered therapies to target these mechanisms and improve clinical outcomes across diverse populations, from youth to those in low-middle income settings.

Previously based at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge, Hitchcock relocated to the University of Melbourne. Her work is funded by the Australian Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, and Medical Research Future Fund, with grants including an NHMRC Investigator Grant of $1,603,775 and MRFF support for mental health research. She has received the Dame Kate Campbell Fellowship for 2025, Association for Psychological Science Rising Star Award in 2020, and J. Don Read Early Career Award from SARMAC in 2022. Hitchcock serves on the editorial board of Behaviour Research and Therapy. Key publications encompass 'Autobiographical memory style and clinical outcomes following psychological therapy: A systematic review and individual participant data meta-analysis' (2022), 'The predictive power of autobiographical memory in shaping the mental health of young people: an individual participant data meta-analysis' (2026), 'Proof of Concept for the Autobiographical Memory Flexibility (MemFlex) Intervention' (2021), 'A randomized, controlled proof-of-concept trial evaluating durable effects of memory flexibility training on symptoms of depression' (2021), and 'A natural language model to automate scoring of autobiographical memories' (2024). Her contributions advance mechanistic understanding and therapeutic innovation in mental health.

Professional Email: caitlin.hitchcock@unimelb.edu.au