Rate My Professor Heather O’Mahen

Heather O’Mahen is Professor of Perinatal and Clinical Psychology in the Mood Disorders Centre and Department of Psychology at the University of Exeter, where she joined in 2007. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia, with research focused on interpersonal factors in women’s mental health. She specialized clinically in cognitive behavioral therapy for depression and anxiety and behavioral couples therapy. Subsequently, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship in perinatal psychology at the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry, where she trained in interpersonal psychotherapy. From 2005 to 2007, she served as Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Currently, she is seconded 0.2 whole-time equivalent to NHS England as National Clinical Advisor to the Perinatal Mental Health Policy team.

Her research specializes in improving equitable access to psychological interventions during the perinatal period. She investigates the efficacy of cognitive behavioral and interpersonal therapies for depression and anxiety, particularly behaviorally oriented treatments, and novel delivery modes such as internet-based and app-supported therapies. O’Mahen examines mechanisms, including emotion regulation, underlying links between perinatal depression, maternal sensitivity, and child outcomes. Key publications include “Cost and Outcome of BehaviouRal Activation (COBRA): a randomised controlled trial of behavioural activation versus cognitive–behavioural therapy for depression” (The Lancet Psychiatry, 2017), “Radically open dialectical behaviour therapy for refractory depression: the RefraMED RCT” (British Journal of Psychiatry, 2018), “Internet-based behavioral activation—Treatment for postnatal depression (Netmums): A randomized controlled trial” (Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2013), “Community perinatal mental health teams and associations with perinatal mental health and obstetric and neonatal outcomes in pregnant women with a history of secondary mental health care in England: a national population-based cohort study” (The Lancet Psychiatry, 2024), and “A pilot randomised controlled trial of cognitive behavioural therapy for antenatal depression” (BMJ Open, 2013). Her contributions advance clinical practice and policy in perinatal mental health.