Soren Henrich

Dr Sören Henrich PhD 'Forensic Psychology'

Lecturer

My goal is to aid the empirically supported, rationally led discussion of current 'buzzword' topics.

My profile

Biography

I have a decade of experience working in secure psychiatric settings, both in Germany and here in the UK. This includes my work as a Clinical and Research Associate for the Ashworth High-Security Hospital, with a special focus on the risk and threat assessment of high-risk forensic patients and offering anti-aggression therapy. Here, I was also a trained and listed Hostage and Crisis Negotiator for the NHS, before moving on to train nurses, security personnel, and police constable apprentices. 

Before coming to MMU, I was an Associate Lecturer at UCLan for five years, teaching the MSc ‘Forensic Psychology’, MSc ‘Clinical Psychology’, MSc ‘Counterterrorism’, and the Police Constable Apprenticeship course. Here, I also offered psychological aid to first responders, as part of the UCLan Support Hub.

OTHER ROLES:

  • Editorial Assistant for Journal of Criminological Research, Policy and Practice
  • Expert Reviewer for Emerald and Literati Award 2019 Holder
  • Co-lead of the Early Career Research Network in the Psychology Department together with Dr Elizabeth Braithwaite

Get in touch

Brooks Building

Impact

Here you can find where my research has informed the media, policies, and practice:

Kera News - USA - In Denton, playing Dungeons & Dragons helps slay loneliness and improve mental health

Projects

My expertise is in the risk and threat assessment of radicalised forensic populations. This includes the psychological formulation, care pathway planning, and rehabilitation of individuals who have committed extremist violence in the past. Current research focuses on the implementation and advancement of the Eco-System of Extremist Violence model that was part of my PhD project, including the exploration of maladaptive personality styles, the origin of aggressive scripts, and the role of neurodivergent presentations.

In a broader sense, this also includes the understanding of risk factors and dynamics related to group-based violence (e.g., gang violence).

Related to the previous points and connected to my experience as a Crisis and Hostage Negotiator, other research opportunities can include the exploration of the decision-making process in high-pressure situations and the impact of negotiator personalities on the resolution outcome.

Informed by my work with the Equality and Diversity board at the Ashworth High-Security Hospital, I am also exploring avenues for Non-Pathologising Gender Identity Assessment with Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals. This is not just purely a forensic topic and currently includes the conceptualisation of minority resilience (away from the over-focus on minority stress) with an international team in Sri Lanka.

Lastly, I explore the Therapeutic Utility of ‘Dungeons & Dragons’. While this is quite a niche subject, the media attention for preliminary findings is substantial and offers some opportunities.

For more information on any of these topics, please feel free to email me.

Teaching

As a lecturer, I see my responsibility not only in the delivery of content, but in the support of my students to grow into critical thinking, reflective, and compassionate psychologists. Due to the rapidly changing landscape of Forensic Psychology and the societal responsibilities our roles include, I like to combine traditional lecture delivery with more conversational approaches. This gives my students great opportunities to introduce their own interests and passions that can shape our course content each year in a different way.

Forensic Psychology

Psychology is the science of human behaviour and mind. It is concerned with individual psychological processes and the social context of how we think and interact with the world around us. Forensic ps…

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Forensic Psychology (BPS accredited)

Examine the role of psychologists in legal settings, advances in the psychological understanding of offender behaviour, and assessment and rehabilitation. You’ll critically examine the role of p…

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Supervision

I am available to supervise M.Sc. and PhD dissertations in the areas of my research interests, including qualitative and quantitative research approaches. If possible, these projects can settle within my international collaborations (inc. Sri Lanka, Germany, and Australia) and can include joint work with the Ashworth Research Centre, led by Prof. Jane L. Ireland.

Please feel free to email me if you are interested or require further information.

Supervised PhD Projects:

In progress: Exploring the ‘cruel optimism’ of neoliberal LGBT+ health support: building infrastructures of movement between queerness and health - by Chelsea Murphy, 1st Supervisor: Dr Joseph Keenan

Research outputs