Christine Parsons, who has a research background in psychology at Oxford University, has been affiliated with the Interacting Minds Centre as a researcher for a number of years. Today, she is the head of the centre at the same place and a newly appointed professor.

Christine Parsons' current research projects are about parents, how they sleep, how they understand their infants' crying, and how their behaviour is changed by social policies.

"My work addresses issues that parents (and patients) care about. How much crying is normal in babies? What can I do to improve my sleep?", she says and elaborates:

"I also work to understand how psychological treatments create change in patients. Clinics and researchers want to know the "active ingredients" in their treatments so that the treatments can be refined."

Her research focuses on mental health and how to combine measurements from the lab and the real world to understand how people function. She also studies how psychological treatments work.

"Mental health is complex, and we have traditionally relied on patients' memories of their symptoms to measure it. My work focuses on using different methods to capture symptoms, such as "currently" measurements, where people report their current experiences through their phones. I also look at the broader context of people's lives," says the newly appointed professor.

Ultimately, the goal of her research is to inform and improve mental health treatment, but the professorship will also have an impact on her teaching activities, she says.

"I develop activities to teach interdisciplinary research skills at Aarhus University. I think it is valuable for students to hear about other perspectives early in their education and training. There is a consensus that we need different disciplines working together to solve our most pressing societal challenges, e.g. climate change, mental health crisis. I want to ensure that AU researchers and students are well equipped for interdisciplinary teaching as well."

Interacting Minds Centre

• The Interacting Minds Centre (IMC) is an interdisciplinary research centre at Aarhus University that conducts research into human interaction.
• The centre has existed since 2012 and involves researchers from the humanities, social sciences, cognitive sciences, biology and clinical research.
• Read more about the Interacting Minds Centre and its work on the centre's website.

Contact:

Christine Parsons, Professor
Interacting Minds Centre
School of Culture and Society,
Aarhus University
E-mail: christine.parsons@cas.au.dk
Phone: (45) 8716 2127