Dr. Meg Ryan
Assistant Professor, Public Health & Primary Care
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Biography
Dr. Meg Ryan is an Assistant Professor in Global Health, and Director of the MSc in Global Mental Health.
Her research interests are broadly focused on reproductive justice, gender based-violence, and global mental health, with a particular focus on qualitative methodologies.
Meg is TCD PI for a research partnership with International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the Moroccan Family Planning Association (AMPF). This project is funded by the Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI), and explores the experience of reproductive violence among Moroccan women and refugee women accessing health care in Morocco.
Meg received a BA(Hons) in Psychology from TCD, where she also completed the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology. Her doctoral research was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Frédérique Vallieres, and explored the experience of providing crisis pregnancy counselling in Ireland during a period of legislative changes regarding abortion provision.
Meg is a practicing Chartered Counselling Psychologist and works from a feminist psychotherapy perspective incorporating both humanistic and psychodynamic principles.
Meg is a founding member of the PSI Special Interest Group for Human Rights and Psychology and Chair of the Research Advisory Committee for Mental Health Reform.
Publications and Further Research Outputs
Peer-Reviewed Publications
Ryan, M., Abujaber, N., McBride K.A., Tingsted Blum, P., Engels, M., Alshibi, A., Greene, H., Githaiga, S., Didenko, A., & Vallières, F., The acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of implementing supportive supervision within humanitarian contexts: A qualitative study, SSM - Mental Health, 2023
Vallières, F., Ward, M. E., Shields, D., Geary, U., Gardner, C., King, D., McCarthy, G., Conolly, J., Brown, J., Wiedemann, N., Staunton, P., Halpin, R., McGinty, T., Brazil, V., Ali, A., Buckley, A., Dowds, J., Lambert, S., McGarry, S., McLoughlin, P., Murphy, M., Murphy, R., O"Carrol, A., Ryan., M., Slattery, S., Sweeney, E., Swords, M., Zihindula, G. & NíCheallaigh, C. , Co-developing, piloting, and evaluating a translational simulation (TS) delivery model for the promotion of psychological trauma-informed care (TIC) to improve service delivery within acute hospital settings: A Research Protocol, HRB Open Research,, 6, (27), 2023, phttps://doi.org/10.12688/hrbop
Ryan, M., Nolan, A., & Vallières, F., Lifting the cloak of secrecy: Experiences of providing crisis pregnancy counselling in a changing legislative context in Ireland, Counselling and Psychotherapy Research, 22, (1), 2021, p22 - 31
Research Expertise
Description
My research interests include global mental health, LGBTQIA+ health and mental health, reproductive justice, and gender-based violence (GBV). My research focuses on applying consultative, participatory approaches for the development of end-user informed guidelines, frameworks, and resources that will improve access to health, including mental health, care for society's most vulnerable populations. Through my research, my aim is to represent diverse lived experiences across gendered and cultural divides to address issues of inequality and discrimination of marginalised groups, with the goal of empowering individuals and communities to create social change. I am committed to integrating social justice and human rights principles into my research, and I believe that engaged research practices which build collaborative relationships between researchers and communities can enable communities to address local concerns, resulting in research that is applicable, culturally relevant, and that bridges the gaps between research, practice, and community needs. In line with feminist approaches, my research strives to include a `reciprocally educative focus', underpinned by values of intersectionality, positionality, and reflexivity.Projects
- Title
- An exploratory study using mixed methods to understand Moroccan and refugee women's experiences of reproductive violence
- Summary
- This project is a partnership between Association Marocaine de Planification Familiale (AMPF), International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and the Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin (CGH, TCD). The study aims to elucidate the contexts in which Reproductive Violence is experienced by women and girls when they attempt to practice their Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) rights and choices in Morocco, and to understand the contributing factors. Overall, this project aims to generate increased knowledge which can be integrated into Gender-Based Violence programming and SRH services to enhance capacity to provide more sustainable services to those impacted and to advocate for national policy changes.
- Funding Agency
- Sexual Violence Research Initiative
- Date From
- 01-03-2023
- Date To
- 31-08-2024
- Title
- The Missing Link
- Summary
- The Missing Link is a global initiative conducted in collaboration with the International Federation of the Red Cross to develop supervision guidelines for use within mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) programming within humanitarian emergencies. This project uses action research approaches and involves collaboration with multiple NGOs and stakeholders in the MHPSS community.
- Funding Agency
- Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA)
Recognition
Awards and Honours
Ray Fuller Prize in Psychology
Memberships
Chartered member of the Psychological Society of Ireland
Founding member of the PSI Special Interest Group in Human Rights & Psychology
Member of the Research Advisory Committee for the Mental Health Reform (MHR)