Fjola Helgadottir's Experience and Qualifications

Dr Fjola Helgadottir

Memberships

Current

  • Canada: CACBT-ACTCC certified in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Canada
  • Canada: Registered Psychologist, College of Psychologist of British Columbia
  • Canada: Member of the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies - CACBT
  • Canada: Member of the Canadian Psychological Association
  • Iceland: Registered clinical psychologist specialist in Iceland (Medical Director of Health)
  • Iceland: Registered psychologist in Iceland (Medical Director of Health)
  • Iceland: Member of the Icelandic Psychological Association

Past

  • UK: Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society (CPsychol)
  • UK: Full membership of the Division of Clinical Psychology within the British Psychological Society (highest standards for clinical psychology practice in the United Kingdom)
  • UK: Health Professions Council registered Clinical Psychologist
  • UK: Member of the Oxford University Congregation
  • UK: Holder of Oxford Health Foundation NHS Trust Honorary Contract
  • Australia: Full member of the Australian Psychological Society's Clinical College (highest standards for clinical psychology practice in Australia)
  • Australia: Registered specialist in Clinical Psychology at Medicare Australia Approved by Work Cover Australia to deliver psychology treatment services to injured workers
  • Australia: Approved by The Department of Veteran Affairs to deliver psychology treatment services to veterans suffering from psychological illness
  • Australia: Full national registration in Australia, with endorsement of clinical psychology by Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
  • Australia: Full membership with the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS)
  • Australia: Former treasurer for the NSW Australian Association for Cognitive and Behaviour Therapy (AACBT)
  • Former treasures for the National Committee for the Telephone and Internet-Based Counselling Interest Group of Australian Psychological Society
  • Australia: Member of International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII)

Education

PhD, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

Thesis Title: Bridging the gap in Internet treatments for mental health: A fully automated online cognitive behaviour therapy for social anxiety for those who stutter.

Clinical Specialisation (Master of Applied Clinical Psychology), Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia

Thesis Title: The role of magical thinking in symptoms of psychopathology in a university undergraduate sample in Iceland.

Placements: Child, Adult, and Older adult at Murdoch Psychology Clinic; Medical Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital; Pain Management Research Institute & Spinal Cord Injury Unit @ Royal North Shore Hospital; Ross Menzies outpatient clinic

Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology, Murdoch University, Perth, WA, Australia

Thesis Title: Is facial redness more intense among patients who seek treatment for fear of blushing than among the normal population?

Placements: Placements: Transby college, Murdoch ADHD test lab, and private practice in Perth

Bachelor of Psychology. University of Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland

Thesis Title: Are love relationships and infidelity common in the Icelandic workforce? What are common views of acceptable and non-acceptable events in the workplace?

Awards

Tracy Goodall Early Career Award

This prestigious award recognises research or clinical innovation that has made an outstanding contribution to the field of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) in Australia. I won this award on the basis of my research into online treatments. In particular, I designed a computer program that functioned as a fully automated therapist. This work provided the basis for AI-Therapy.

Postgraduate Research Scholarship (PhD)

The topic of this scholarship was to investigate how to deliver psychological services to rural areas.

Glitnir achievements Award

I won this award based on the strength of my international research.

Margret Bjorgolfsdottir Memorial Award

The goal of this award was to support individuals and projects that promote education and entrepreneurship on the international stage.

Professional psychologist posts

Director - Dr. Fjóla & Kompaní and Hugræna afterlisstöðin í Reykjavík, Reykjavík, Iceland

Innovative use of technology in order to maximize the efficacy of evidence-based techniques within cognitive-behaviour therapy. Treatment and supervision are delivered both via face-to-face as well as via e-services.

We specialize in treating complex anxiety problems (e.g. atypical obsessive-compulsive disorder, complex health anxiety, atypical social anxiety and generalized anxiety (e.g overachievers or high-functioning GAD), depression and eating and body image disorders (e.g. body dysmorphic disorder). Dr. Helgadottir works with clients face-to-face in Iceland and in Canada via e-servies. See more here

We also specialize in creating, implementing and researching online treatment programs. We collaborate with Universities around the globe in facilitating clinical research. The areas of research are the interdisciplinary use of technology in targeting anxiety and depression. Here is an example of our latest publication:


Registered Psychologist - The Vancouver CBT Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Vancouver CBT Centre is a group of psychologists with extensive and specialized experience in evidence-based treatments, including cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT). The Vancouver CBT Centre was originally founded by the clinical team from the former UBC Anxiety Disorders Clinic. The Centre specializes in treating complex and severely disabling anxiety disorders, as well as clinical depression and eating disorders.

Senior Research Clinician - University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK

I worked as a senior research clinician and a clinical psychologist with Professor Christopher Fairburn, Professor Christopher Martell and Professor Zafra Cooper. Collaborators included other world leading researchers in evidence based clinical psychology. We were investigating the use of online technologies to disseminate the latest evidence-based treatments to therapists around the world.

Director and Cofounder - AICBT Ltd., Oxford, UK

AICBT Ltd. is an IT research and development company that provides advanced software solutions. We provide consulting services in a wide range of areas, including image processing and computer vision, machine learning for scientific applications, and expert systems for the online delivery of psychological treatments. In addition to our consulting services, AICBT Ltd. released AI-Therapy in August 2012, an online treatment program for people with social anxiety disorder. We are currently looking to expand our suite of online treatment protocols through partnerships with world leading experts and state-of-the-art web technologies.

Owner - Clinical Psychology Practice, Sydney, Australia

I ran a successful evidence-based private practice for a number of years. I had hundreds of clients, and about 50 GPs who regularly referred patients to me.

Senior Research Clinical Psychologist - University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

I was a member of a team that was developing an online anxiety treatment program for adults who stutter. My role was to oversee a team of professionals, including a web developer, graphic designer, photographer, QA testers, etc.

Here is a testimonial from this work:

Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Clinical Psychology trainee working with patients with chronic pain and spinal cord injuries delivering individual and group CBT

Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Clinical Psychology trainee working with patients with cancer at all stages. This involved delivering individual and group CBT

Glebe clinical psychology, Ross Menzies and Associates, Sydney, Australia

Clinical Psychology trainee working with patients with chronic anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, performance anxiety, health anxiety, depression among other things

Murdoch University Psychology Clinic, Perth, Australia

Clinical Psychology trainee working under 4 different supervisors. This post covered seperately child placements and adult placements. In this job I worked with a range of problems, and learned range of treatment approaches. I worked with childhood anxiety, ADHD, marital issues, several types of anxiety in adults among other things