Research · Books · Publications

The relationship
at the heart of therapy.

Research on connection, patient choice, and how people experience and benefit from therapy.

Academic work

Gina is Senior Lecturer in Psychotherapy and Counselling at The Open University. Her research interests encompass relational depth, client preferences, goal-oriented practices, psychological assessment, process and outcome measurement.

Academic profile

Her work combines psychotherapy research with university teaching, course development and doctoral supervision.

Full university profile

Teaching experience

Teaching roles & subject areas.

Where Gina has taught

The Open University
Psychotherapy and counselling teaching, including module leadership for Counselling and forensic psychology: investigating crime and therapy, assessment block development for Advancing your counselling practice, and co-development of the Advanced Therapeutic Relationship short course.

University of Roehampton
Counselling psychology doctoral teaching and supervision, including person-centred practice, collaborative assessment, emotion-focused work and therapeutic relationship skills.

Existential Academy / NSPC
Doctoral-level teaching in research methods and clinical supervision.

City University
Doctoral teaching on Pluralistic therapy.

What Gina teaches

Person-centred and pluralistic psychotherapy: theory and practice.
Psychological assessment, formulation and collaborative assessment.
Qualitative and quantitative research methods.
Clinical supervision and professional practice.
Therapeutic relationships, psychological contact and relational depth.

Editorial roles

Editorial leadership & impact.

Former Editor-in-Chief
Counselling and Psychotherapy Research (2023–2026).

Former Editor
Counselling Psychology Review, the BPS Division of Counselling Psychology’s peer-reviewed publication.

Editorial impact

Growth & reach of
Counselling and Psychotherapy Research

During Gina’s CPR editorship, the journal expanded its international author community and scholarly reach. This progress was achieved with the editorial team, reviewers and contributors.

129% increase
Projected growth in annual submissions, 2023–2026.

45% increase
Growth in countries represented among submissions, 2023–August 2026.

25% increase
Growth in Journal Impact Factor, 2023–2025 (latest reported figure).

Books

Contributions to the profession.

2025 · SAGE · Co-edited volume

Counselling Skills and Knowledge for SCoPEd B

Diversity, Self-awareness, Assessment and Research

Co-edited with Felicitas Rost, Naomi Moller, Tanya Frances, Claudine McFaul and Hayley Ness. A professional learning text connecting assessment, reflective practice and research with culturally sensitive counselling.

Gina authored “Foundations of psychological assessment” and co-authored “Using outcome measures to inform psychological assessment” with Jo-anne Carlyle and Chris Evans.

View at SAGE

2024 · Bloomsbury Academic · Third edition

The Handbook of Person-Centred Psychotherapy and Counselling

Co-edited with Mick Cooper, Maureen O’Hara, Susan Stephen and Yana Gololob. A collection exploring the foundations, clinical practice and professional questions of person-centred therapy.

Gina also contributes chapters on empathy and relational depth.

View at Bloomsbury

Publications

A body of work on therapeutic change.

Explore Gina’s journal articles, books, chapters and other research outputs.

Browse all publications

Academic enquiries

Research & professional dialogue.

For academic correspondence, research and publication enquiries:

gina.dimalta@open.ac.uk

The relationshipat the heart of therapy.