Dr Mary Keeling

Role within the CfCWR

Dr Keeling is the the Senior Research Fellow for the Understanding Needs and Interventions for the Treatment of Scarring (UNITS) study.

Other positions held

Senior Research Fellow – Visible Differences and Military Conflict Research, Centre for Appearance Research, University of the West of England.

Qualifications

Ph.D. 2014 Doctor of Philosophy in Psychological Medicine. Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, United Kingdom.
MSc 2010 Masters. of Science in Psychological Research Methods. Birkbeck College, University of London, United Kingdom.
B.A. (Hons) 2004 Bachelors’ of Art with Honours in Psychology with Cultural Studies. University of Northampton, United Kingdom.

Based at

Centre for Appearance Research, Department of Health and Social Sciences, University of the West of England

Biography

Dr Keeling has been working in the field of Military Psychology for the past eight years and is currently Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR), University of the West of England. Since receiving her Ph.D. in Psychological Medicine for her research investigating the romantic relationships of UK military personnel, Dr Keeling has worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, King’s College London and at the Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans and Military Families in the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work at the University of Southern California.

In her current role at CAR, she is the senior researcher on a project investigating the experiences and intervention needs of military personnel and ex-service personnel who have sustained a physical injury during operational deployment or field training that has led to an altered physical appearance.

Overall, Dr Keeling’s research aims to understand the psychological and social impact of military service on military personnel, veterans and service connected families. Her work focuses on four broad areas: (1) Military to civilian transition, psychosocial adjustment and employment; (2) Military and veteran families; (3) Service personnel and veterans’ romantic relationships; (4) Mental health stigma and the impact on help-seeking. Dr Keeling has published in several academic journals in the areas of military to civilian transition, veteran employment, military marriages, military families, help-seeking, and mental health stigma.