Professor Michelle McCarthy

About

Professor McCarthy has a social work background and has worked with people with learning disabilities in a variety of residential and field settings.  For four years she was the team leader of the Sex Education Team at Harperbury providing a specialist sexuality service to people with learning disabilities and staff. 
She has an interest in all matters relating to the sexuality of people with learning disabilities focusing particularly on working with women with learning disabilities on issues of relationships, sexuality and reproductive health.  

Research interests

personal and sexual relationships of people with learning disabilities
issues of abuse, sexual and reproductive health relating to women with learning disabilities
experiences of mothers with learning disabilities referred to family centres
menopause and women with learning disabilities
contraception and women with learning disabilities
domestic violence  (podcast) and women with learning disabilities
 Support for people (podcast) with LD to find loving relationships
Love Project video  "Love is a Wonderful Feeling" This is one of the outputs from the recently completed research on exploring loving relationships for people with learning disabilities by the Tizard Centre
Think Kent Video related to domestic violence against women with learning disabilities

She has carried out a number of research projects in these areas and written widely on these topics.

Teaching

Professor McCarthy oversees the PhD programme at the Tizard Centre.
Most of her teaching is on two undergraduate psychology modules; Understanding People with LD (SP601) and Researching People with LD (SP602).  The main topics are: sexuality and sexual abuse, parents with LD, qualitative research with people with LD.   

Supervision

She supervises qualitative PhD research on the broad areas of relationships and sexuality, abuse, sexual and reproductive health in relation to women with learning disabilities. 

Professional