Valentina Canessa-Pollard
Senior Lecturer in Psychology
About
I am currently the Academic Area Lead for Psychology and Criminology and hold several roles, including Programme Lead for BSc (Hons) Psychology; Psychology with Integrated Foundation Year; BSc (Hons) Psychology (with Placement); BSc Psychology Level 6 Top-up; MSc Coaching Psychology; Sustainability Lead for the Department of Psychology and Criminology; and Curator of the Human Factor Professional Learning Programme.
Outside Academia, I work as Co-Director of Natural Systems Coaching and Development Ltd., specialising in holistic, fourth-generation coaching approaches to leadership and organisational development.
Previously, I served as a Trainer, Researcher, and Volunteer Services Coordinator at Survivors’ Network Rape Crisis Centre in Brighton (2010–2017), and as a Trustee for Rape Crisis England & Wales (2016–2018).
Key Publications
Publications related to Coaching
- Canessa-Pollard, V., & Sexton, T. (2026). Coaching for regenerative leadership: A fourth-generation integrative framework. Management Learning.
- Passmore, J., Canessa-Pollard, V., & Prentice, J. (2026). Coaching outdoors: A biophilic perspective of the coach’s experience of client learning in nature. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning.
- Hicks, K., Cleveland, M., & Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026). Finding the words to say how you feel: Experiences of using embodied metaphors. Counselling Psychology Quarterly.
- Haywood, L., Stiller, J., & Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026). The felt-sense as a pathway to nature relatedness: An exploratory mixed-method study with university students. Journal of Ecopsychology.
- Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026). Integrating eco-therapy into coaching psychology: A dual case study of grounding, meaning-making, and emergent agency. International Coaching Psychology Review, 21(1), 55–72.
- Canessa-Pollard, V., Neary, H., & Simmons, P. (2026). Coaching the machine: Exploring ChatGPT as coachee and feedback partner in coaching education. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education.
- Canessa-Pollard, V. (2025). A holistic approach to academic perfectionism with the SPACE model of coaching. International Journal of Coaching Psychology.
- Passmore, J., & Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026). Outdoor coaching. In J. Passmore & A. Giraldes-Hayes (Eds.), Handbook of Coaching Psychology. Wiley.
- Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026). Coaching in liminal space. In J. Passmore, P. Jefferies, A.-M. Watson, & A. Burn (Eds.), The Outdoor and Nature Coaches’ Handbook: The Complete Guide to Theory, Research and Practice for Professional Coaches. Routledge
Book chapters
- Passmore, J., & Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026). Outdoor coaching. In J. Passmore & A. Giraldes-Hayes (Eds.), Handbook of Coaching Psychology. Wiley.
- Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026). Coaching in liminal space. In J. Passmore, P. Jefferies, A.-M. Watson, & A. Burn (Eds.), The Outdoor and Nature Coaches’ Handbook: The Complete Guide to Theory, Research and Practice for Professional Coaches. Routledge.
Sexualised Violence and Abuse
- Spooner, R., Cleveland, M., Pereira, A., Sharpe, B. T., Newman, H., & Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026). Risk and protective factors of LGBTQ+ identity abuse in romantic relationships: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse.
Vocal communication
- Canessa-Pollard, V., Anikin, A., & Reby, D. (2025). Chants across seven traditions share acoustic traits that enhance subjective relaxation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(35), e2506480122.
- Spooner, R., Taylor-Jones, J., & Canessa-Pollard, V. (2025). Vocal behaviour affects the expression of empathy in trained and untrained speakers. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling.
- Garnham, A., Canessa-Pollard, V., Oakhill, J., et al. (2026). The influence of voice masculinity and femininity on adults’ expectations of children’s academic and occupational competence. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
Research
I lead the following labs:
My research in this area focuses on Coaching Psychology, particularly from Cognitive-Behavioural and Ecological perspectives, career transitions, professional and academic development, ethical leadership, and outdoor practice.
Sexualised Violence and Abuse Research Lab
My research in this area focuses on investigating the psychosocial factors involved in sexual violence, abuse, and trauma prevention and recovery, as well as in developing theory-based interventions within an empowerment ethos to improve well-being outcomes for survivors of sexual violence and abuse, no matter how or when it happened.
I am also part of the Lab for Global Research on Gender, Sexuality and Identity
I have focused on the role of vocal communication in health, and I am investigating voice-based approaches to improve well-being. More recently, I have researched mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ youth.
PhD Supervision
Areas of supervision interest: any of the above, including coaching psychology, nature-based coaching, and gendered violence and abuse.
Research Output
Articles
Neary, H., Canessa-Pollard, V. and Stiller, J. (2026) Exploring the wellbeing of adults attending an alternative education family forest school programme. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. pp. 1-24. ISSN 1472-9679 10.1080/14729679.2026.2708038
Canessa-Pollard, V. and Sexton, T. (2026) Coaching for regenerative leadership: a fourth-generation integrative framework. Management Learning. pp. 1-18. ISSN 1350-5076 10.1177/13505076261455013
Canessa-Pollard, V., Neary, H. and Simmons, P. (2026) Coaching the machine: exploring ChatGPT as coachee and feedback partner in coaching education. International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching in Education. pp. 1-17. ISSN 2046-6854 10.1108/IJMCE-07-2025-0096
Spooner, R., Cleveland, M., Pereira, A., Sharpe, B. T., Newman, H. and Canessa-Pollard, V.et al (2026) Risk and protective factors of LGBTQ+ identity abuse in romantic relationships: a scoping review. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. pp. 1-16. ISSN 1552-8324 10.1177/15248380261440363
Passmore, J., Canessa-Pollard, V. and Prentice, J. (2026) Coaching outdoors: a biophilic perspective of the coach’s experience of client learning in nature. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. pp. 1-20. ISSN 1472-9679 10.1080/14729679.2026.2641728
Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026) Integrating eco-therapy into coaching psychology: A dual case study of grounding, meaning-making, and emergent agency. International Coaching Psychology Review, 21 (1). pp. 55-70. ISSN 2396-8753 10.53841/bpsicpr.2026.21.55
Canessa-Pollard, V., Oakhill, J., Garnham, A., Roberts, L., Anns, S. and Reby, D.et al (2026) The influence of voice masculinity and femininity on parents’ and teachers’ expectations of children’s academic and occupational competence. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 50 (2). pp. 159-173. ISSN 0191-5886 10.1007/s10919-026-00505-7
Haywood, L., Stiller, J. and Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026) The Felt-Sense as a pathway to Nature relatedness: an exploratory mixed-method study with university students. Journal of Ecopsychology, 6 (2). pp. 1-17. ISSN 2752-5260
Hicks, K., Cleveland, M. and Canessa-Pollard, V. (2026) Finding the words to say how you feel: experiences of using embodied metaphors. Counselling Psychology Quarterly. pp. 1-42. ISSN 1469-3674 10.1080/09515070.2026.2616754
Canessa-Pollard, V., Anikin, A. and Reby, D. (2025) Chants across seven traditions share acoustic traits that enhance subjective relaxation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 122 (35). pp. 1-26. ISSN 0027-8424 10.1073/pnas.250648012
Canessa-Pollard, V. (2025) A holistic approach to academic perfectionism with The SPACE model of coaching. International Journal of Coaching Psychology, 6 (4). pp. 1-11. ISSN 2634-7946
Spooner, R., Taylor-Jones, J. and Canessa-Pollard, V. (2025) Vocal behaviour affects the expression of empathy in trained and untrained speakers. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 54 (3). pp. 435-446. ISSN 2634-7946 10.1080/03069885.2025.2470429
Anikin, A., Canessa-Pollard, V., Pisanski, K., Massanet, M. and Reby, d.et al (2023) Beyond speech: Exploring diversity in the human voice. iScience, 26 (11). pp. 1-13. ISSN 2589-0042 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108204
Canessa-Pollard, V., Reby, D., Banerjee, R., Oakhill, J. and Garnham, A.et al (2022) The development of explicit occupational gender stereotypes in children: Comparing perceived gender ratios and competence beliefs. Journal of Vocational Behavior. ISSN 0001-8791 10.1016/j.jvb.2022.103703
Book Sections
Canessa-Pollard, V. and Passmore, J. (2026) Outdoor coaching. In: The coaching handbook of psychology: integrating psychological theory, practice and research. Wiley, pp. 1-17. ISBN 9781394292776