Marta Guarch-Rubio (Graduated)

Biography

Marta is a clinical psychologist and a PhD candidate supervised by Antonio Manzanero L. Puebla at the Complutense University of Madrid. Antonio has provided support and inspiration to Marta at each stage of the research. In Spain, Marta is a researcher at the International Research Group on Witness Psychology http://memoriadetestigos.blogspot.com/ and on the Project on traumatic memories https://memoriastraumaticas.blogspot.com.  

In 2018, Marta came to the University of Limerick as part of the Erasmus Programme. Marta was introduced to Dr. Anca Minescu who agreed to supervise her research. Marta learned a lot from Dr Anca and this opportunity proved invaluable in ensuring the success of Marta´s research project. Dr Anca enabled Marta to commence a joint PhD between the University Computense of Madrid and the University of Limerick (UL). Marta hopes to complete her PhD in 2020. In Limerick, Marta is employed as a teaching assistant in the Psychology Department at the University of Limerick. Dr Anca developed and led psycho-social therapeutic groups for refugees and migrants in 2019, Marta assisted with the design, development and implementation of these therapeutic groups. These groups took place in 2019 and received extremely positive feedback from the participants, Marta is currently designing a syllabus for psycho-social therapeutic groups with migrants in 2020. Her previous professional experience in local associations, in the Public Primary Health Care Services and in the Social Welfare Services, contributed to her pragmatism and determination to ensure positive outcomes for people she supports.

Marta enjoys field work and getting a true sense of the lived experience of migrant population fleeing conflict. Marta feels that research cannot be solely conducted within the halls of Academia but must be impactful in everyday life. Marta believes in the power of research in influencing policy and stimulating public debate on issues that are often hidden from public view. According to Marta “Research alone cannot change the world, it requires dissemination to make it impactful. We must take our work form the dusty corridors of the University and influence the decision makers and those in the upper reaches of power. The process of collecting primary data invigorated me and provided me with a determination to let the world know the stories of these migrants. We must become the beacon in the darkness in a world that is becoming increasingly more divided”.

Research Interests: Social and Clinical Psychology, Resilience, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Memories, Testimony, Violence, Torture, Human Rights, Prejudices, Women’s Issues, Migrants and Refugees.