Mark Williams

Mark Williams is Professor of Clinical Psychology and Wellcome Principal Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. He holds a joint appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Experimental Psychology. He has held previous posts at the Medical Research Council Applied Psychology Unit in Cambridge and the University of Wales, Bangor. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences and the British Academy.

His research is concerned with psychological models and treatment of depression and suicidal behaviour, particularly the application of experimental cognitive psychology to understanding the processes that increase risk of suicidal behaviour in depression. With colleagues John Teasdale (Cambridge) and Zindel Segal (Toronto) he developed Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for prevention of relapse and recurrence in depression, and two RCTs have now found that MBCT halves the recurrence rate in those who have suffered three or more previous episodes of major depression. In Great Britain, the UK National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), working on behalf the National Health Service, has recommended MBCT as a primary treatment for prevention relapse in depression (National Institute of Clinical Excellence (2005).Depression. Management of Depression in Primary and Secondary Care. National Clinical Practice Guidelines, Number 23. London, HMSO). His current research focuses on whether a similar approach can help prevent suicidal ideation and behaviour during a depressive episode. His articles also focus on the way that autobiographical memory biases and deficits may act as a mediator of current and future vulnerability.