DrDavid John Hallford

David Hallford is a clinical psychologist, researcher and educator in Deakin University’s School of Psychology. His work spans autobiographical memory and future thinking, depression and anxiety, suicide-related processes, psychotic disorders, and psychological interventions. A central aim is to identify cognitive processes that operate across diagnostic boundaries and determine whether they provide new targets for psychological intervention.  A central question driving this research is: how does the way people think about their personal past and future shape their mental health and behaviour?

David leads a highly collaborative program of research spanning experimental and clinical psychopathology, longitudinal research, evidence synthesis, and intervention development and evaluation. He has published more than 120 peer-reviewed papers and attracted approximately $3.5 million in competitive Australian and international research funding. His research partnerships extend across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, including leadership roles in major internationally funded programs. His work has contributed to clinical guidance and professional education and to the development and evaluation of psychological interventions targeting autobiographical memory and future thinking. He also has a strong record of supervision and mentorship from undergraduate through to doctoral and postdoctoral levels.

David’s work as a clinical psychologist strongly informs his leadership in teaching and learning. He has led large-scale education in psychopathology and mental health, including units enrolling more than 800 students, alongside postgraduate teaching in psychological interventions and clinical psychology. His teaching focuses on developing the skills required to translate psychological science into effective clinical practice, including evidence-based assessment and intervention, case formulation and clinical reasoning.

David brings together cognitive science, experimental psychopathology and clinical research, and moves from identifying associations to establishing causal mechanisms through which autobiographical and future-oriented cognition influence mental health and behaviour. The work continues to evolve, translating discoveries into more precise and scalable psychological interventions, while expanding the international collaborations and research capacity needed to address these questions at scale.