Dr Francesca Brencio PhD

Dr Francesca Brencio

School of Psychology
Teaching Fellow

Contact details

Address
School of Psychology
窪蹋勛圖厙
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B15 2TT
UK

Dr. Francesca Brencio is a philosopher interested in the integration of phenomenology and hermeneutics within clinical education and practice. She is the Director of the - A Theoretical Laboratory in Phenomenology and Mental Health, officially recognised in 2024 as an Organisational Partner at The Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice in Health and Social Care at the St Catherine's College at the University of Oxford (UK). Her research systematically examines the epistemological foundations that phenomenology and hermeneutics offer to psychiatry and psychology. 

  •  
  • Scopus ID: 56803875100 
  • Web of Science Researcher ID: AAY-1674-2020

Qualifications

  • APPA Certified Philosophical Counsellor, Registered Certificate Number CC00512/2023
  • Italian National Scientific Habilitation as Associate Professor, Academic Recruitment Field: History of Philosophy
  • Italian National Scientific Habilitation as Associate Professor, Academic Recruitment Field: Theoretical Philosophy
  • BA in Theology
  • PhD Philosophy and Human Sciences - Passed without corrections
  • BA Hons. In Philosophy - Grade: 110/110 summa cum laude

Biography

Dr. Francesca Brencio joined the 窪蹋勛圖厙 in August 2024 as Teaching Fellow in Mental Health with a full-time teaching position.

She studied Philosophy at University of Perugia (Italy), Theology at the Theological Institute in Assisi associated to Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis (Vatican City) and awarded a Ph.D. in Philosophy and Human Sciences from the University of Perugia (Italy). She was a post-doctoral researcher at the Western Sydney University (Australia) and visiting post-doc at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Germany). From 2018 to 2024 she was Associate Researcher in Philosophy at the Research Group “HUM018: Filosofía Aplicada: Sujeto, Sufrimiento, Sociedad” at the University of Seville (Spain).
Executive Committee Member of , since 2018 she actively collaborates with The Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice at St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford (UK). Since January 2022 she is a member of the Philosophy of Psychiatry Educators Network as part of the 

In March 2021 she received The Seal of Excellence, awarded by the European Commission in the frame of EU Programme for Research and Innovation 2014-2020. 

From September 2023 to July 2024 she was among the leading researchers of Co-production Scheme on OCD, entitled “”, as part of the broad international project entitled Renewing Phenomenological Psychopathology, funded by Wellcome Trust Grant at the 窪蹋勛圖厙 (UK), led by Prof. Matthew Broome.

Together with Prof. Matthew Broome, Director of the IMH at the 窪蹋勛圖厙 (UK), she co-leads The Birmingham Network for Phenomenology and Mental Health, funded by the 窪蹋勛圖厙 Interdisciplinary Research (IDR) Network+ Scheme, which runs from March 2025 to March 2026.

Teaching

Dr Brencio is involved in teaching activities for the MSc programme in Mental Health for on-campus and distance-learning students. Specifically, for the DL MSc programme she teaches the following modules:

  • Philosophy and Psychopathology in Mental Health
  • User involvement in Mental Health
  • Biopsychosocial Approaches to Mental Health: Epidemiology and Diagnosis
  • Research Methods in Mental Health: Qualitative Approaches and Meta Synthesis

Postgraduate supervision

Dr. Brencio supervises Master Students and Postgraduate students in Phenomenology, Philosophy of Psychiatry, Phenomenological Psychopathology, Phenomenologically Informed Interviews and Analysis and Applied Ethics.

Currently, Dr. Brencio is supervising the following PhD students:

Joanna Swiecinska

  • Title of the project: The Impact of Islamic Therapy on Mental Health in Muslim Converts: A Phenomenological Analysis 
  • Role: 1st supervisor
  • Course: PhD Psychology

Aleasha Nambalirwa

  • Title of the project: Exposed child: The disclosure of HIV status in family systems. A phenomenologically informed study
  • Role: 1st supervisor
  • Course: Clinical Psychology Doctorate (ClinPsyD)

Research

A distinguished scholar in the phenomenological and Heideggerian tradition, Dr. Brencio’s scholarly focus lies at the intersection of phenomenological psychopathology and psychiatry. Her investigations encompass fundamental aspects of human experience, including perceptual processes, attentional mechanisms, emotions (individual and social emotions), affective life, and the role of the body in psychopathological experiences. Her work illuminates the subjective dimensions of psychopathological experiences, with a special interest in depression and schizophrenia.

Before joining The Institute of Mental Health and the School of Psychology, Dr. Brencio was involved in the following research projects:

As principal investigator

2023-2024 | University of Perugia, Italy

Title of the research project: Enhancing Pedagogical Metacognition in Literacy Instruction: Understanding Process Factors and Developmental Learning Disorders

As Co-Investigator

2024-2025 | Centro di Riabilitazione Neurocognitiva "Villa Miari", Santorso, Italy

Conducting Phenomenological Interviews into Post-Stroke Patients' Conscious Proprioception: Examining Alterations in Upper Limb Muscle Tone and Spasticity-Associated Cognitive Processes Through Qualitative Methodologies

2020 | University Hospital Freiburg, Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, Germany

Contribution in clinical research examining psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Study protocol received institutional ethics approval (174/20) and was registered with German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00021395).

Other activities

Selected Memberships: 

  • Member of the European Association of Phenomenology and Psychopathology (EAPP)
  • Executive Committee Member of The Royal College of Psychiatrists - Special Interest Group in Philosophy
  • Member of The Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice at St. Catherine's College at the University of Oxford (UK)
  • Member of the Philosophy of Psychiatry Educators Network as part of the International Network for Philosophy and Psychiatry
  • American Daseinsanalityc Institute
  • Associazione Italiana di Psicologia Fenomenologica
  • Associazione Italiana Psichiatria e Filosofia
  • The British Society for Phenomenology
  • The Nordic Society for Phenomenology

Publications

Recent publications

Book

Brencio, F (ed.) 2024, . Contributions to Phenomenology, no. 131, 1 edn, Springer, Cham.

Article

Brencio, F 2024, '', International Review of Psychiatry.

Brencio, F 2022, '', La societa' degli individui, vol. 73, no. 1, pp. 35-45.

Brencio, F & Bizzari, V 2022, '', Rivista internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 94-107.

Brencio, F 2022, '', Bollettino Filosofico, vol. 37, pp. 243-251.

Chapter

Brencio, F 2024, . in P Gargiulo & HL Mesones-Arroyo (eds), Psychiatry and Neuroscience Update Vol. V: Addiction: From Laboratory and Anthropology to Clinical Practice. 1 edn, Springer.

Brencio, F 2024, . in F Brencio (ed.), Phenomenology, Neuroscience and Clinical Practice: Transdisciplinary Experiences. 1 edn, Contributions to Phenomenology, vol. 131, Springer, pp. 1-6.

Brencio, F 2023, . in M Englander & S Ferrarello (eds), Empathy and Ethics. Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 165-184. <>

Brencio, F 2023, . in D Stoyanov (ed.), Contemporary Neuropsychiatry: Implications from Cognitive Neuroscience. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 26-42. <>

Brencio, F 2023, . in E Boublil & S Ferrarello (eds), The Vulnerability of the Human World: Well-being, Health, Technology and the Environment. 1 edn, Philosophy and Medicine, vol. 148, Springer, pp. 159-179.

Brencio, F 2022, . in Metaphors and Analogies in Sciences and Humanities: Words and Worlds. 1 edn, Synthese Library, vol. 453, Springer, pp. 319-337.

Comment/debate

Brencio, F 2021, '', Philosophy, Psychiatry and Psychology, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 11-13.

Conference article

Bizzari, V & Brencio, F 2022, '', Humanistic Psychologist, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 70-82.

Other contribution

Brencio, F 2024, ..

Review article

Messas, G & Brencio, F 2025, '', Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 369, pp. 986-994.