About me

Susie Ballentyne, PhD

For 25 years I have worked as an applied psychologist across a range of roles, primarily working with UK government.  Through years of research and practice, I’ve come to focus on what I believe to be some of the key components of human nature and performance: our social identity and our efforts to live a resilient life.

From my early years as a psychologist, I have worked with individuals and groups from Europe, to West Africa and the Middle East, as well as many in the UK, exploring the issues of leadership, team performance, identity and resilience. Initially, working with the military in high-stress environments, I went on to focus my post-graduate research at LSE in the Middle East, exploring the stories and experiences of local people in the aftermath of war. Understanding the human response to conflict fuelled my fascination in psychological resilience: how do people individually and collectively manage the challenges of life, why is it sometimes so hard, and other times we seem to ‘survive and thrive’? My PhD at Sussex University (Identities in Exile: Social Identity Change and the Experience of Forced Migration) focused on this issue working with refugees from Syria and Ukraine: how do we make sense of who we are in difficult times? How do we adapt and cope day to day, and how does our social world enable or undermine us?

Over the years I have worked with a fascinating variety of people such as small-business owners, new parents, military personnel, managers and Ambassadors. Together we’ve explored identity, resilience and leadership across a range of contexts. Now, working with the latest empirically-based research and assessment tools, I offer support to individuals and teams, centred around psychological coaching, research, training and leadership development.