Expert Research Consultant Services
Are you undertaking research and seeking a consultant to support your project? Looking for support with study design, ethics processes, data analysis or publication? Our experienced research consultants can help support you with your research project to ensure excellent, ethical, publishable research. Reach out today for an initial free consultation.
OVERVIEW
What is Research Consultancy?
Research consultancy is the provision of research and consulting services to support with research, service evaluation and audit projects. It involves enlisting an external, experienced research to provide specific guidance and oversight on the design and conduct of your study. Having a research consultant input into your project ensures it is compliant with ethical, methodological and publication standards. A research consultant can help with any or all of the following parts of your research projects depending on your needs:
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Finding the right research question
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Reviewing and synthesising previous research
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Identifying hypotheses to test based on prior research
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Choosing appropriate psychometric measures
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Creating interview questions
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Selecting a recruitment strategy
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Applying for and gaining ethical approval, or considering whether it is needed apply for ethical approval
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Data collection including support with interviewing
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Data management including data cleaning and GDPR compliance
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Data analysis support, oversight and involvement
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Writing up for publication
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Support with the publication process
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Peer review
Our Research and Consulting Services
We can support projects using human participants in the healthcare and social sciences fields. We have expertise in sensitive topics, including mental health, neurodiversity, therapy and clinical services. Our research consultants can support:
Psychology research projects
Mental health and neurodiversity research
Service evaluation projects
Research in psychological therapy, including process and outcomes
Audit projects
LGBTQ+, transgender and intersectional studies
Qualitative methodologies, including thematic analysis, IPA and grounded theory
Systematic reviews and critical literature reviews
Who is this for
We can provide research consultancy for projects inside and outside of academic structures, as we bring expertise of academic standards, ethical processes and publication standards. We also consult for students at BSc, MSc, PhD, DClinPsy and DCounsPsy level as an external consultant, provided your research team has agreed. Unlike research supervision, research consultancy is task-focused rather than developmentally-focused.
Students (BSc, MSc, PhD, doctorate)
Businesses and organisations engaging in research and development with human participants or needing literature reviews
Independent and individual researchers
Clinicians and healthcare professionals completing research, service evaluations and audits in need of supervision
Research teams needing external consultancy
Our research consultancy services are suitable for:
What’s included and approach
Our research consultants take a flexible, personalised approach to consulting. We will first outline clear terms and a contract outlining your needs and exactly what we will be consulting on and doing. We will agree timelines and tasks, such as when analyses, feedback or publications will be submitted. Our research consultancy services can be limited, one-off and ad-hoc, or project-long and inclusive from inception to publication, depending on what you need. We have a track record of successful academic publication of various projects in numerous sectors and are always happy to support with publishing research.
Format and costs
Our research consultation services are available online across the whole of the UK and internationally. We can also travel for in-person tasks as required. We can charge per hour (£150 inclusive of prep) or on a project-basis depending on your needs. Enquire with us today for a personalised, transparent quote.
Process for research consultancy
Our process involves an initial enquiry using the form below, after which we will contact you to discuss your project, needs and how we can help. If we both agree to go ahead, we will initially produce a clear contract which agrees what we will do for you, when and for how long we will support you. We will then meet at the agreed frequency and provide the agreed tasks to support your project, be that direct involvement in project delivery, oversight, writing support or design support. We regularly seek feedback to ensure our consulting services are responsive and helpful.
FAQS
Frequently Asked Questions
Our Team
Meet the Experts
Dr. David King
Counselling Psychologist
DCounsPsy, HCPC Registered
Taking the step to seek psychological support can feel daunting, and finding the right person matters. I believe that meaningful support starts with genuinely understanding the person in front of you, not just the presenting problem. With over 15 years of experience across NHS and private settings, including acute inpatient hospital care, community mental health, and Children and Young People's services, I aim to offer a space that feels both clinically rigorous and genuinely welcoming. I offer psychological therapy drawing on a variety of evidenced based approaches, alongside neurodevelopmental assessments for adults, with a particular interest in ADHD and autism, delivered with a neuro-affirming approach. I hold a Doctorate in Counselling Psychology, am a registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), and a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society.
Dr. Alastair Pipkin
Lead Clinical Psychologist
DClinPsy, HCPC Registered, AFHEA, Dip. Strategic Management and Leadersip
Dr. Pipkin is a registered clinical psychologist, fully accredited cognitive behavioural therapist with the BABCP, an associate fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a registered specialist in the field of gender dysphoria with the UK Equalities Office.
He is an experienced diagnostic assessor of autism, ADHD, gender dysphoria and the range of mental health difficulties. He is also an experienced academic, published researcher and experienced consultant and supervisor for students up to doctorate level.
He leads Unlock Psychology Ltd, overseeing the clinical, academic and research services provided. Dr. Pipkin provides diagnostic assessments, academic and research services.
Dr. Faisal Mir
Clinical Psychologist
DClinPsy, HCPC Registered
Dr Faisal Mir is a highly experienced Clinical Psychologist offering detailed and in-depth psychological assessments of people of all ages. He currently works in independent practice and is based in Birmingham. He has been working as a Clinical Psychologist since 2009 assessing and treating mainly adults with mild, moderate, and severe psychological difficulties.
Dr Mir provides a range of psychological services including:
Psychological and Neuropsychological Assessments – such as intelligence testing, cognitive and capacity assessments, and personality assessments.
Assessments of autism (ADI-R and ADOS-2) and ADHD.
Psychological therapies including CBT (Cognitive behaviour therapy), REBT (Rational emotive behaviour therapy), Schema therapy, Compassion focussed therapy, EMDR (Eye movement desensitisation reprocessing), and ACT (Acceptance and commitment therapy).
He has also worked extensively in the legal field, preparing specialist reports for Civil, Family, and Employment Courts. Also, immigration tribunals. This has been to assess mental health difficulties for people involved in personal injury, medical negligence, data breach, and housing disrepair claims. Moreover, this has also included carrying out cognitive and capacity assessments, psychological assessments of complex trauma, and treatment recommendations.
Dr. Claire Wiles
Clinical Psychologist
DClinPsy, HCPC Registered
Dr Akpevwoghene Claire Wiles is a clinical psychologist who specialises in working with adults with a range of mental health difficulties, including individuals with complex emotional and relational needs, personality disorders and complex trauma. She also has an interest in working with individuals who identify as part of the global majority.
Claire’s therapeutic approach is trauma-informed and integrative. She can draw upon different models, and she primarily draws upon attachment theory, cognitive-behavioural, cognitive-analytic, and mentalisation-based therapy.
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"I really enjoyed today, Alastair is a great lecturer who kept me awake and engaged all day! The regular breaks are extremely helpful in maintaining engagement and motivation. There is a good balance of talking and activities and i feel the information provided was extremely clear and structured well."
"I recently had my gender dysphoria assessment with Alastair at Unlock Psychology. The whole process was straightforward, surprisingly fast, completely transparent, and entirely free of the gatekeeping you usually find in transgender healthcare. Alastair is a true professional who treats you with respect, making the environment feel genuinely safe and validating. Instead of making me jump through unnecessary hoops, the evaluation itself was grounded entirely in clear facts and objective reality. If you need a reliable clinical psychologist for gender identity services, I definitely recommend him."
"My existing NHS autism assessment was incomplete due to various factors. It was of great personal importance to me to have this updated and correctly recorded, by a qualified professional. I was pleased to find Unlock Psychology Ltd, who not only have their standards and full assessments recognised by the NHS, but were also willing to work with me to evidence and provide the sections that were previously absent or lacking.
Fair pricing.
Good communication before, during, and after interview, including checking for intention, being clear on needed information, and precision of wording on report.
Positive experience that fulfilled expected purpose."
TESTIMONIALS
What Our Clients Say
4.9
average rating from 100+ Google reviews