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Dr Fiona Holland is a qualitative specialist who did her first IPA in 2012 as part of her Doctorate (Ed D) at the University of Derby- her project explored academics' experiences of teaching in Higher Education. Since then, Fiona has enthusiastically embraced collaborative research (much more fun!) with Elly and other colleagues. She has published a range of qualitative work using IPA, thematic analysis and mixed methods in peer-reviewed journals and examined IPA doctoral theses both as an internal and external examiner. She has also led IPA and qualitative methods workshops and summer schools. Over her 18+ years as a Senior Lecturer, Fiona is proud to have supported undergraduate and postgraduate students with their qualitative projects, many of which have been disseminated as posters, presentations and publications.
Fiona’s training began within an undergraduate degree in sports science followed by a PGCE at Loughborough University. After completing her master's degree in sport psychology at the University of Minnesota, she worked in the field of health and wellbeing for 16 years in the USA, supporting healthy lifestyle change. She worked with university employees, retirees, executives and athletes. Since returning to the UK in 2006, she has taught in the university sector, combining her passion for qualitative methods, behaviour change and effective communication skills. Fiona teaches using interactive and engaging methods.
Alongside her work with Qual Academy, Fiona continues to work part-time as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Derby and is a freelance trainer and behaviour change/evaluation specialist.
Fiona lives in the Peak District, in England, with her family and her rescue dog. She loves to spend time outside in nature, enjoys time with her horse, and in her spare time helps others to train their horses using compassionate, horse-friendly methods.
Dr Elly Phillips started her academic journey in a completely different field to psychology, successfully gaining a Master of Engineering degree (with distinction) in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southampton. After a few years working in the space industry and a move to the US, she decided to return to study and completed a BSc in Psychology before progressing to study for a PhD, both with the University of Derby, and was awarded her PhD in 2012. The experience of conducting a meaningful piece of research and getting to teach on the University of Derby Online programme solidified her (somewhat unexpected) move into academia.
Elly’s PhD involved IPA to investigate stress and coping experiences of couples undergoing the early stages of IVF. She was awarded her PhD in 2012 and continued to teach and research at the University of Derby, where she met Fiona as part of a collaborative enterprise and continues as a visiting Research Fellow there. As part of the collaboration with Fiona and others, she has published various work using IPA and thematic analysis, as well as writing on methodological approaches to qualitative research, collaborative writing and the experiences of women in academia.
Elly has worked for a range of online psychology programmes in the US, largely teaching and supervising qualitative research, with a few diversions into other aspects of psychology. Her supervisees have gone on to further study, including conducting a PhD with Dr Jonathan Smith and pursuing PhDs at other institutions. She has significant experience working remotely with students.
Outside of work, Elly is lucky enough to live in the beautiful Sierra Nevada mountains in northern California and, like Fiona, enjoys the opportunities offered, including cross country skiing, kayaking, mountain biking, plus hiking and trail running with her rescue lab-husky mix dog.
Our Publications
Our Publications
Sailer, A. B., & Phillips, E. (2023). Differentiating between psychological, spiritual, and religious dimensions of wellbeing among Orthodox Christians: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of lay perceptions. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 26(7), 676–688. https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2023.2244889
Phillips, E., & Bissessar, C. (2023). Exploring the Iceberg: Autoethnography and Insights into the Hidden Experiences of Female Academics. In C. Bissessar (Ed.), Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Intercultural Perspectives (pp. 297–321). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34140-3_13
Bissessar, C., McCauley, K., & Phillips, E. (2023). Exploring Female Academics’ Resiliency During the Pandemic. In C. Bissessar (Ed.), Female Academics’ Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Intercultural Perspectives (pp. 3–25). Springer International Publishing.
Montague, J., Phillips, E., Holland, F., & Archer, S. (2020). Expanding hermeneutic horizons: Working as multiple researchers and with multiple participants: Research Methods in Medicine & Health Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/2632084320947571
Murray, A., Shaunessey, J., & Phillips, E. (2019, November 22). Worlds apart yet infinitely connected; the complexities of quality assuring through differing ideologies. Scottish Educational Research Association, University of Edinburgh.
Phillips, E., Archer, S., Montague, J., & Bali, A. (2019). Experiences of enhanced recovery after surgery in general gynaecology patients: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Health Psychology Open, 6(2), 2055102919860635. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/2055102919860635
Phillips, E., Montague, J., & Archer, S. (2018). Developing methods for using interpretative phenomenological analysis with focus group data. In Sage research methods cases part 2. SAGE Publications Ltd. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781526428684
Phillips, E., Montague, J., & Archer, S. (2017). “A peculiar time in my life”: making sense of illness and recovery with gynaecological cancer. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 12(1), 1364603. https://doi.org/10.1080/17482631.2017.1364603
Phillips, E., Montague, J., & Archer, S. (2016). Worlds within worlds: a strategy for using interpretative phenomenological analysis with focus groups. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 13(4), 289–302. https://doi.org/10.1080/14780887.2016.1205692
Archer, S., Phillips, E., Montague, J., Bali, A., & Sowter, H. (2015). “I’m 100% for it! I’m a convert!”: Women’s experiences of a yoga programme during treatment for gynaecological cancer; an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 23(1), 55–62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2014.12.003
Wagstaff, C., Jeong, H., Nolan, M., Wilson, T., Tweedlie, J., Phillips, E., Senu, H., & Holland, F. (2014). The Accordion and the Deep Bowl of Spaghetti: Eight Researchers’ Experiences of Using IPA as a Methodology. The Qualitative Report, 19(47), 1–15.
Phillips, E., Elander, J., & Montague, J. (2014a). An interpretative phenomenological analysis of men’s and women’s coping strategy selection during early IVF treatment. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 32(4), 366–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2014.915391
Phillips, E., Elander, J., & Montague, J. (2014b). Managing multiple goals during fertility treatment: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Health Psychology, 19(4), 531–543. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105312474915
Furong, R., Harvey, C. Holland, F. & Hallam, J. (2025) “I came here and it flows”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of low income residents’ experiences with allotment gardening. Urban Forestry Urban Greening, 104 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2024.128646
Phillips, E., Holland F., Montague, J. & Archer, S. (2025) Together and apart: Successful collaboration over time and distance. Chapter in Norton, L., & Aiken, V. 'Writing partnerships in Higher Education. A guide for academics and HE professionals. Routledge (accepted in press).
Holland, F., Harvey, C., Ferris, E., Furlong, R., & Gibson, S. (2024). ‘It was a whole other world’: the impact of residential outdoor trips on nature connectedness and wellbeing in young people. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2024.2350972 (Click here for full article).
Childs, C. & Holland, F. (2022) Young peoples’ lived experienced of shifts between face-to-face and smart phone interactions; An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Youth Studies, 1-16.
Craven, H., Hallmark, M., Holland, F., & Maratos, F. (2022). Factors Influencing Successful Coping among Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) Personnel: Recruiting for Resilience - A Mixed Methods Study. Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1239287/v1
Laurent, N., Holland, F. & Sheffield, D. (2021) Exploring Buddhism as a ‘tool’ to support well-being: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Western Adopters’ Experiences. Pastoral Psychology, 20, 471-485
Montague, J., Phillips, E., Holland, F. & Archer, S (2020) Expanding hermeneutic horizons: Working as multiple researchers and with multiple participants. Research Methods in Medicine & Health Sciences, 1, (1) https://doi.org/10.1177/2632084320947571https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/5TGFQZAUIVZ98YUTD3FV/full
Holland, F., Peterson, K & Archer, S. (2018) Thresholds of size: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of childhood messages around food, body, health and weight. Journal of Critical Dietetics. February, 4 (1), 25-35 https://doi.org/10.32920/cd.v4i1.717
Archer, S., Holland, F. & Montague, J. (2016) Do you mean I’m not whole?’ Exploring the role of support in women’s experiences of mastectomy without reconstruction. Journal of Health Psychology, 23 (12) 1598-1609 https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105316664135
Holland, F., Archer, S. & Montague, J. (2014) Younger women’s experiences of deciding against delayed breast reconstruction post-mastectomy following breast cancer: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Journal of Health Psychology, 21(8), 1688-1699.
Wagstaff, C., Jeong, H., Nolan, M., Wilson, A., Tweedlie, J., Phillips, E., Senu H. & Holland, F. (2014). The accordion and the deep bowl of spaghetti: Eight researchers’ experiences of using IPA as a methodology The Qualitative Report, 19. 47: 1-15.
Holland, F. (2014) Teaching in higher education: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. Research Methods Cases. London: Sage. http://hdl.handle.net/10545/621253
McLaren, N., Mackereth, P., Hackman, E. and Holland, F. (2014) Working out of the ‘toolbox’: an exploratory study with complementary therapists in acute cancer care. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 20, 4, 207-221
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