Dr. Ella Guest
Health Psychologist & Research Expert
Ella is a London- and Bristol-based Health Psychologist with over a decade of experience in health psychology and behavioural science. Her work explores how people live well with long-term health conditions, how evidence-based approaches can enhance wellbeing, and the role social media plays in our daily lives and in shaping our health and wellbeing.
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As a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) at the University of the West of England, she contributes to world-leading research on the psychological and social impact of appearance and health.
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She is also an international speaker and works with organisations, charities, and health bodies to apply psychological science in practice — through research consultancy and collaboration, science communication and public speaking, and training and education.
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Latest Publications & Media
Book Chapters
Guest, E., Mathews, A., & Slater, A. (2026). Visible Difference and Social Media: Harnessing a Unique Tool to Increase Support and Reduce Stigma. In Disfigurement (pp. 91-104). Routledge.
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Guest, E., & Daniels, B. (2025). Beauty, media representations and body image. In Handbook of Beauty and Inequality. Springer. ​
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Guest, E., & Dedecker, L. (2025). Visible Difference in the Digital Age: Psychosocial Perspectives on Social Media. In Oxford handbook of the psychology of appearance (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.​
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Guest, E., & Budhraja, M. (2026) Body image in childhood and adolescence. In Handbook of Diversity in Body Image, Elsevier.
Journal Articles
Guest, E., Roberts-Mills, W., Zarola, A., & Slater, A. (2025). “It’s a kind of double-edged sword”: exploring the social media-related experiences of adults with visible differences using photo-elicitation interviews. PLoS One, 20(5), e0324938.
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Harcourt, D., Krauter, M. A., Guest, E., & Bogart, K. R. (2025). Moving beyond the individual: The impact and importance of sociocultural influences on visible difference. Body Image, 53, 101900.
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Guest, E., et al. (2024). More than my Appearance: a pilot evaluation of the Expand Your Horizon online functionality-based writing programme for adults with visible differences. Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 12(1), 2349004.
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Hooper, R., Guest, E., Ramsey-Wade, C., & Slater, A. (2024). A brief mindfulness meditation can ameliorate the effects of exposure to idealised social media images on self-esteem, mood, and body appreciation in young women: an online randomised controlled experiment. Body Image, 49, 101702.
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Visit my Google Scholar profile to read more of my publications.
Clients & Collaborators
Featured In
What People Say
Girl Guiding UK
Ella was fantastic closing our volunteer event discussing managing competing demands for volunteers, it was one of the most popular parts of the day, thanks to Ella taking the time to tailor her approach and content to perfectly suit our members. We're grateful to have benefited from Ella's empathetic and practical approach to understanding and managing everyday challenges with clear and simple takeaway points
Jade Fardon
Assistant County Commissioner
Girlguiding Middlesex North West
Welsh Harp Sailing Club
Ella used her expertise to support our club in carrying out an evidence-based evaluation of one of our projects. She analysed the data thoroughly and presented the findings in a clear and accessible way, making the impact of the course easy to understand and communicate. The evaluation showed that we had engaged a more diverse group of participants than would normally be expected, and Ella’s work enabled us to report back to our grant funders with clear evidence of positive impact. Her insight, professionalism, and ability to translate data into meaningful outcomes were invaluable.
Get in Touch
Curious about my work or have a project in mind? Get in touch — I’d love to hear from you.
