Professional background

Dr McKenna graduated from the University of Liverpool as a clinical psychologist in 1983. He obtained a PhD from the City University on the subject of psychological aspects of tinnitus and hearing loss. He obtained a post graduate diploma in cognitive behaviour therapy at the University of Oxford.

He has worked at the Royal National Throat Nose & Ear Hospital (Now Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals) in the field of psychology as applied to audiology for over three decades. His work has brought about a greater understanding of psychology into the care of audiology patients. He has a particular interest in the treatment of tinnitus and of insomnia. In recent years he has worked to develop the application of mindfulness based cognitive therapy in the care of patients with distressing tinnitus.

He holds honorary academic positions at University College London.

He has been a member of the faculty of the European Tinnitus Course, an internationally respected instructional course on tinnitus, for almost thirty years and acted course director for seven years.

He also worked as a neuropsychologist within South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust for 27 years (unitl 2013).

Research interests

Dr McKenna’s research has been within the field of tinnitus, particularly investigating aspects of tinnitus complaint and treatment options.

Publications

McKenna, L., Baguley, D. & McFerran, D. (2010) Living with tinnitus and hyperacusis. London: Sheldon Press.

Baguley, D., Andersson, G., McFerran, D. & McKenna, L. (2013) Tinnitus: A multidiciplinary approach. Second Edition. London, Wiley

McKenna L, Handscomb L, Hoare, D. J. & Hall, D. A. (2014) A scientific cognitive-behavioral model of tinnitus: novel conceptualizations of tinnitus distress. Front. Neurol.5:196.doi:10.3389/fneur.2014.00196 click for link 

McKenna, L. & Scott, D. Sleep. In: Tyler, R. (Ed) 2015. The Consumer Handbook on Tinnitus. Sedona, Arizona: Auricle Ink Publishers

Andersson, G., Hesser, H. & McKenna, L. (2016) Psychological mechanisms and tinnitus. In: D. Baguley & M. Fagelson (eds) Tinnitus: Clinical and Research Perspectives. Plural Publishing.

Brüggemann, P., Szczepek, AJ., Rose, M., McKenna, L., Olze, H. & Mazurek, B. (2016) Impact of Multiple Factors on the Degree of Tinnitus Distress. Front. Hum. Neurosci. 10:341. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00341

Saman, Y., Mclellan, L., McKenna, L., Dutia, MB., Obholzer, R., Libby, G., Gleeson, M. & Bamiou, D-E. (2016) State Anxiety Subjective Imbalance and Handicap in Vestibular Schwannoma. Front. Neurol. 7:101. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2016.00101

McKenna, L., Marks, E., Hallsworth, C. & Schaette, R., 2017. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy compared to Relaxation Training for Chronic Tinnitus: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. 86:351–361. DOI: 10.1159/000478267

McKenna, L., Marks, E.M., Vogt, F. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for chronic tinnitus: Evaluation of benefits in a large sample of patients attending a tinnitus clinic. (2017) Ear & Hearing. DOI: 10.1097/AUD.0000000000000491

Marks, E., Smith, P. & McKenna, L .(2019) Living with tinnitus and the healthcare journey: An interpretative phenomenological analysis. British Journal of Health Psychology. DOI: 10.1111/bjhp.12351

Marks, E.M., McKenna, L., & Vogt, F. (2019) Cognitive behavior therapy for tinnitus related insomnia: evaluating a new treatment approach. International Journal of Audiology. 58 (5) 311-316. DOI: 10.1080/14992027.2018.1547927
Marks, E., Hallsworth, C. & McKenna L. (2019) Cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia (CBTi) as a treatment for tinnitus-related insomnia: protocol for a randomised controlled trial. December 2019 Trials 20(1) DOI: 10.1186/s13063-019-3778-5

Marks, E., Smith, P. & McKenna, L (2020) I wasn’t at war with the noise: How Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy changes patient’s experience of tinnitus. Frontiers in Psychology 11:483. doi: 0.3389/fpsyg.2020.00483
McKenna, L & Marks, E. (2020) The psychological management of tinnitus related insomnia. In R. Tyler (ed) Tinnitus Treatments: Clinical Protocols (2nd edition). Thieme.

McKenna, L., Marks. E. & Vogt, F. (2020) Current Validated Medical Treatments for Tinnitus: Cognitive behavioral therapy. Otolaryngol Clin N Am 53 (2020) 605–615 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.otc.2020.03.007

Marks, E., McKenna, L. & Vogt, F. (2020) Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy for tinnitus: Evaluation of long-term outcomes. Clinical Psychology Forum, 334 (October 2020); 45-50.