Caroline Hands is a lecturer at the University of Liverpool, UK. As a disabled, neurodiverse mature researcher, lived experience plays a central role in shaping both research questions and values. Their research focuses on psychological well-being across diverse populations, intersectionality, and everyday experiences of stress and resilience. Drawing on positive psychology, this work explores how people regulate emotion, maintain motivation, and adapt to challenge, with the aim of developing accessible, non-stigmatising forms of support at the subclinical level. Caroline maintains an active strand of education research examining motivation, self-regulation, and student experience. This includes the development of the Diversity of Strategies for Motivation in Learning (DSML), a short-form educational measure designed to capture motivational strategies in academic contexts, as well as work exploring student engagement with emerging technologies, including AI in learning and assessment. Current work takes an intersectional approach to well-being, with a strong emphasis on impact, accessibility, and inclusion. Using creative and mixed methods, Caroline investigates digital and immersive approaches to well-being, including serious video games, virtual reality, and nature-based VR experiences. This research also examines the psychological impact of migration and transition, particularly how changes in place, culture, and context shape an individual’s sense of self and belonging.