Adrian Coyle

My engagement with higher education began with my degree in Psychology (with Philosophy), completed at University College Dublin in 1986. In 1987 I moved to London and worked as a research assistant at what was then South Bank Polytechnic. After completing my PhD at the University of Surrey in 1991, I took up a lectureship there and remained at Surrey until 2014, fulfilling various roles, principally in relation to the Practitioner Doctorate in Psychotherapeutic and Counselling Psychology (as Research Tutor) and the MSc in Social Psychology (as Course Director). In 2014, I became Professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Kingston University London. Between 2004 and 2014, I returned to academic study at the University of London, obtaining qualifications in Theology (at Birkbeck and at Heythrop College), in the Psychology of Religion and in Christian Spirituality (also at Heythrop College). In 2019, I retired am now Emeritus Professor of Psychology at Kingston University London. I continue to write and pursue research.

If I were asked to provide a concise account of my research profile, I would point to three major themes, one being methodological and the other two relating to substantive topic areas. To begin with the methodological theme, although my PhD work was highly quantitative, most of my subsequent research has seen me employ a variety of qualitative approaches to explore a range of research topics. I have become passionate about the value of qualitative methods and was delighted to have seen them earn increasing acceptance within British psychology. Indeed, it gave me enormous pleasure to work with Evanthia Lyons, in producing an edited textbook on qualitative psychology (Analysing Qualitative Data in Psychology) in 2007, the second edition of which was published in 2016 (and a third edition is currently in preparation).

However, I like to think of myself as much more than a methodological technician. Two substantive themes in my research and writing have concerned topics that I have seen as possessing significant social relevance. The first of these themes concerns various psychological aspects of lesbian and gay lives, such as sexual identity and psychotherapeutic practice with lesbian and gay clients. In more recent years, my interests have turned towards the Psychology of Religion. This has been a longstanding area of professional interest but the Psychology of Religion has now taken a more central role in my research and writing activities and in my plans for the future.

One development that I have been delighted to encourage over the past few years has been the consistent interest expressed by undergraduates and postgraduates in working with me on research projects related to various aspects of the Psychology of Religion. With undergraduate and postgraduate students, I have been gathering data on how religious traditions/groups respond to people with mental health conditions within their congregations/communities and how people with mental health conditions experience religious communities.

One aspect of my role that gave me greatest pleasure was supervising the research of postgraduate students. However, as I am now retired, I am no longer able to accept new PhD students.
Address: Department of Psychology,
Kingston University London,
Penrhyn Road,
Kingston upon Thames KT1 2EE,
United Kingdom