Prof Peter Tyler

Professor - Pastoral Theology and Spirituality

Email: peter.tyler@stmarys.ac.uk
Tel: 020 8240 4082

Biography

Prof Peter Tyler is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality.

He is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and contributes to the current dialogue between spirituality and psychotherapy. He is also Co-Editor of Vinayasadhana, a new journal for Psycho-Spiritual formation.

Peter is the Director of St Mary’s research centre InSpiRe - The Centre for Initiatives in Spirituality and Reconciliation.

You can follow Prof Peter Tyler's work by reading his blog, insoulpursuit.

Higher Education and Qualifications:

PhD awarded from Durham University. Title of thesis: Mystical Strategies and Performative Discourse in the theologia mystica of Teresa of Avila: A Wittgensteinian Analysis. (2000)
Registration with the United Kingdom Council of Psychotherapists (UKCP) (2003)
The Minster Centre, Kilburn, NorthLondon. MA in Integrative Psychotherapy gained with Merit in Oct 2000. Title of dissertation: The Birth of Psychotherapy from the Spirit of Mythos. Diploma in Integrative Psychotherapy. (1995–2000)
Heythrop College, University of London MTh in Philosophy of Religion. Dissertation: Theology after Wittgenstein? The Metaphysics of Realism and Anti-Realism in Wittgenstein, Kerr and the Contemporary Philosophy of Religion. (1992–1994)
Studying for the priesthood in the Society of Jesus (‘Jesuits’) at Manresa House, Birmingham and Selly Oak Colleges. Awarded Certificate in World Religions from Selly Oak Colleges. (1988–1990)
Living and studying at the Jesuit Theological College of St Georgen, Frankfurt–am–Main, Germany (1985–1987)
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University. BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. Specialising in British and Continental Philosophy (1981–1984)

Research

Research profile

External involvement including consultancy, professional bodies and External Examining:

2008 – present Visiting Scholar, Sarum College, Salisbury
2016 – present Executive Board of the Carmelite Institute of Britain and Ireland
2012 – 2016 Visiting Professor, Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas
2011 – 2016 Visiting Professor, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram (Pontifical Athenaeum of Philosophy, Theology and Canon Law), Bengaluru, India
2014 Veale Professorial Chair, Milltown Institute, Dublin, Ireland
2014 – 2016 External Examiner, MA Christian Spirituality, All Hallows College Dublin (DCU)
2008 – 2012 External Examiner for the MA Programme in Christian Spirituality at Heythrop College, University of London.
2006 - 2011 External Examiner for the Higher Diploma and MA Programmes in Applied Christian Spirituality and the Higher Diploma and MA Programmes in Supervisory Practice at the Milltown Institute, Dublin (National University of Ireland)
2007 - 2010 Trustee of the Minster Centre for Training in Integrative Psychotherapy at Queen’s Park, London.
2005 - 2012 Representative of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales, Department of Dialogue and Unity on the English Anglican-Roman Catholic Committee (ARC).

Professional Societies:

UK Council for Psychotherapists
The Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality
The Catholic Theological Association
Mystical Theology Network
London Society for the Study of Religion
The International Association for the Study of the Philosophy of Edith Stein
The Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies

Publications:

Books:

Tyler, P.M. and E. Howells, John of the Cross: Carmel, Desire and Transformation. London: Routledge, 2023.
Tyler, P.M. The Living Philosophy of Edith Stein. London: Bloomsbury, 2023.
Tyler, P.M. The Spanish Mystics: Ecstasy and Communion. London: Wise Studies, 2022
Tyler, P.M., Christian Mindfulness: Theology and Practice. Norwich: Canterbury-SCM, 2018
Tyler, P.M. and C. Cook, J. McLean (ed), Mystical Theology: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition. London: Routledge, 2018
Tyler, P.M., Confession: The Healing of the Soul. London: Bloomsbury, 2017
Tyler, P.M. and E. Howells (ed), Teresa of Avila: Mystical Theology and Spirituality in the Carmelite Tradition. London: Routledge, 2017
Tyler, P.M., The Pursuit of the Soul: Psychoanalysis, Soul-making and the Christian Tradition. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2016
Tyler, P.M., Picturing the Soul: Revisioning Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction. Bangalore: Dharmaram, 2014
Tyler, P.M., Teresa of Avila: Doctor of the Soul. London: Bloomsbury (manuscript with publishers, publication 2013)
Tyler, P.M. and R.Woods, The Bloomsbury Guide to Christian Spirituality. London: Bloomsbury, 2012
Tyler, P.M. The Return to the Mystical: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Teresa of Avila and the Christian Mystical Tradition. London: Continuum, June 2011
Tyler, P.M and Howells, E., Sources of Transformation: Revitilising Christian Spirituality. London: Continuum, 2010
Tyler, P.M., St John of the Cross: Outstanding Christian Thinker. London: Continuum, 2010
Tyler, P.M., The Way of Ecstasy: Praying with St Teresa of Avila. Norwich: SCM/The Canterbury Press, 1997

Chapters and Articles in Books:

Tyler, P.M. ‘The Carthusians and the Cloud of Unknowing’ in The Oxford Handbook of Dionysius the Areopagite, ed M. Edwards, D. Pallis and G. Steiris. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Tyler, P.M. ‘The Spanish School of Prayer’ in T & T Clark Handbook of Christian Prayer, ed A. Cocksworth and J. McDowell. Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 2022.
Tyler, P.M. ‘Christian Sannyāsa: Dual Belonging or a Bridge too far?’ in Hindu-Christian Dual-Belonging, ed D. Soars and N. Pohran. London: Routledge, 2022.
Tyler, P.M. Article on ‘Psychology of Religion’ in The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (4th ed.), ed. A. Louth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Tyler, P.M. ‘Thirthankara’ in Francis Vineeth Vadakethala CMI: Footprints of a Philosopher-Theologian Mystic, ed S. Chackalackal. Coimbatore: CMI Preshitha Province, 2021.
Tyler, P.M. ‘ “Thou Mastering Me” : Edith Stein and the Symbolic Theology of Resilience’ in Edith Stein’s Itinerary: Phenomenology, Christian Philosophy,and Carmelite Spirituality. Schriftung des Forschungsinstituts der Deutschen Provinz der Karmeliten, Band Vier. Ed. H and E. Klueting. Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2020.
Tyler, P.M. ‘ “The Science of the Cross”: Edith Stein and Resilience’ in Biblical and Theological Visions of Resilience: Pastoral and Clinical Insights. Eds N. White and C. Cook. London: Routledge, 2020.
Tyler, P.M. ‘Christian Mindfulness and Contemplative Dialogue’ in Le Dialogue des Rationalités Culturelles et Religieuses. Ed T-M. Courau. Paris: Les editions du Cerf, 2019.
Tyler, P.M. ‘Recogimiento and Oración Mental: Reflections on the “Golden Age” of Spanish Mysticism’ in Mysticism and Contemporary Life: Essays in Honour of Bernard McGinn. Ed. J. Markey and J. August Higgins. New York: Herder and Herder, 2019.
Tyler, P.M. ‘ “Healthy Guilt”: McGreal, Confession and Healing’ in Revisiting the Fountain of Elijah: Essays in Honour of Wilfrid McGreal O.Carm. Eds K. Alban and J. Bergstrom-Allen. Rome: Edizione Carmelitane, 2018.
Tyler, P.M. ‘Teresa of Avila’s Picture of the Soul: Platonic or Augustinian?’ in St Teresa of Avila: Her Writings and Life. Eds T. O’Reilly, C. Thompson and L. Twomey. Cambridge: Legenda (Studies in Hispanic and Lusophone Cultures 19), 2018.
Tyler, P.M. ‘Psychology, Theosis and the Soul: St. Teresa of Avila, St. Augustine, and Plotinus on the Western picture of theosis’ in Mystical Doctrines of Deification: Case Studies in the Christian Tradition. Eds J. Arblaster and R. Faesen. London: Routledge, 2018.
Tyler, P.M., ‘Wittgenstein Reads Merton: the Mystical Theology of Two Twentieth-Century Masters’ in Tyler, P.M. and C. Cook, J. McLean (ed), Mystical Theology: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition. London: Routledge, 2018
Tyler, P.M., ‘Mystical Affinities: St Teresa and Jean Gerson’ in Tyler, P.M. and E. Howells (ed), Teresa of Avila: Mystical Theology and Spirituality in the Carmelite Tradition. London: Routledge, 2017
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Awakening of the Heart: Psycho-Spiritual Reflections on Consecrated Life’ in Consecrated Life for a Transformed World: Catholic, Ecumenical and Interreligious Perspectives in a Globalizing Era. Ed S. Chackalackal. Bengaluru: Dharmaram, 2016
Tyler, P.M., ‘Rabindranath Tagore and Ludwig Wittgenstein: Two Sentinels on the Borderlands of Modernity’ and ‘Philosopher as a Therapist: Learning from Wittgenstein’ in Religious Interface: Secular, Sacred and Rationality. Ed J. Nandhikkara. Bengaluru: Dharmaram, 2016
Tyler, P.M., ‘To Centre or Not to Centre: Ss.Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross and the “Centre of the Soul”’ in Christian Mysticism and Incarnational Theology - Between Transcendence and Immanence, ed. L. Nelstrop and S. Podmore. Surrey: Ashgate, 2013
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Psychology of Vocation’ in The Disciple’s Call: Theologies of Vocation from Scripture to the Present Day, ed. C. Jamison. Edinburgh: T & T Clarke, 2013
Tyler, P.M., ‘Mystical Theology as Theologia Mystica’ in Dom Augustine Baker 1575 - 1641, ed. G. Scott. Leominster: Gracewing, 2012
Tyler, P.M., St John of the Cross and Thomas Merton in Journey to the Heart: Christian Contemplation Through the Centuries. Ed. K. Nataraja, Norwich: SCM-Canterbury Press, 2011
Tyler, P.M. Pastoral Theology and the Catholic Mystical Tradition in Keeping Faith in Practice: Pastoral Theology in the Catholic Tradition, ed J. Sweeney, G. Simmonds, D. Lonsdale. London: SPCK, 2010
Tyler, P.M., Articles on The Cloud of Unknowing, Miguel de Molinos, Catholic Mystical Tradition, Luis de Granada and The Carmelites in The New Cambridge Dictionary of Christianity. Ed. D. Patte. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010
Tyler, P.M. Articles on Alumbrados, Sufism and Christianity and The Triple Way in The New SCM Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, ed. P. Sheldrake, London: SCM, 2005
Tyler, P.M. ‘The Next Certitude’ in Faith in the Age of Uncertainty, ed. Sharma, S., New Delhi: Indialog, 2002

Journal Articles:

Tyler, P.M. ‘Raising the Soul in Love: St Ignatius of Loyola and the Tradition of Mystical Theology’ in Religions, 13: 1015, October 2022.
Tyler, P.M. ‘O Magnum Mysterium? Eco-theology at the foot of the Cross’ in New Blackfriars, Vol. 103, Issue 1104, March 2022.
Tyler, P.M. ‘St John of the Cross’s Visions in the Night’ in Lo Sguardo: Rivista di filosofia, Vol. 33, 2021 (II), pp. 261- 276.
Tyler, P.M. ‘A Dayspring to the Dimness of Us: The Symbolic Reality of Edith Stein, Gerard Manley Hopkins and Marie-Dominique Chenu’ in Teresianum, Vol. 72/1, June 2021.
Tyler, P.M. ‘Oración Mental, Mindfulness and Mental Prayer: The Training of the Heart in the Iberian School of Abbot García de Cisneros of Montserrat and St Teresa of Avila’ in Buddhist-Christian Studies, Vol.38, November 2018.
Tyler, P.M. ‘Auricular Confession: The Celtic Gift to the Church’ in Perichoresis, Vol. 15, No. 3, November 2017.
Tyler, P.M. , ‘Swami Abhishiktananda and the Possibility of Christian Sannyāsa’ in Studies in Spirituality, Vol. 27, 2017
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Nature and Possibility of Christian Sannyāsa’ in Vinayasādhana, January 2017, Vol. VIII, No. 1
Tyler, P.M., ‘Times and Seasons of the Spiritual Life’ in Retreats 2017, January 2017
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Llullian Spirit of Ecclesium Suam’ in Melita Theologica, Vol. 66, No. 2, 2016
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Final Act? Renunciation and the Possibility of Christian Sannyāsa’ in The Pastoral Review, November/December 2016, Vol. 12:6
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Francis Project: Pope Francis and Laudato Si’’ in The Pastoral Review, January/February 2016, Vol. 12:1
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Return of the Soul: Psychology, Theology and Soul-Making’ in New Blackfriars, January 2016, Vol 97: 1067
Tyler, P.M., ‘Loving or Thinking?: Teresa of Avila’s Language of the Soul’ in Mount Carmel, Vol. 63/4 October-December 2015
Tyler, P.M., ‘Philosopher as a Therapist: Learning from Wittgenstein’ in Journal of Dharma, Vol. 40, No. 3, July-September 2015
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Choreography of Psychology and Religious Understanding’ in Vinayasādhana. Vol. VI, No.2. July 2015
Tyler, P.M., ‘Rabindranath Tagore and Ludwig Wittgenstein: Two Sentinels on the Borderlands of Modernity’ in Journal of Dharma, Vol. 40, No. 1, January- March 2015
Tyler, P.M., ‘Carl Jung: Friend or Foe of Christianity?’ in Vinayasādhana. Vol. VI, No.1. January 2015
Tyler, P.M., ‘Mindfulness, Heartfulness or Soulfulness? Teresa of Avila, Otto Rank, James Hillman and the Return of the Soul’ in Milltown Studies, No. 74, Winter 2014
Tyler, P.M., ‘Psychotherapy and Counselling: Pseudo-Science or Pseudo-Myth?’ in The Bangalore Review. Vol. 1, No. 10. March 2014
Tyler, P.M. ‘ “The Cell will Teach you Everything”: Carmel and the Desert Tradition’ in Mount Carmel. Vol. 61, No.1, Jan-March 2013
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Age of the Laity’ in The Pastoral Review, Vol 8:2, March/April 2012
Tyler, P.M., ‘The Roots of Desert Spirituality’ in The Pastoral Review, Vol 7:5, September/October 2011
Tyler, P.M. ‘The Desert Tradition and Christian Spiritual Direction’ in Vinayasādhana. Vol 2, No.2. July 2011
Tyler, P.M. ‘The Mystical Strategies of St Teresa of Avila’ in Tattua: Journal of Philosophy. Vol.3, No.1, Jan-June 2011
Tyler, P.M. ‘A Path to Inner Freedom: Spiritual Direction According to St John of the Cross’ in Mount Carmel. Vol. 59, No.1, Jan-March 2011
Tyler, P.M. ‘Healing the Butterfly: Reflections on the Relationship between Psychotherapy/Counselling and Christian Spiritual Direction’ in Vinayasādhana. Vol 1, No.1. January 2010
Tyler, P.M. ‘Merton at Fifty’ in The Merton Journal. Vol 17, No.1 2010 Tyler, P.M., ‘”Let us Behold Ourselves in Your Beauty”: John of the Cross as Christian Artist’ in Mount Carmel, Jan – March 2010. Vol 58, No.1
Tyler, P.M., ‘Credere con il corpo’ in Gioventù Evangelica, LVIII, Winter 2008
Tyler, P.M., ‘Thomas Merton 40 Years On: A Post-Modern Guide for Troubled Times’ in The Pastoral Review, Vol 4:6, November/December 2008
Tyler, P.M., ‘Becoming Adult: Reflections on the English and Welsh Catholic Bishops’ Document ‘The Priority of Adult Formation’’ in The Pastoral Review, Vol 4:2, March/April 2008
Tyler, P.M., ‘St John of the Cross: That Much Misunderstood Mystic’ in The Pastoral Review, Vol 3:3, May/June 2007
Tyler, P.M The Stulta Sapientia: Spiritual Direction and the Christian Mystical Tradition’. Presence: The International Journal for Spiritual Directors. March 2007
Tyler, P.M ‘Lessons from the Christian Mystical Tradition for Healthcare Today’. Spirituality and Healthcare International. Autumn 2006
Tyler, P.M. ‘A Spirit of Optimism’: Thomas Merton and a Christian Spirituality
for a New Millennium’ in The Pastoral Review, Vol 2:4, July-August 2006
Tyler, P.M. ‘On Christian Prayer’ in Spirituality, Vol. 9, No.49, July-August 2003
Tyler, P.M. ‘Thomas Merton: Ikon of Commitment for the Postmodern Generation’ in The Way Supplement: The Postmodern Generation, No.98, 2000
Tyler, P.M. ‘What Carmel Means to Me: The Night Journey of Prayer’ in Mount Carmel, Vol. 47, No.4, Jan-March 2000
Tyler, P.M. ‘The Next Certitude’ in India International Centre Quarterly, Vol. 26 +27, Nos 4 + 1, Spring 2000
Tyler, P.M. ‘Our Heritage of Prayer: St Benedict and his School for the Lord’s Service.’ in The Catholic Gazette, Vol. 91:4, April 2000
Tyler, P.M. ‘At the Heart of Life’ in The Tablet, 26th July 1997

Book Reviews and Editorial Work:

2006 – present. Reviews Editor and Editorial Adviser. The Pastoral Review.
2010 – present. Deputy Editor Vinayasāsadhana: Journal of Psycho-Spiritual Formation. Published at Dharmaram College, Christ University, Bangalore
2010 – present. Editorial Adviser, Mount Carmel Journal. Journal of the Teresian Carmelites of the Anglo-Irish Province
Peer reviewer for the journal Theology and Bloomsbury Press and have submitted reviews in recent years to all the above journals as well as International Journal for Systematic Theology, The Way, Journal of Contemporary Religion and Carmelus, I am/have been a peer reviewer for Routledge, Ashgate, Bloomsbury, T & T Clark, SPCK, Canterbury-SCM Press and the Bible Reading Fellowship.

Conference Presentations/ Broadcasting/Preaching:

The Care of the Soul: Spiritual Direction and the Christian Mystical Tradition. Address at the Carmelite Spiritual Direction Training Programme, Chicago, USA, October 2023
‘Amada en el Amado Transformada’: Psychological Symbols of Spiritual Transformation in St John of the Cross’ Spiritual Canticle. Keynote address delivered at ‘Soul Encounters: Dreams, Depth Psychology, Body, Soul and Spirit’ at Sedes Sapientiae Institute, São Paulo, Brazil, September 2023
‘Light and Death Once Met’: Edith Stein Reads St John of the Cross. Keynote address delivered at ‘Dignitas Personae et Amor Dei: The Value of the Human Person and Divine Love, Meeting Edith Stein’ at Aylesford Priory, July 2023
Victor White O.P., Carl Jung and the Challenge of Psychology to Spirituality. Conference Paper delivered at The European Academy of Religion Annual Conference, St Andrew’s University, Scotland, June 2023
The Dance of Desire: The Language of Therapy and Spiritual Direction. Annual Lecture of the Southwark Association of Spiritual Directors, Southwark Cathedral, London, June 2023
What has Vienna to do with Bodh Gaya? Dialogues of the Unconscious. Presentation at the Bi-Annual conference of the European Network for Buddhist-Christian Studies. Salzburg, Austria, July 2022
Sacred Space, Sacred Play: The Feast of Fools for the Annual Conference of the Friends of Sophia, Wells Cathedral: Wisdom in Stone, May 2022
Dionysos or the Crucified One?: Freud, Nietzsche, Jung and the Return of the Repressed in Society for the Association of Psychosocial Studies conference Psychoanalysis, Culture and Religion in Times of Conspiracy Theories and Fake News. (via zoom). June 2021
Christian Spirituality in a Time of Covid: Journeying with William Blake and the Book of Job for English Benedictine Congregation (via zoom), March 2021
Edith Stein: Being a Christian in Troubled Times at Thinking Faith, hosted by Trinity College Dublin (via zoom), February 2021
Fratelli Tutti and the Mission of Dialogue at Being without Borders: A Symposium on Fratelli Tutti. Oxford Blackfriars (via zoom). February 2021
Teresa of Avila – Doctor of the Soul at Catherine of Siena and Teresa of Avila: Doctors, Dialogues, Directions. Calgary Institute of Humanities, University of Calgary, Canada (via zoom), November 2020
The Duty of the Philosopher: Ludwig Wittgenstein in Troubled (and Troubling) Times for the Philosophy Faculty, University of São Paulo, Brazil (via zoom), October 2020
‘Thou Mastering Me’: Edith Stein and the Symbolic Theology of Resilience at the 5th Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Philosophy of Edith Stein (IASPES) held at the University of Cologne, August 2019
Melancholia, the Dark Night and Spirituality: John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and Mental Health. Part of the lecture series to accompany the exhibition, The Anatomy of Melancholy, at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind, The Maudsley NHS Trust, London, March 2019
Mind, Soul or Psyche? Humanising the Experience of Mental Illness at ‘Mind, Medicine and Morals: the Ethics of Psychiatry and Mental Health Care’, St Anne’s College, Oxford, July 2018
Sannyāsa, Monasticism and Dual Belonging at ‘Dual Religious Belonging in Hinduism and Christianity’, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge, July 2018
Mindful Silence Key-note address at the Retreat Association, Tri-annual conference ‘Sounding the Silence: Exploring Depths in Stillness and Speech’, The Hayes Conference Centre, Derbyshire, June 2018
Jeanne-Marie Guyon: Christian Mindfulness or Mystic Contemplation? at ‘Madame Guyon (1648 – 1717) Mystique et Politique à la Cour de Versailles’, Université de Genève, Switzerland, November 2017
About Soul. Multi-media event including launch of the film About Soul by Timothy Wainwright, Birkbeck College, London University, November 2017
Mindfulness and Mental Prayer: The Training of the Heart in the Iberian School of Abbot García de Cisneros of Montserrat and St Teresa of Avila at ‘Meditation in Buddhist-Christian Encounter.’ The 12^th Conference of the European Network of Buddhist-Christian Studies, Abbey of Montserrat, Catalonia, Spain, July 2017
Mystical Desire: St Ignatius of Loyola and Affective Dionysianism at ‘Id Quod Volo: the Dynamics of Desire in the Spiritual Exercises and Postmodernity’, Campion Hall, Oxford University, January 2017
Christian Mindfulness: A Mystical Dialogue? at ‘Comparative Mysticism: Renewing a Neglected Project’, Glasgow University, December 2016
Christian Mindfulness and Contemplative Dialogue at ‘Congrès Dialogue des Rationalités Culturelles et Religieuses’, Institut Catholique de Paris. June 2016
Mindfulness in Christian Context. The National Retreat Association, Royal Foundation of Saint Katherine, June 2016
Mindfulness, Christianity and Pastoral Care. Research Seminar at Durham University, May 2016
Jean Gerson and the Climate of Spanish Affective Spirituality. Research Seminar at King’s College, London, March 2016
The Awakening of the Heart: Psycho-Spiritual Reflections on Consecrated Life at Consecrated Life in the Globalized Era: Catholic, Ecumenical and Interreligious Perspectives, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bengaluru, India, January 2016
Spiritual Affinities – Teresa of Avila and Jean Gerson at the Conference: Teresa of Avila 1515 – 2015 – Mystical Theology and Spirituality in the Carmelite Tradition. St Mary’s University, June 2015
Otto Rank and the Battle for Freud’s Soul. Research Seminar at Digby Stuart Centre for Religion , Society and Human Flourishing, University of Roehampton, March 2015
Saying and Showing: The Choreography of Psychology and Religious Understanding. Heythrop College Research Seminar, London University, February 2015
John of the Cross: Outstanding Christian Thinker, Renfrew House, Oxford University Centre for Continuing Education, February 2015
Psychology, Theosis and the Soul: St Teresa of Avila, St Augustine and Plotinus on the Western Picture of Theosis at ‘Theosis/Deification: Christian Doctrines of Divinization East and West’, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, January 2015
The Philosopher as Therapist: Learning from Wittgenstein at Christ University, Bangalore, India. January 2015
Rabindranath Tagore and Ludwig Wittgenstein: Two Sentinels on the Borderlands of Modernity at the Conference: ‘Dharma: Interface between Secular and Sacred’ at Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore, India, January 2015
St Teresa of Avila’s Picture of the Soul. Veale Chair Professorial Lecture at Milltown Institute, Dublin, November 2014
The King of the Dark Chamber: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rabindranath Tagore and the Mystical Turn. Inaugural Professorial Address. St Mary’s University, October 2014
Wittgenstein Reads Merton: The Mystical Theology of Two Twentieth Century Masters at the Conference: Mystical Theology – Renewing the Contemplative Tradition. Durham University, September 2014
The Llullian Spirit of Ecclesiam Suam at the Conference: The Catholic Church in Dialogue: Ecclesiam Suam and its Legacy. St Mary’s University, June 2014
A Future Clothed in Light: Revisioning Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction. Canisius Endowment Lectures, Christ University, Bangalore, India, January 2014
Teresa of Avila and Her Interpreters. University of Chichester Theology Department, May 2013
‘Mystics and Analysts’, Renfrew House, Oxford University Centre for Continuing Education, November 2012
Guest Preacher: Westminster Abbey, July 2012
‘The Psychology of Vocation’ at Seminar of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales on the Promotion of Vocation, Douai Abbey, July 2012
‘Mindfulness, Mindlessness and No-Self in Christian and Buddhist Contemplation’ at ‘The Cave of the Heart: Mindfulness, Contemplation and Social Renewal’, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham, June 2012
Guest Preacher: Trinity Hall, Cambridge University. February 2012
Keynote Address: ‘To Centre or Not to Centre: The Centre of the Soul in Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross’ at ‘Theological Explorations of Christian Mysticism’. Keble College, Oxford University. January 2012
Keynote Address: The Mystical Strategies of St Teresa of Avila at ‘Mysticism Without Bounds’, Christ University, Bangalore, India. January 2011
‘Mystical Writing as Theologia Mystica’ at the English Benedictine Symposium. Douai Abbey, September 2009
Teresa of Ávila’s Strategies of Embodiment in The Meditaciones Sobre Los Cantares. Delivered at conference ‘Sources of Transformation: Revitalising Traditions of Christian Spirituality for Today’. St Marys University College, Twickenham, July 2009
Keynote Speaker: Healing the Butterfly: Reflections on the Relationship between Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction. Third International Slieve Croob Conference, Morne, N. Ireland. October 2007
‘Teresa of Avila – Mystic for Today’. South London Third Order of Carmelites. October 2007
‘Pathways Up the Mountain’. Series of four presentations with representatives from Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist traditions on the relationship between the mystical traditions of the four faiths and the Christian mystical tradition. London Diocesan Centre for Spirituality, Lombard St, London. September – November 2007
‘Accompanying the Spiritual Journey of Others’. Opening presentation for the South East Institute for Theological Education ( Anglican Ordination Training for South East of England). Canterbury, June 2007
‘Sexuality and Spiritual Direction’ Training Days for Anglican Dioceses of Bath and Wells and Worcester, September 2006 and April 2007
Lecture: ‘The Unconscious: Western and Eastern Models ‘ for Conference ‘Contemporary Spirituality’, Sarum College, Salisbury, May 2006
Mysticisms for the New Millennium. Keynote speaker at Catholic Association for Retreats and Spirituality Annual Conference, The Hayes Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire. Talk published in The Pastoral Review, July/August 2006. January 2006
There is an extended interview with me in the film ‘One Wisdom’ directed by Markus Werner. It was released in 2013.
Radio interview given for BBC Radio 4 ‘Something Understood’ with Sir Mark Tully broadcast on 4th June 2006.
Other Radio appearances include interviews on BBC Radio 4 ‘Beyond Belief’ and ‘Last Word’.

Media enquiries

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