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Peter Tyler
Professor Peter Mark Tyler is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality and Director of the Centre for Initiatives in Spirituality and Reconciliation (InSpiRe) at St Mary's University, Twickenham, London. His present work looks at the integration of spirituality and psychology, especially in the practices of spiritual direction and psychotherapy.
He studied philosophy at Oxford University (BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, 1984); philosophical theology at Heythrop College, University of London (MTh, 1993) and psychology and psychotherapy at the Minster Centre and Middlesex University (MA in Integrative Psychotherapy, 2000). At which time he started practising as a registered psychotherapist (UKCP) which he continues to the present day.
His doctoral thesis, Mystical strategies and performative discourse in the theologia mystica of Teresa of Avila: A Wittgensteinian analysis, completed at Durham University in 2009, examined the mystical theology of St Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582) through the lens of contemporary linguistic philosophy, in particular that of the Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 – 1951). In so doing he aimed to demonstrate how the mystical writings of the Spanish Carmelite could be interpreted into a contemporary idiom. His subsequent work has continued this path looking particularly at its relevance to contemporary issues of Catholic pastoral and mystical theology. Thus, his Confession: The Healing of the Soul (Bloomsbury 2017) is a spirited defence of the sacrament and a study which underlines its importance in contrast to the practices of psychotherapy. This book was shaped by understandings of mystical theology and anthropology developed in his The Pursuit of the Soul: Psycho-analysis, Soul-making and the Christian Tradition (T and T Clark, 2016) where he argued for the importance of the anthropological understanding of the soul in contradistinction to much contemporary emphasis on the mind. This led to a full-length monograph (one of the first in English) on the psychology of the Carmelite martyr Edith Stein (St Teresia Benedicta a Cruce, 1891 – 1942) which was published in 2023 as The Living Philosophy of Edith Stein (Bloomsbury Academic). The study of Stein complements his life-long exposition of the Carmelite saints and mystics, evidenced in publications such as John of the Cross: Outstanding Christian Thinker (Continuum 2010), Teresa of Avila: Doctor of the Soul (Bloomsbury 2013) and Teresa of Avila: Mystical Theology and Spirituality in the Carmelite Tradition (Routledge 2017). His work in the fields of psychology, mystical theology and pastoral theology is recognised nationally and internationally and he presently works with the English and Welsh Bishops' Conference advising in these areas. He has taught and worked academically at the Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas and Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram Pontifical Athenaeum at Bengaluru, India. The latter work led to a book that explored spiritual direction and psychology: Picturing the Soul: Revisioning Psychotherapy and Spiritual Direction (Dharmaram 2014). He is presently editing collections of essays on the mystical theology of St John of the Cross (1542 – 1591) and inter-religious dialogue between the Abrahamic faiths.
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