My transdisciplinary research seeks to generate new insights into contemporary challenges in health and society. I work from the indigenous philosophy that to understand a phenomenon we must understand it across all four aspects of our being: mind, body, emotion and spirit. This holistic way of knowing inspires students, informs professionals, opens new possibilities for action, extends cultural horizons and mobilises social change. I work towards this through research methodologies that support multisensory engagement, such as arts-based, autoethnographic and narrative approaches. The processes and products of this work incorporate collaborative or co-produced storytelling, filmmaking, music and performance that is engaging and accessible for diverse audiences.

This work is disseminated internationally through keynotes, conference presentations, live performances and invited seminars and is published as peer-reviewed journal articles, films, books and book chapters.

I serve as an editorial board member for Journal of Autoethnography, International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology and Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. I am a founder member of the International Association of Qualitative Inquiry and co-director of the Sofia Centre for Creative Research and a member of the organising committee of the International Conference of Autoethnography. 

I am currently focussing on two areas:  

First, collaborations in the area of physical activity and mental health. This work explores the ways in which physical activity and sport can help some people who are experiencing mental health difficulties and also the ways that involvement in sport – particularly professional sport – can jeopardise mental health.

Second, collaborations which develop and extend the utilisation of arts-based approaches to social research. This work is driven by a democratic commitment to find ways to increase the accessibility and public engagement of social research. 

This research is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council, UK Sport, Sport England, Addiction Recovery Agency, Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation, Bristol City Council, The Royal British Legion and National Institute for Health Research.

I am an experienced supervisor of PhD and MRes students using narrative, autoethnographic and arts-based methods across diverse topics such as mental health in sport and physical education; community physical activity and health; doping in sport; mental health and identity among military personnel and veterans; community sport for homeless young people; and coaching in elite sport environments. I regularly serve as an external doctoral examiner at universities throughout Europe, USA and Australia.

I teach undergraduate and postgraduate courses in physical activity and mental health and qualitative research methods. I lead workshops for doctoral students and academics in topics such as narrative interviewing, narrative analysis, writing qualitative research, arts-based research, autoethnography, fieldwork and reflexivity. 

Mental health through physical activity; mental health in elite and professional sport; LGBTQ+ experience in sport and physical activity; trauma and recovery; auto/ethnography; songwriting as research; filmmaking as research; arts-based research; narrative research