About The Centre For
Male Psychology
Our Vision
“To encourage the advancement of the discipline of male psychology, resulting in a better-informed psychology of males, both for the benefit of men and boys and for the greater good of the society we all share”
— Founders, Louise Liddon & John Barry
About Us
The Centre for Male Psychology is an independent organisation dedicated to advancing the academic discipline of male psychology and communicating findings to the wider society.
Our Purpose: We believe that a better understanding of the psychology of males, and by extension sex/gender differences, is necessary to find the most appropriate solutions to many of society’s challenges.
Our Vision: To encourage the advancement of the discipline of male psychology, resulting in a better-informed psychology of males, both for the benefit of men and boys and for the greater good of the society we all share
Our Mission: We bring this vision to life by researching male psychology; by communicating our findings through consultancy, education and training; by offering networking opportunities to help others to connect and advance their own understanding of male psychology; and by encouraging individuals to be the best they can be through self-development in line with our values.
Our Values: We strive to make our work accessible whilst balancing the need for precision and accuracy; to be open-minded in accepting new information and ideas; to develop and foster relationships that make a positive difference; to make male psychology a scientific discipline with testable theories; to be creative in our attempts to advance male psychology and communicate it.
Use our navigation bar at the top to have a look around our website and see if there is anything we can support you with, or that you can get involved in.
History
The Centre for Male Psychology evolved from the success of the UK-based Male Psychology Network (MPN). The seeds of this voluntary organisation were sown by a letter from consultant clinical psychologist Martin Seager, published in the BPS Psychologist magazine in December 2010. Emails and other communications, followed, culminating in a meeting between Martin Seager and psychologists John Barry and Luke Sullivan at the University of Westminster, in London in August 2011. Disillusioned with decades of failure by the NHS and other institutions to recognise specific problems facing men and boys, the group decided to take the initiative rather than wait for others to act. This resulted in the Men's Mental Health Research Team (MMHRT), which – in collaboration with others (notably clinical psychologist Roger Kingerlee) – led John Barry to initiate the wider Male Psychology Network in February 2014.
The MPN brought psychologists of various specialities together, as well as other types of therapists and people working with men’s mental health in other capacities. A common thread among MPN members was a desire for a more practical, compassionate and scientific and less ideological approach than the harsh ideological lens that men were increasingly seen through. The Network was the first of its kind and has been successful in its own right resulting in many spin-off projects. From June 2014 to June 2019 the MPN ran an increasingly popular annual conference at UCL, bringing together some of the biggest names in the field, sharing seminal work, and inspiring others. The MPN also put on lectures at UCL, free to UCL staff and members of the public alike. Videos of some of these lectures can be seen here.
The MPN led in the creation of the Male Psychology Section of the BPS in 2018. The MPN has also influenced the BPS in other ways, with Seager, Barry, Kingerlee and Sullivan organising a special issue of the BPS magazine The Psychologist in 2014, and holding a symposium on male psychology at the BPS annual conference in Liverpool in 2015. Barry, Kingerlee, Seager and Sullivan also authored the first academic book on male psychology which has been one of Palgrave Macmillan’s best-selling psychology books since it’s publication in 2019, with over 50,000 book chapters downloaded in its first two years.
The Male Psychology Network continues as one element of the wider Centre for Male Psychology, facilitating connections between people who are working in this field directly as researchers or therapists, or indirectly supporting men’s mental health in other ways.
Managing Partners
John Barry
John Barry is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society (BPS), Honorary Lecturer in Psychology at University College London, clinical hypnotherapist and author of around 70 peer-reviewed publications on a variety of topics in psychology and health, including many on male psychology. He has also co-authored letters to The Psychologist magazine to raise awareness of issues relevant to male psychology. John co-founded both the Male Psychology Network and the Male Psychology Section of the BPS, and has been lead organiser of the Male Psychology Conference (2014–2019) and co-editor of the Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health (2019). At the time of writing John is Chair of the Male Psychology Section of the BPS and previously was the first Honorary Secretary of the Male Psychology Section. John’s interest is not only in male psychology; his PhD was on the Psychological Aspects of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, which is also the title of his book, published by Palgrave Macmillan (2019).
Louise Liddon
Louise is an independent researcher and author in the field of male psychology. In addition to Perspectives in Male Psychology, her work also includes a chapter in the seminal and successful Palgrave Handbook of Male Psychology and Mental Health called ‘What are the factors that make a male-friendly therapy?’ and a number of research papers such as ‘Gender differences in preferences for psychological treatment, coping strategies, and triggers to help-seeking’, published in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology (2017), which is one of this journal’s top 20 downloads since publication. Louise has been a member of the BPS Male Psychology Section Committee since its creation and was elected Secretary in 2019. Louise has previous work experience as a specialist mentor for students with mental health problems, has tutored for an online mental health course and has worked as a support worker in a secure mental health unit. Louise has an MSc in Health Psychology and BSc in Psychology. Previous to her psychology studies, Louise worked as a project manager for a multinational corporate company.
Key Associates
The Centre for Male Psychology works closely and in collaboration with many individuals and organisations. A special mention should be made here to Martin Seager who has been a founding member and inspiration to much of the male psychology work existing today.
Martin Seager
As the original proponent of male psychology (originally called ‘male gender psychology’), Martin became the first Chair of the Male Psychology Section of the BPS. Martin is a consultant clinical psychologist and an adult psychotherapist. He is a clinician, lecturer, broadcaster and campaigner on mental health issues. He has been an honorary consultant psychologist with the Central London Samaritans since 2006 and is also a member of the Mental Health Advisory Board of the College of Medicine. He did a regular slot on mental health for BBC Essex Radio (2003-2007) and BBC Radio Five Live (2007-2009). He set up an advisory group for the last Labour government on mental health issues. He has been an honorary lecturer in psychological therapies at UEL, UCL and Essex University/Tavistock Clinic and has also presented at many international, national and regional conferences on a variety of themes relating to mental health and psychological well-being. Martin is an advisor to the Royal Foundation for issues around men's mental health.
British Psychological Society
The British Psychological Society is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. In August 2018, members of the BPS voted for the creation of a Male Psychology Section of the BPS. It is important to note that whilst our managing partners and associates are members of the BPS and sit on the Male Psychology Section Committee, The Centre for Male Psychology as an organisation has no association with the BPS as an organisation, and both exist as separate entities.
To join the BPS MPS click here.