Dr Allan Tyler

Qualitative methods; thematic analysis; grounded theory; narrative analysis; semiotics; interpretative phenomenological analysis; LGBTQ+ mental health; LGBTQ+ youth and safeguarding; mental health; sex work; homelessness; nicotine harm reduction; e-cigarettes; smoking cessation

I am interested in complex, quantum, and fuzzy-logic patterns of decision-making, choice, and 'agency' (the ability to have and make conscious choices within a defined context). I use queer theory with established and innovative methods for trans-disciplinary data collection and analysis with underserved (marginalised, sometimes ‘hard to reach’) populations.
I currently partner with Croydon Safeguarding Children Partnership (CSCP) to design, deliver, and evidence training with safeguarding stakeholders to extend cultural competences working with young trans and non-binary people, LGBTQ+ young people who are known to services. Our shared aim is to go beyond cultural competence, to develop 'Cultures of Confidence' that young people can be confident in the responses of safeguarding staff.
From 2010 to 2015, I was an academic advisor for PACE Health, a mental health charity for LGBTQ people in London, and co-author of the Risk and Resiliency Explored (RaRE) Report into LGBT mental health in England.
With colleagues in the Centre for Addictive Behaviours Research (CABR), I designed and delivered innovative interventions to capture detailed ecological data about addiction and mental health in contexts of street drinking, smoking, and homelessness.
My PhD research with men-who-sell-sex-to-men through magazine ads and social media used a non-pathologising, psycho-social approach to intersections of sex, gender, labour, and scarcity. I write critical perspectives of identity-typologies in psycho-social models of sex work.
My current research is deconstructing discursive and narrative patterns in data collected from interviews, focus groups, ethnographies, and participatory action-research to help understand and illustrate the complexity of meaning making for individuals within larger identity groups, to disrupt the homogenisation and erasure of minoritised groups within minoritised groups, such as LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness or at risk of suicide.
I supervise a number of PhD and MPhil students. I invite new student proposals.

Course Leader for MSc in Mental Health and Clinical Psychology
Course Leader for PG Certificate in Mental Health and Clinical Psychology (part-time)

Qualitative Research Methods in Psychology
Research Methods in Mental Health
Research Methods in Professional Practice
Social Psychology
Psychology of Sex Gender Relationships
Experiences of Mental Health and Distress in the Clinic and Community