Dr Paul K. Miller, PhD

Biography

After studying as an undergraduate student at the University of Surrey, and obtaining a Masters degree at Lancaster University, Paul received his PhD – also from Lancaster University – in 2004. His doctoral investigations, pertaining to communication in primary care around depression and suicide risk-assessment, led fairly naturally to a Research Fellowship at Lancaster University’s Institute for Health Research, working on a number of projects around health inequalities, secure services and end-of-life care. A two-year teaching fellowship in the Sociology department at Lancaster followed and, in 2007, Paul moved on to the newly-founded University of Cumbria. He's still there now, as an Associate Professor in Social Psychology, based in the Institute of Health.

Paul’s core research interests relate to communication across a range of healthcare and allied social environments, with a side-line in sport psychology to lighten the mood. He's a West Ham fan, so mood-lightening is kind of necessary. Recently he has published on stigmatised diagnoses, group identities, conversation analysis, decision-making, general linguistic philosophy and discursive psychology. Substantively, he is increasingly exploring the interpersonal dimensions of physiotherapy and medical imaging practice, and is a founding member of the Social Issues in Medical Imaging (SIMI) research group, alongside Dr Lisa Booth and Charles Sloane.

 

Qualifications and memberships

BSc, MA, PhD, FHEA.

Academic and research interests

Conversation Analysis.

Discursive Psychology.

Professional-lay interaction in medical contexts.

Everyday radiographic practice.

Social and psychological concerns in physiotherapy.

Decision-making.

Ordinary language philosophy.

Sport psychology.

Research supervision

Kelly Fielden - The role of Anatomy Education within 21st Century Occupational Therapy Programmes

Daniel Gibbons - Language, Identity and Community in Professional E-Sports

Elizabeth Harper - Gender normative views and influence on victimisation experiences of Intimate Partner Violence

Rosie Wheadon - Suicide Framing, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention

Publications

Selected Peer-Reviewed Articles

Bowden, S.L.J. and Miller P.K. (2025) ‘Menstruation among autistic adults: An occupational perspective’, British Journal of Occupational Therapy, doi: 10.1177/03080226251341730.

Dagnan, D. Ingham, B., Thwaites, R., Lewis, D. Sunley, J. and Miller, P.K. (2025). ‘Evaluation of brief training on working with autistic people for NHS TTad staff’. The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist, forthcoming.

Miller, P.K., Bowden, S.L.J., Dewison, N., Ingham, B., Thwaites, R. and Dagnan, D. (2025) ‘“Sometimes I'm feeling baffled and they're probably feeling baffled:” On the experiences of psychological therapists working with autistic people in a structured primary care service for anxiety disorders and depression’, Autism, doi: 10.1177/13623613251341610.

Miller, P.K., Dewison, N., Bowden, S.L.J., Ingham, B., Thwaites, R. and Dagnan, D. (2025) ‘“They've almost got, like, a checklist to work down:” On the lived experiences of autistic adults who have received a structured therapy service for depression and/or anxiety disorders, Neurodiversity, doi: 10.1177/27546330251350037.

Smith, S., Godley, S., Anderson, A. and Miller, P.K. (2025) ‘Employing a coaching model of supervision during physiotherapy placements: charting the learner experience in England’, Physiotherapy, forthcoming. doi: 10.1016/j.physio.2025.101463.

 Wilbraham, S.J., Elliott, D. and Miller, P.K. (2024) ‘“It’s just how we do it": Social processes in rapid weight loss for combat sports’, Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine, 12(1). doi:  10.1080/21642850.2024.2433517.

Hopkins, A. and Miller, P.K. (2023) '“This statement is true to the best of my knowledge and belief”: A provisional assessment of the utility of Police Victim Statements in the qualitative understanding of domestic violence and abuse', Journal of Gender-Based Violence, 7(1), pp.146-162.

Mawson, J., Miller, P.K. and Booth, L. (2022) 'Stress, a reflective self and an internal locus of control: On the everyday clinical placement experiences of older undergraduate radiographers in the UK', Radiography, 28(1), pp.55-60.

Miller, P.K., Van Der Zee, S. and Elliott, D. (2022) 'Pain, culture and pedagogy: A preliminary investigation of attitudes towards 'reasonable' pain tolerance in the grassroots reproduction of a culture of risk', Psychological Reports, 125(2), pp.1086-1102.

Bolton, G., Booth, L. and Miller, P.K. (2021). 'Work-Related Muscular-Skeletal Disorder among UK Sonographers: Understanding the Challenges', RAD Magazine, 47(558), pp.20-22.

Christie, M., Cole, F. and Miller, P.K. (2020) 'A piloted Think Aloud method within an investigation of the impacts of a therapeutic green exercise project for people recovering from mental ill-health: Reflections on ethnographic utility', Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, 30(1), pp.36-55.

Christie, M., Hulse, L. and Miller, P.K. (2020) 'Time for a (gardening) break: Impacts of a green exercise initiative for staff health and wellbeing in a corporate environment', Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, 30(1), pp.1-24.

Kada, S., Satinovic, M., Booth, L. and Miller, P.K. (2019) 'Managing discomfort and developing participation in non-emergency MRI: Children's coping strategies during their first procedure', Radiography, 25(1), pp.10-15.

Miller, P.K., Booth, L. and Spacey, A. (2019) 'Dementia and clinical interaction in frontline radiography: Mapping the practical experiences of junior clinicians in the UK', Dementia, 18(3), pp.1010-1024.

Miller, P.K., Waring, L., Bolton, G.C. and Sloane, C. (2019) 'Personnel flux and workplace anxiety: personal and interpersonal consequences of understaffing in UK ultrasound departments', Radiography, 25(1), pp.45-50.

Waring, L., Miller, P.K., Sloane, C. and Bolton, G.C. (2018) 'Charting the practical dimensions of understaffing from a managerial perspective: The everyday shape of the UK’s sonographer shortage', Ultrasound, 26(4). pp.206-213.

Booth, L., Henwood, S. and Miller, P.K. (2017) 'Leadership and the everyday practice of Consultant Radiographers in the UK: Transformational ideals and the generation of self-efficacy', Radiography, 23(2), pp.125-129.

Booth, L., Kada, S., Satinovic, M., Phillips, P. and Miller, P.K. (2017) 'Student Radiographers' attitudes towards the older patient: A longitudinal study', Radiography, 23(2), pp.125-129.

Miller, P.K. and Richardson, B.H. (2017) 'Depression, rational identity and the educational imperative: Concordance-finding in tricky diagnostic moments', Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 3:17033.

Miller, P.K., Woods, A.L., Sloane, C. and Booth, L. (2017) 'Obesity, heuristic reasoning and the organisation of communicative embarrassment in diagnostic radiography', Radiography, 23(2), pp.130-134.

Sloane, C. and Miller, P.K. (2017) 'Informing radiography curriculum development: The views of UK radiology service managers concerning the 'fitness for purpose' of recent diagnostic radiography graduates’, Radiography, 23(s1), pp.s16–s22.

Booth, L., Henwood, S. and Miller, P.K. (2016) 'Reflections on the role of consultant radiographers in the UK: What is a consultant radiographer?', Radiography, 22(1), pp.38-43.

Christie, M., Thompson, M., Miller, P.K. and Cole, F. (2016) 'Personality disorder and intellectual disability: The impacts of horticultural therapy within a medium-secure unit.', Journal of Therapeutic Horticulture, 26(1), pp.3-17.

Henwood, S., Booth, L. and Miller, P.K. (2016) 'Reflections on the role of consultant radiographers in the UK: The perceived impact on practice and factors that support and hinder the role', Radiography, 22(1), pp.44-49.

Miller, P.K. (2016). 'Brief encounters with qualitative methods in healthcare research: Conversation analysis', Cumbria Partnership Journal of Research, Practice and Learning, 5(1), pp.19-23.

Miller, P.K. and Benkwitz, A. (2016) 'Where the action is: Towards a discursive psychology of “authentic” identity in soccer fandom', Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 23, pp.40-50.

Miller, P.K., Relph, N.S., Grimwood, T. and Crooks, E. (2016). 'Participant impacts of the Cumbria PFT Foundation in Management and Leadership programme: Quantitative evaluation findings', Cumbria Partnership Journal of Research, Practice and Learning, 5(1), pp.27-33.

Nelson, L.J., Miller, P.K. and Ashman, D. (2016) ''Dale':  An interpretative phenomenological analysis of a service user's experience with a Crisis Resolution/Home Treatment team in the UK', Journal of Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing, 23(6), pp.438-448.

Woods, A.L., Miller, P.K. and Sloane, C. (2016) 'Patient obesity and the practical experience of the plain radiography professional: On everyday ethics, patient positioning and infelicitous equipment', Radiography, 22, pp.118-123.

Christie, M., Miller, P.K. and Dewhurst, S. (2015). 'Green exercise and cardiovascular health: Quantitative evidence from a community conservation intervention in the UK', European Scientific Journal, 11(26), pp.343-356.

Miller, P.K., Cronin, C. and Baker, G. (2015) 'Nurture, nature and some very dubious social skills: an interpretative phenomenological analysis of talent identification practices in elite English youth soccer', Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 7(5), pp.642-662.

Miller, P.K., George, R. and Nicholson, S. (2015) 'Confidence-sourcing among amateur soccer players: Interpreting time, place and stimulus-relevance', The Open Sport Sciences Journal, 8, pp.8-17.

Miller, P.K. and Grimwood, T. (2015) 'Mountains, Cones, and Dilemmas of Context: The Case of “Ordinary Language” in Philosophy and Social Scientific Method', Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 45(3), pp.331-355.

Merritt, L.H. and Miller, P.K. (2014). 'Anxiety, physical activity and public performance: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of amateur gymnasts’ competition experiences', Cumbria Partnership Journal of Research, Practice and Learning, 4(1), pp.12-17.

Miller, P.K. (2014) 'Depression, sense and sensitivity: On pre-diagnostic questioning about self-harm and suicidal inclination in the primary care consultation', Communication & Medicine, 10(1), pp.39-51.

Miller, P.K., Wilson, N., Dickson, A. and Gaffney, J. C. (2014). 'Targeted Mental Health in Schools: Confidence-building among school staff as a latent systemic impact of the Cumbrian initiative', Cumbria Partnership Journal of Research, Practice and Learning. 4(1), pp.22-28.

Miller, P.K. and Cronin, C. (2013) 'Rethinking the factuality of “contextual” factors in an ethnomethodological mode: Towards a reflexive understanding of action-context dynamism in the theorisation of coaching', Sports Coaching Review, 1(2), pp.106-123.

Miller, P.K., Wilson, N., Dickson, A. and Gaffney, J. C. (2013). 'Implication pitfalls for targeted mental health in schools: Evidence from a qualitative evaluation of the Cumbrian programme', Cumbria Partnership Journal of Research, Practice and Learning, 3(1), pp.41-46.

Ward, R. L. and Miller, P.K. (2013). 'Depression, physical activity and mental health: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of general practitioners’ experiences of exercise referral schemes in the North West', Cumbria Partnership Journal of Research, Practice and Learning, 3(1), pp.13-19.

Bampouras, T., Cronin, C. and Miller, P.K. (2012) 'Performance analytic processes in elite sport practice: An exploratory investigation of the perspectives of a sport scientist, coach and athlete.', International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sport, 12, pp.468-483.

Christie, M., Miller, P.K., Barry, T. and Dewhurst, S. (2012). 'The case for community conservation in cardiovascular health promotion in the North West: Evidence from the Lancaster “Greenfingers” initiative', Cumbria Partnership Journal of Research, Practice and Learning, 2(1), pp.22-26.

Miller, P.K. (2012) 'Arsène Didn’t See It: Coaching, Research and the Promise of a Discursive Psychology', International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 7(4), pp.615-628.

Miller, P.K., Rowe, L., Cronin, C. and Bampouras, T. (2012) 'Heuristic reasoning and the observer’s view: The influence of example-availability on ad-hoc frequency judgments in sport', Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 24, pp.290-302.

Recent external roles

Associate Editor, Palgrave Communications.

Associate Editor, Sage Open.

Editorial board member, Thinking Through the Social (Book Series).

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