Dr Meg Barker

Lecturer in Psychology

Psychology

Profile

Professional affiliations

I co-organise the Critical Sexology group which presents open interdisciplinary seminars on sexuality in London three times a year.

I organise the conference programme for the British Association for Sexual and Relationship Therapy (BASRT) as well as being on the editorial board of their journal and writing for their website.

I co-edit the Taylor & Francis journal Psychology & Sexuality with Darren Langdridge and am also involved with the Psychology of Sexualities section of the BPS.

I was a founding member and am current co-organiser of the Queer(y)ing Psychology network: an interdisciplinary group exploring the relationship between queer theory and psychology.

I co-organised the first Bi ReCon event in 2008: a day conference for bisexuality researchers, activists and organisations and groups who want to learn more about the bi community. I will be continuing to organise related events in subsequent years. I also co-manage the related listserv of bisexuality researchers.

I co-organise the annual Polyday event and conduct research with the uk poly community.

I have presented workshops as part of the Pink Therapy series.

Qualifications

I have a PhD in psychology from the University of Nottingham and will shortly be completing my MA in psychotherapy from the University of Sheffield.

Course Development and Teaching Commitments

I am chair of production for Counselling: exploring fear and sadness (D240) (Level 2 Counselling), which will be presented for the first time in May 2010. I am also involved, more broadly, with the Foundation Degree in Counselling.

Research Interests

My research focuses on identities and relationships. Particularly I am interested in social norms and rules around sexuality and gender and how these impact both those who try to meet them and those who transgress them. Most of my research has been conducted within sexual communities, focusing on bisexuality, BDSM, and open non-monogamy. I have used various qualitative methods (interviews, discussions, on-line questionnaires, analysis of web materials, and visual methods) to investigate the ways in which people in these communities negotiate their identities and relationships. I have also analysed the representations of such identities and relationships in mainstream media and in psychology textbooks.

I practice as a sexual and relationship therapist which enables me to work directly with people who are exploring sexuality and relationships in their own lives. I am currently completing my professional training in existential psychotherapy with the New School for Psychotherapy and Counselling and am generally interested in bringing together existential, Buddhist and social constructionist theories in my work and practice. I also conduct workshops and write for therapists who are working with sexual or gender minority clients.

Recent Publications

Barker, M. & Langdridge, D. (Eds.) (forthcoming, 2009). Understanding Non-monogamies. London: Routledge.

Barker, M., Vossler, A. & Langdridge, D. (Eds.) (forthcoming, 2010). Understanding Counselling and Psychotherapy. London: Sage.

Langdridge, D. & Barker, M. (Eds.) (2007). Safe, Sane and Consensual: Contemporary Perspectives on Sadomasochism. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Barker, M. (2003). Introductory Psychology: History, Themes and Perspectives. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd.

Refereed journal articles (since 2001)
Barker, M., Gupta, C., Richards, C. (forthcoming, 2009). "All the world is queer save thee and me…": Defining queer and bi at a Critical Sexology seminar. Journal of Bisexuality.

Barker, M. & Reavey, P. (2009). Self-disclosure in sexualities teaching, Feminism & Psychology, 19, 194-198.

Barker, M. & Langdridge, D. (2008). Bisexuality: Working with a silenced sexuality. Feminism & Psychology, 18(3), 389-394.

Barker M., Bowes-Catton H., Iantaffi A., Cassidy A. & Brewer L. (2008). British bisexuality: A snapshot of bisexual identities in the UK, Journal of Bisexuality, 8, 141-162.

Barker M. & Ritchie A. (2007). Hot bi babes and feminist families: Polyamorous women speak out. Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 8(2), 141-151.

Barker, M., Hagger-Johnson, G., Hegarty, P., Hutchinson, C. & Riggs, D. (2007). Responses from the Lesbian & Gay Psychology Section to Crossley's Making sense of 'barebacking'. British Journal of Social Psychology, 46, 667-677.

Barker, M. & Evans, M. (2007). 'Risking the kids' vs. 'Double the love': Couple counsellors in conversation on LGB parenting. Gay and Lesbian Issues and Psychology Review, 3(1).

Hagger-Johnson, G. E., McManus, J., Hutchison C. & Barker M. (2006). Building partnerships with the voluntary sector. The Psychologist, 19(3), 156-158.

Barker, M. (2006). Sexual self-disclosure and outness in academia and the clinic. Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 7(3), 292-296.

Barker, M. (2006). Why I Study… Bisexuality and beyond. The Psychologist, 19(1), 33-34.

Ritchie, A. & Barker, M. (2006). 'There aren't words for what we do or how we feel so we have to make them up': Constructing polyamorous languages in a culture of compulsory monogamy. Sexualities, 9(5), 584-601.

Ritchie, A. & Barker, M. (2005). Feminist SM: A contradiction in terms or a way of challenging traditional gendered dynamics through sexual practice? Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 6(3), 227-239.

Barker, M. (2005). Experience of SM Awareness Training. Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 6(3), 268-273.

Ritchie, A. & Barker, M. (2005). Explorations in feminist participant-led research: Running a focus group discussion with polyamorous women. Psychology of Women Section Review, 7(2), 47–57.

Hegarty, P. & Barker, M. (2005). Speaking of science and politics: Meg Barker interviews Peter Hegarty. Psychology of Women Section Review. 7(2), 47-57.

Barker, M. (2005). On tops, bottoms and ethical sluts: The place of BDSM and polyamory in lesbian and gay psychology. Meg Barker in conversation with Dossie Easton. Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 6(2), 124-129.

Barker, M. (2005). Controversy in the British Journal of Social Psychology: A response to Crossley's article on barebacking. Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 6(1), 48-52.

Barker, M. (2004). This is my partner, and this is my… partner's partner: Constructing a polyamorous identity in a monogamous world. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 18, 75-88.

Barker, M. (2004). Including the B-word: Reflections on the place of bisexuality within lesbian and gay activism and psychology: Meg Barker in conversation with Jenni Yockney. Lesbian & Gay Psychology Review, 5(3), 118-122.

Barker, M. (2002). The evil that men, women and children do. The Psychologist, 15 (11), 568-571.

Barker, M. & Barker, D. (2002). The body as art. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 1, 88-93.

Book chapters (since 2001)
Barker, M. (forthcoming 2010). Mindfulness. In M. Barker, A. Vossler, & D. Langdridge, (Eds.) (forthcoming, 2010). Understanding Counselling and Psychotherapy. London: Sage.

Barker, M. (forthcoming 2010). Sociocultural Issues. In M. Barker, A. Vossler, & D. Langdridge, (Eds.) (forthcoming, 2010). Understanding Counselling and Psychotherapy. London: Sage.

Barker, M., Bowes-Catton, H. & Richards, C. (forthcoming, 2009). 'I didn't know that I could feel this relaxed in my body': Using visual methods to research bisexual people's embodied experiences of identity and space. In P. Reavey (Ed.) Visual Psychologies: Using and Interpreting Images in Qualitative Research. London: Routledge.

Barker, M. & Langdridge, D. (forthcoming, 2009). Silencing accounts of already silenced sexualities. In R. Ryan-Flood & R. Gill (Eds.) Secrecy and Silence in the Research Process: Feminist Reflections. London: Routledge.

Barker, M. (2007). Heteronormativity and the exclusion of bisexuality in psychology. In V. Clarke & E. Peel (Eds.), Out in Psychology: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, and Queer Perspectives (pp.86-118). Chichester, UK: Wiley.

Barker, M., Iantaffi, A & Gupta, C. (2007). Kinky clients, kinky counselling? The challenges and potentials of BDSM. In L. Moon (Ed.) Feeling Queer or Queer Feelings: Counselling and Sexual Cultures (pp.106-124). London: Routledge.

Barker, M. Gupta, C. & Iantaffi A. (2007). The power of play: the potentials and pitfalls in healing narratives of BDSM. In D. Langdridge and M. Barker (Eds.) Safe, Sane and Consensual: Contemporary Perspectives on Sadomasochism (pp.197-216). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Barker, M. (2007). Turning the world upside down: developing a tool for training about SM. In D. Langdridge and M. Barker (Eds.) Safe, Sane and Consensual: Contemporary Perspectives on Sadomasochism (pp.261-270). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Barker, M. (2003). Satanic subcultures? A discourse analysis of the self-perceptions of young goths and pagans. In T. Waddell (Ed.) Cultural Expressions of Evil and Wickedness: Wrath, Sex, and Crime. Amsterdam: Rodopi.

A repository of research publications and other research outputs can be viewed at The Open University's Open Research Online.

Other Interests

Counselling, comics, rock-climbing, Buddhism, writing.