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Staff profile

Overview

Christopher Cook

Emeritus Professor

BSc, MB, BS, MD, MA, PhD, FRCPsych

Affiliations
Affiliation
Emeritus Professor in the Department of Theology and Religion
Reverend Professor in the Institute for Medical Humanities

Biography

I trained first in medicine, at St George’s Hospital Medical School in London, qualifying in 1981, and then specialised as a postgraduate in psychiatry at the United Medical and Dental Schools of Guys and St Thomas’s, also in London. Following this, my clinical and academic interests in psychiatry were largely in the field of addictive behaviour, and especially alcohol misuse. I held positions as Lecturer at University College, London (1987 to 1990) and Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Psychiatry, London (1994 to 1997) as well as being Professor of the Psychiatry of Alcohol Misuse at the University of Kent from 1997 to 2003.

My academic work in psychiatry has been broad in scope. My doctoral thesis was on genetic effects upon the predisposition to alcohol misuse and dependence and was very biologically based. However, I have always also been interested in treatment approaches, including those based in the mutual help movement (of Alcoholics Anonymous and affiliated organisations) and those with religious roots, as well as those that are more medically based.

My own Christian faith has formed my approach to psychiatry since I was a student, and I gained an AKC at Kings College London (a theological qualification for “non-theologians”!) when studying medicine there in 1974 to 1976. I did not seriously embark upon academic study of theology until training for ordination as an Anglican priest much later in life. By this time, I was increasingly interested in inter-disciplinary issues between theology and psychiatry and my research publications have reflected this. I was ordained priest in Canterbury Cathedral in 2001.

Whilst studying for my MA in Applied Theology at the University of Kent (2002-2003) I undertook applied theological research around the subject of alcohol and addiction and this led to my writing a book on this subject (Alcohol, Addiction & Christian Ethics, CUP, 2006). This book explores the way in which accounts of the “divided self” in the writings of St Paul and St Augustine of Hippo might inform and extend scientific accounts of addictive disorder. I remain broadly interested in the ways in which theological accounts of human behaviour may inform, challenge and extend scientific perspectives.

I came to Durham in 2003, initially as a College chaplain, but also in order to continue my academic work in applied theology in the University. I enjoy working with students here and think it an enormous privilege to live and work in this beautiful and spiritual place. There are few better places to read a theological text than in one of Durham’s many coffee shops!

I was Director of the Centre for Spirituality, Theology & Health until my retirement in 2022. This project was collaborative between the Department of Theology & Religion and the School for Medicine, Pharmacy & Health (until the move of SMPH to Newcastle). It had collaborative links with health service delivery and spiritual/pastoral care. In support of this, I was an honorary consultant psychiatrist with Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust until 2017 and have been an honorary chaplain with them since April 2018. I am interested broadly in Christian spirituality. In the past, I have taught on the north east England Spiritual Direction training course, which used to be run jointly by Ushaw College & St Antony's Priory, and also at Cranmer Hall (the Anglican theological college).

My 2018 monograph, Hearing Voices, Demonic and Divine, provides a theological engagement with the latest scientific research on voice hearing (auditory verbal hallucinations). This work was undertaken as a part of my work for the Wellcome funded, AHRC award winning, Hearing the Voice project at Durham University, for which I was a Co-Investigator.

https://www.dur.ac.uk/hearingthevoice/

My previous monographs include The Philokalia and the Inner Life, which is concerned with theological and psychotherapeutic understandings of the nature of mental well-being. The Philokalia is an anthology of eastern Christian texts spanning the 4th to the 15th centuries. It offers important insights into the mental world of thoughts and prayer.

I have edited and co-edited a series of volumes on spirituality, theology and mental health, including, The Bible and Mental Health (2020, with Isabelle Hamley), Biblical and Theological Visions of Resilience (2020, with Nathan White), Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition (2018, with Julienne McLean and Peter Tyler), and Spirituality and Narrative in Psychiatric Practice (2016, with Andrew Powell and Andrew Sims).

I was Director of the MA programme in Spirituality, Theology & Health, which, in 2017, won an honorable mention in the Expanded Reason Awards in Rome:

http://www.expandedreasonawards.org/expanded-reasons-awards/news/the-expanded-reason-awards-winners-have-been-selected_242_71_252_0_1_in.html

I was President of the British Association for the Study of Spirituality from 2014 until 2018, and an Executive Editor of the Journal for the Study of Spirituality from 2013-2020. I was Chair of the Executive Committee of the Special Interest Group in Spirituality & Psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychiatrists from 2009-2013 and again from 2021-2024.

In 2020 I was awarded the Canterbury Cross by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in recognition of my interdisciplinary work on theology and psychiatry. In 2021 I was recipient of the Oskar Pfister award from the American Psychiatric Association in recognition of my work on psychiatry and religion. 

Esteem Indicators

  • 2021: Oskar Pfister Award: Oskar Pfister Award (2021), by the American Psychiatric Association, for outstanding contributions in the field of psychiatry and religion.
  • 2020: Canterbury Cross: Awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury for interdisciplinary work on theology and psychiatry
  • 2020: Boyle Lecture: Boyle Lecturer (2020): on Mental Health and the Gospel

Publications

Authored book

Chapter in book

  • Concluding Reflections: Transforming Resilience
    Cook, C. C., & White, N. H. (in press). Concluding Reflections: Transforming Resilience. In N. H. White & C. C. Cook (Eds.), Biblical and Theological Visions of Resilience: Pastoral and Clinical Insights (pp. 229-236). Routledge.
  • The Gerasene Demoniac
    Cook, C. C. (in press). The Gerasene Demoniac. In C. C. Cook & I. Hamley (Eds.), The Bible and Mental Health: Towards a Biblical Theology of Mental Health (pp. 141-156). SCM.
  • Christianity and Mental Health
    Gray, A. J., & Cook, C. C. (2021). Christianity and Mental Health. In A. Moreira-Almeida, B. Mosqueiro, & D. Bhugra (Eds.), Spirituality and Mental Health Across Cultures (pp. 167-182). Oxford University Press.
  • Spirituality, Religion and Voices
    Cook, C. C. (2021). Spirituality, Religion and Voices. In I. Parker, J. Schnackenberg, & M. Hopfenbeck (Eds.), The Practical Handbook of Hearing Voices (pp. 85-93). PCCS.
  • Principles of integrating religion and spirituality in mental health care and the World Psychiatric Association's position statement
    Cook, C., & Moreira-Almeida, A. (2021). Principles of integrating religion and spirituality in mental health care and the World Psychiatric Association’s position statement. In A. Moreira-Almeida, B. Mosqueiro, & D. Bhugra (Eds.), Spirituality and Mental Health Across Cultures (pp. 309-323). Oxford University Press.
  • Psychotic Symptoms and Spiritual Phenomena
    Cook, C. C. (2021). Psychotic Symptoms and Spiritual Phenomena. In J. Peteet, H. Moffic, A. Hankir, & H. Koenig (Eds.), Christianity and Psychiatry (pp. 37-50). Springer Verlag.
  • The Clinican's View of Spirituality in Mental Health Care
    Grimwade, L., & Cook, C. C. (2020). The Clinican’s View of Spirituality in Mental Health Care. In J. Fletcher (Ed.), Spiritual Care in Mental Health Settings (pp. 213-222). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
  • Introduction: Biblical and theological visions of resilience
    White, N. H., & Cook, C. C. (2020). Introduction: Biblical and theological visions of resilience. In N. H. White & C. C. Cook (Eds.), Biblical and Theological Visions of Resilience: Pastoral and Clinical Insights (pp. 1-16). Routledge.
  • Conclusion: Towards a Biblical Theology of Mental Health
    Cook, C. C., & Hamley, I. (2020). Conclusion: Towards a Biblical Theology of Mental Health. In C. C. Cook & I. Hamley (Eds.), The Bible and Mental Health: Towards a Biblical Theology of Mental Health (pp. 217-228). SCM.
  • Introduction
    Hamley, I., & Cook, C. C. (2020). Introduction. In C. C. Cook & I. Hamley (Eds.), The Bible and Mental Health: Towards a Biblical Theology of Mental Health (p. xiii-xxi). SCM.
  • The Clinician's View of Spirituality in Mental Health Care
    Grimwade, L., & Cook, C. C. (2019). The Clinician’s View of Spirituality in Mental Health Care. In J. Fletcher (Ed.), Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care in Mental Health Settings. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
  • Spirituality and Mental Health
    Cullinan, R. J., & Cook, C. C. (2019). Spirituality and Mental Health. In L. Zsolanai & B. Flanagan (Eds.), The Routledge International Handbook of Spirituality in Society and the Professions. Routledge.
  • Resilience and the role of spirituality
    Cook, C. C., & White, N. H. (2018). Resilience and the role of spirituality. In D. Bhugra, K. Bhui, S. Yeung, S. Wong, & S. Gilman (Eds.), Oxford textbook of public mental health. (pp. 513-520). Oxford University Press.
  • Spiritual Aspects of Management
    Cook, C. C., & Sims, A. (2018). Spiritual Aspects of Management. In D. Bhugra & K. Bhui (Eds.), Textbook of cultural psychiatry. (pp. 472-481). Cambridge University Press.
  • Addiction Psychiatry
    Cook, C. C., Gilvarry, E., & Hearn, A. (2018). Addiction Psychiatry. In J. Peteet, M. Dell, & W. Fung (Eds.), Ethical considerations at the intersection of psychiatry and religion. (pp. 150-156). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780190681968.001.0001
  • Introduction: mystical theology: renewing the contemplative tradition
    Tyler, P., McLean, J., & Cook, C. C. (2018). Introduction: mystical theology: renewing the contemplative tradition. In C. C. Cook, J. McLean, & P. Tyler (Eds.), Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition (pp. 1-8). Routledge.
  • Concluding reflections: Mystical theology: renewing the contemplative tradition
    Cook, C. C., McLean, J., & Tyler, P. (2018). Concluding reflections: Mystical theology: renewing the contemplative tradition. In C. C. Cook, J. McLean, & P. Tyler (Eds.), Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition (pp. 121-126). Routledge.
  • Mystical theology and the renewal of contemplative spiritual practice.
    McLean, J., & Cook, C. C. (2018). Mystical theology and the renewal of contemplative spiritual practice. In C. C. Cook, J. McLean, & P. Tyler (Eds.), Mystical Theology & Contemporary Spiritual Practice: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition (pp. 109-120). Routledge.
  • Mystical theology and the renewal of contemplative spiritual practice
    McLean, J., & Cook, C. C. (2018). Mystical theology and the renewal of contemplative spiritual practice. In C. C. Cook, J. McLean, & P. Tyler (Eds.), Mystical Theology & Contemporary Spiritual Practice: Renewing the Contemplative Tradition (pp. 109-120). Routledge.
  • Alcohol and Other Addictions
    Cook, C. C. (2018). Alcohol and Other Addictions. In B. Geary & J. Bryan (Eds.), Pastoral Challenges & Concerns: A Christian Handbook for Leaders (pp. 91-118). Kevin Mayhew.
  • Addiction and Forgiveness
    Cook, C. C., & Dossett, W. (2018). Addiction and Forgiveness. In S. Hance (Ed.), Forgiveness in Practice (pp. 222-236). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
  • Narrative in psychiatry, theology and spirituality
    Cook, C. C. (2016). Narrative in psychiatry, theology and spirituality. In C. C. Cook, A. Powell, & A. Sims (Eds.), Spirituality and Narrative in Psychiatric Practice: Stories of Mind and Soul (pp. 1-13). RCPsych Publications.
  • Beginnings and Endings
    Cook, C. C., Powell, A., & Sims, A. (2016). Beginnings and Endings. In C. C. Cook, A. Powell, & A. Sims (Eds.), Spirituality and Narrative in Psychiatric Practice: Stories of Mind and Soul (pp. 173-183). RCPsych Publications.
  • Maintenance and Relapse Prevention
    Ross, R., & Cook, C. (2014). Maintenance and Relapse Prevention. In D. Capuzzi & M. Stauffer (Eds.), Foundations of addictions counseling. (pp. 285-304). Pearson.
  • Transcendence, Immanence, and Mental Health
    Cook, C. (2013). Transcendence, Immanence, and Mental Health. In C. Cook (Ed.), Spirituality, theology and mental health : interdisciplinary perspectives. (pp. 141-159). SCM Press.
  • Controversies on the place of spirituality and religion in psychiatric practice
    Cook, C. C. (2013). Controversies on the place of spirituality and religion in psychiatric practice. In C. C. Cook (Ed.), Spirituality, Theology & Mental Health (pp. 1-19). SCM.
  • Emotions in the Writings of Two Church Fathers: Evagrius of Pontus and Mark the Monk
    Casiday, A., & Cook, C. (2013). Emotions in the Writings of Two Church Fathers: Evagrius of Pontus and Mark the Monk. In D. Davies & N. Warne (Eds.), Emotions and Religious Dynamics. (pp. 63-73). Ashgate Publishing.
  • Healing, Psychotherapy, and the Philokalia
    Cook, C. (2012). Healing, Psychotherapy, and the Philokalia. In B. Bingaman & B. Nassif (Eds.), The Philokalia : exploring the classic text of orthodox spirituality. (pp. 230-239). Oxford University Press.
  • Maintenance and Relapse Prevention
    Moss, R., & Cook, C. (2011). Maintenance and Relapse Prevention. In D. Capuzzi & M. Stauffer (Eds.), Foundations of addictions counseling. (pp. 260-277). Pearson.
  • Spirituality, mental health-substance use
    Cook, C. (2010). Spirituality, mental health-substance use. In D. Cooper (Ed.), Developing services in mental health - substance use. (pp. 171-180). Radcliffe Publishing.
  • Spiritual and Religious Issues in Treatment
    Cook, C. (2010). Spiritual and Religious Issues in Treatment. In E. Marshall, K. Humphreys, & D. Ball (Eds.), The treatment of drinking problems : a guide to the helping professions. (pp. 227-235). Cambridge University Press.
  • Sexuality and Spirituality
    Cook, C. (2010). Sexuality and Spirituality. In J. Greer & B. Geary (Eds.), Sexual issues : understanding and advising in a Christian context. (pp. 381-408). Kevin Mayhew.
  • Epilogue: Proposal for a World Psychiatric Association Consensus or Position Statement on Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry
    Verhagen, P., & Cook, C. (2009). Epilogue: Proposal for a World Psychiatric Association Consensus or Position Statement on Spirituality and Religion in Psychiatry. In P. Verhagen, H. Van Praag, J. Lopez-Ibor Jr., J. Cox, & D. Moussaoui (Eds.), Religion and psychiatry : beyond boundaries. (pp. 615-631). Wiley.
  • Substance Misuse
    Cook, C. (2009). Substance Misuse. In C. Cook, A. Powell, & A. Sims (Eds.), Spirituality and psychiatry. (pp. 139-168). Royal College of Psychiatrists.
  • Spirituality in Psychiatry
    Sims, A., & Cook, C. (2009). Spirituality in Psychiatry. In C. Cook, A. Powell, & A. Sims (Eds.), Spirituality and psychiatry. (pp. 1-15). Royal College of Psychiatrists.
  • The Christian Handbook of Alcohol and Other Addictions
    Cook, C. (2009). The Christian Handbook of Alcohol and Other Addictions. Kevin Mayhew.
  • Spirituality and Alcohol Dependence
    Cook, C. (2008). Spirituality and Alcohol Dependence. In C. Martin (Ed.), Identification and treatment of alcohol dependency. (pp. 289-302). M & K Update.
  • Alcohol and Other Addictions
    Cook, C. (2008). Alcohol and Other Addictions. In B. Geary & J. Bryan (Eds.), The Christian handbook of abuse, addiction & difficult behaviour. (pp. 83-111). Kevin Mayhew.
  • Alcohol and drugs misuse
    Carlton, O., & Cook, C. (2007). Alcohol and drugs misuse. In K. Palmer, R. Cox, & I. Brown (Eds.), Fitness for work: The medical aspects %7 4th (pp. 527-545). Oxford University Press.
  • Maintenance and Relapse Prevention.
    Moss, R., Cook, C., & Sandoz, J. (2007). Maintenance and Relapse Prevention. In D. Capuzzi & M. Stauffer (Eds.), Foundations of Addiction Counseling.. Allyn and Bacon.
  • Personal responsibility and its relationship to substance misuse
    Cook, C. (2006). Personal responsibility and its relationship to substance misuse. In M. Beer & N. Pocock (Eds.), Mad, bad or sad? A Christian approach to antisocial behaviour and mental disorder (pp. 148-160). Christian Medical Fellowship.
  • What did Jesus have to say about mental health
    Cook, C. C. (n.d.). What did Jesus have to say about mental health. In C. C. Cook & I. Hamley (Eds.), The Bible and Mental Health: Towards a Biblical Theology of Mental Health [Contracted by publisher] (pp. 128-140). SCM.

Doctoral Thesis

Edited book

Journal Article

Monograph

Other (Digital/Visual Media)

Other (Print)

Report

Working Paper

Supervision students

Dr Harriet Shannon

PhD Student