Whilst at QRSE in Bath, Dr Grace Tidmarsh met with Dr Richard Simpson to chat all things psychological well-being and to see what Richard has been getting up to since completing his PhD.
Dr Simpson (pictured below at his PhD graduation) is a Lecturer in Psychology at Leeds Trinity University. He is also the Research Theme Co-Lead for Psychological Wellbeing among Populations. Richard also engages in citizenship activities relating to the British Psychological Society Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology (BPS DSEP) and the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES) on various division, conference, and communication committees.
Image description: A photo of Richard attending his PhD graduation.
Let’s get started and find out what Richard had to say!
1. What have you been doing since you completed your PhD in psychological well-being (PWB) in sport?
“I’ve been doing more and more reading and really enjoying post-PhD and all the wonders I can do now I don't have to focus on a set program of work with my PhD. Since completing my PhD, I've taken a Lectureship up at Leeds Trinity University and have been liaising with partners to broadcast the implications of my work for UK Sport. For example, I'm doing some work with performance leaders, managers, performance directors which could hopefully hold important significance for the next wave of focus on psychological well-being. We've had our focus on athletes, coaches and now leaders are hopefully going to be the next focus, so they can have a ripple effect through the system. I'm also planning the next waves of my work on well-being including taking on two PhD students.”
2. Are there any approaches from your work in well-being you use in your daily life?
“One term that really sticks with me is savouring. So, this is perhaps one of my favourite terms, because you're savouring the experiences kind of along the mindfulness track to some extent, but it's really getting the most of every experience and doesn't necessarily... I think the misconception is you're savouring positive experiences, which is a bit of a misconception.”
3. Do you have a favourite well-being quote you would like to share with us?
“I actually have two! One is a proverb which I really like from the suffering literature, talks about the idea of the lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the deepest and darkest mud. And I think we talk about that kind of guiding us through life and finding a pathway to flourishing, and I think through difficulty and challenge I always remember that the lotus flower finds a way to bloom and blossom, whatever the conditions they're in. And so that's one academically that I really like.
From a personal perspective as well, the philosopher called Joseph Campbell talks about the idea of the cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.”
4. What is a myth or misconception about well-being that you think should be corrected?
“It's one that I've really welcomed, and I had some good reflection on. I think there's many what you would call epistemic fallacies. So, if we think about our lens of the world - our ontology if you like - that restricts how much knowledge we can produce about the world if we've only got a certain lens about the world, and that's why we often call it an epistemic fallacy when our view of psychological well-being is so limited and not really that open ended or minded. So, where our lens on the nature of well-being delimits what we know about it, we're going from that perspective. If I were to choose one, it'd be almost a misconception, that there is one universal understanding or consensus that can be attained in understanding well-being…it's what I try and encourage among fellow researchers, peer reviewers, practitioners, coaches is to… dive into that pool of complexity.”
5. Do you have a study or project you are most proud of?
“The work with the performance leaders and managers is probably very much up there as a favourite project, not just because I'm engaging with the partners within UK Sport, but with the people I worked with, the leaders I worked with and just the conversations we had. I had like multiple conversations with some, not just with the interviews, but in the conversations, I had with them just off tape I suppose and those are very, very meaningful. There's some I went to go and travel and meet at their location. There was some obviously, I met online. But when I used to travel to their location… I think, yeah, like… it's just so powerful being able to resonate with… to some extent their experiences, but also that they're kind of the forgotten population. This is one I'm very proud of even though we have still got a way to go to complete it.”
6. Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
“There's a real, obvious one that for people who know me is no kind of secret that my own grandfather has been a huge influence and inspiration to me. So, he was awarded an OBE for his work in nuclear reactor safety. Crazy. He graduated from his Doctor of Science in 1954 and at MIT and so he got like a commemorative chain which I've since kind of inherited. I've worn it to my own wedding, I've worn it to my PhD graduation. it's just a really special memento for me because it's like a spiritual presence.”
“My PhD Supervisors, Dr. Faye Didymus and Dr Toni Williams, who have had a massive influence, but I guess for good and bad, and I think they’d say the same thing about me as well. Whoever's your mentors, academically or non-academically, like those always have a big influence too.”
7. Where do you see the field of well-being research going in the next 5 years?
“I guess, where it probably might go, and where I hope it goes as a distinction to make that I want to be optimistic. So, what I hope there is a broadening in our understanding, and we don't kind of settle for less or kind of… I talked about epistemic fallacies earlier, and I really hope we start to see those addressed. I have a feeling that we'll see a lot of work under the mental health banner, and then there will be maybe an effort to encompass well-being as an understanding of mental health, which I think we need to be careful with, because, ontologically, they have different meanings and understandings.”
“I really hope we start drawing on different professions. We move beyond Western orientated understandings, and we be bold, and we be brave. I really hope we continue to use that and align it with certain understandings of psychological well-being, as well as all the other domains of well-being as well like social, physical, spiritual and just really do some really powerful and meaningful work through various different ways to well-being”
8. What is your favourite thing about being a researcher?
“I think… it's been such a privilege to be in research for one of the last, maybe 5 years or so, and just to learn what I really value because values change over time. It's through conferences that we're sat at the moment that I really think that have really elevated what I really enjoy about research and my favourite things. So I see being a researcher as a real opportunity not just to make a difference with the people we work with but be curious about the world, and I think curiosity is something that through my own personal challenges I've always felt that if I can, as I mentioned earlier, find a pathway to curiosity and enthusiasm then that's when I'm at my best… showing curiosity about people, about the world, be open minded. I feel research enables that, especially through my interests and my hobbies and my expertise.”
“I really feel like I'm in that place where I can do that, and I can work with people to improve the experience and understanding of psychological well-being in sport. And yeah, it’s a dream place to be for me.”
9. What advice would you give to those who would like to do research in the area of psychological well-being in sport and exercise?
“Firstly, embracing complexity to find clarity, we sometimes, again, are in a rush to simplify things.”
“Secondly, planning and coherence within your work, between concepts, your philosophical assumptions, the methods you use, the way you portray your findings.”
“Thirdly, that your work gives back and puts well-being at the heart of your work. So, whether through research designs, whether it's through the implementation and service evaluations you do, I think it's really important to do that, and put well-being at the heart of the work.”
“Finally, being surrounded by good people as well within the well-being space. So even if you’re feeling quite isolated and lonely, you never really are alone, or even if you feel it in your institution, people within our field are very good people that will raise you up and will really raise your confidence.”
A big thank you to Richard for his time whilst we were at QRSE for the interview and for keeping us both safe from the many seagulls lurking on campus!
Image description: A photo of one of the many seagulls of Bath waiting around whilst Richard and I chatted over coffee and biscuits.
Are you interested to learn more about Richard’s work? If so, you can get in touch with Richard via:
X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/RichSimpson_95
Website: research.leedstrinity.ac.uk/en/persons/richard-simpson
Email: r.simpson@leedstrinity.ac.uk
If you want to read some of Richard’s recent work, below are some of his most recent publications:
Simpson, R.A.C., Didymus, F. F., & Williams, T. L. (2024). Organizational stress and well-being in competitive sport: A systematic review. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 17(1), 116-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/1750984X.2021.1975305
Simpson, R.A.C., Didymus, F. F., & Williams, T. L. (2023). Interpersonal psychological well-being among coach-athlete-sport psychology practitioner triads. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 67, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2023.102435
Norman, L., & Simpson, R.A.C. (2023). Gendered microaggressions towards the “only” women coaches in high-performance sport. Sports Coaching Review, 12(3), 302-322. https://doi.org/10.1080/21640629.2021.2021031
Image credit: Dr Richard Simpson & Dr Grace Tidmarsh
Written by Dr Grace Tidmarsh, ESRC Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the SPRINT Project
Comments