About

I am a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Professor of Contemplative Psychology at the University of Derby. My research advances the international Contemplative Psychology agenda, to which I have contributed over 130 peer-reviewed papers, three books, and more than 120 additional scholarly outputs (e.g., book chapters, professional journal articles, and online publications).

Drawing on direct experiential insight from a decade as a Buddhist monk—during which I immersed deeply in intensive meditation and contemplative training—alongside prior senior management roles in blue-chip companies, my work centres on how core processes such as meditation, mindfulness, compassion, emptiness, and non-self can enhance physical, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing across clinical, educational, occupational, and everyday contexts, including high-pressure professional environments.

As a science communicator in this field, my work or opinion has featured in the national and international TV, radio and print media on more 300 occasions in recent years, helping to bridge academic insights with real-world societal challenges. I also supervise a number of PhD students conducting research in contemplative psychology, many of whom have produced their own substantial publications contributing to the field.

My research has informed key national and international policy documents and reports, including NICE guidelines on mental wellbeing at work and chronic pain, EU publications on higher education mental health, UNESCO's evidence-based education assessment, RAND reports on mindfulness for performance, Swedish assessments of psychological wellbeing and fibromyalgia, the Icelandic Directorate of Health curriculum on positive behaviour and social/emotional skills in schools, and others addressing occupational health, education, addiction, and stress reduction.

For further resources, including articles and updates on my forthcoming external engagements, such as talks, workshops and retreats in contemplative psychology, please visit my personal website: www.williamvangordon.com. Follow ongoing discussions via X (@Van_Gordon_W) or connect via my Facebook page for additional insights and community discussions. I also maintain an ongoing blog on Contemplative Psychology for Psychology Today and am the author of The Way of the Mindful Warrior.

Research interests

My research advances the scientific and applied understanding of contemplative processes—meditation, mindfulness, compassion, emptiness, and non-self—through an ongoing programme of empirical studies, including numerous randomised controlled trials evaluating meditation-based interventions for health, wellbeing, professional performance and resilience.

I am internationally recognised for developing and researching second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (SG-MBIs), which emphasise authentic, psycho-spiritual practice, ethics, and insight into core contemplative principles. This includes founding Meditation Awareness Training (MAT), an evidence-based SG-MBI that has been evaluated for conditions such as fibromyalgia, workaholism, coping with cancer symptoms, and psychological wellbeing.

Examples of recent insights from my research include:

• Developing ontological addiction as a novel psychological theory positing attachment to an inherently existent self as a root cause of suffering and mental illness, providing a foundational framework for understanding and treating mental health conditions;
• Identifying inverted hallucinations as a new hallucination type linked to impaired awareness and distorted reality perception, highlighting risks from technology overuse and contributing to digital wellbeing discussions;
• Conducting the first empirical study of meditation-induced near-death experiences, showing advanced meditation practice can elicit, control, and refine profound states similar to classical NDEs, with applications for end-of-life care, spiritual health, and resilience;
• Demonstrating the benefits of meditation—especially second-generation mindfulness interventions—on health, wellbeing, resilience, and functioning in clinical, educational, occupational, and everyday contexts, supporting evidence-based clinical practices.

Membership of professional bodies

• Chartered Psychologist, British Psychological Society
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health

Qualifications

• BSc, Environmental Geoscience, Durham University
• MSc (Distinction), Psychological Wellbeing and Mental Health, Nottingham Trent University
• PhD, Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University

Teaching responsibilities

I currently supervise approximately 10 PhD students conducting advanced research in contemplative psychology. My supervision emphasizes rigorous empirical and theoretical exploration of meditation practices and their psychological effects.

I am particularly interested in topics such as emptiness meditation, nonattachment, second-generation mindfulness-based interventions (which integrate ethical, compassion-based, and wisdom-oriented dimensions), meditation-induced near-death experiences, and spiritual awareness more generally.

I am open to discussing applications from self-funded PhD candidates (full- or part-time) whose interests align with these areas - please feel free to email me at: w.vangordon@derby.ac.uk