Director of Research & Director Lumen Research Institute
Telephone Number
02 9000 9604
maureen.minerbridges@excelsia.edu.au
Before joining Excelsia College Maureen held the positions of Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at Western Sydney University. She has lectured in Pastoral Counselling to theological students and continues to consult as a Clinical Psychologist. Her passion for research leadership led to her becoming a Founding Director of the Lumen Research Institute in 2016, an initiative of Excelsia College in Sydney and Indiana Wesleyan University in the USA.
Maureen’s doctorate was awarded by Western Sydney University. Her research and scholarship in the fields of psychology, religion and spirituality have been recognized internationally: by a Crawford Miller Fellowship (St Cross College, Oxford) and a fellowship for the John Templeton Oxford program of seminars and research into Christianity and science.
Her research and scholarship in the fields of psychology, religion and spirituality have been recognized internationally: by a Crawford Miller Fellowship (St Cross College, Oxford) and a fellowship for the John Templeton Oxford program of seminars and research into Christianity and science. Dr Miner also initiated and chaired the Western Sydney University Psychology and Spirituality Society, sponsored by the Mextanexus Local Societies Initiative.
Dr Maureen Miner developed a strong interest in the relationship between religion, spirituality and psychology. This was expressed in her doctoral work and in subsequent research and research supervision.
Member of the Australian Psychological Society; member of the Clinical College of the Australian Psychological Society; member of the Christianity and Psychological Interest Group of the Australian Psychological Society. Registered as a psychologist to practise in New South Wales, Australia.
A major strand of research examines the nature, measurement and psychological impact of attachment to God amongst Christians and Muslims. Another research strand considers psychological factors related to sustainable church leadership and engagement in ministry. Some of this research is conducted in collaboration with the National Church Life Survey Research. A further research field relates to the personal, professional and spiritual development of students through Christian higher education.
Miner, M. & Stephens, M. (2018). Christian identity in the public arena. Proceedings of the 3rd annual Lumen Research Institute Conference in Sydney, Australia: CHILD.
Stevens, B. & Miner, M. (2017). Free to love: Schema therapy for Christians. Religion and Society Series. New York, NY: Nova Science.
Miner, M. & Dowson, M. (Eds.) (2017). Creativity and Spirituality: A multidisciplinary perspective. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Miner, M. & Dowson, M. (Eds.) (2016). Spirituality, Culture and Well-Being, Proceedings of the Spirituality, Culture and WellBeing Conference of the Lumen Research Institute and Excelsia College, Sydney, Australia. Sydney: CHILD
Miner, M., Dowson, M. & Devenish, S. (Eds.). (2012). Beyond well-being: Spirituality and human flourishing. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Miner, M. (2018). Stronger Christian voices for the public arena through intentional identity formation. In Miner, M. & Stephens, M. (Eds.) (2018). Christian identity in the public arena. Proceedings of the conference of the Lumen Research Institute and Excelsia College, Sydney, Australia (10 August 2018). Sydney: CHILD.
Bickerton, G. & Miner, M. (2018). Antecedents and outcomes of a perceived calling to work among the religious. In Miner, M. & Stephens, M. (Eds.) (2018). Christian identity in the public arena. Proceedings of the conference of the Lumen Research Institute and Excelsia College, Sydney, Australia (10 August 2018). Sydney: CHILD.
Miner, M. (2017). Creativity and Spirituality: Psychological perspectives. In Miner, M. & Dowson, M. (Eds.) Creativity and Spirituality: A multidisciplinary perspective. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Miner, M. (2017). Creativity & spirituality in higher education: The case for inclusion. In Miner, M. & Dowson, M. (Eds.) Creativity and Spirituality: A multidisciplinary perspective. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Miner, M. (2017). Integrating creativity & spirituality in higher education. In Miner, M. & Dowson, M. (Eds.) Creativity and Spirituality: A multidisciplinary perspective. Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Comely, C. & Miner, M. (2016). Faith in Therapy: Utilising the client’s Christian or Jewish faith as a strength in cognitive behavioural therapy. In K.A. Moore, P. Buchwald, F.Nasser & M.Israelashvili (Eds), Stress and Anxiety, strategies, opportunities and adaptation (pp.29-36). Logos Verlag Berlin.
Miner, M., & Dowson, M. (2016). Spirituality: Perspectives from psychology. In De Souza, M., Bone, J., & Watson, J. (Eds). Spirituality across disciplines: Research and practice (pp.165-178). Switzerland: Springer.
Miner, M., Dowson, M., Sterland, S. & Powell, R. (2013). Spirituality and burnout amongst church leaders: Findings from the 2011 Australian National Church Life Survey. In Doolittle, B. (Ed). Psychology of burnout: New research (pp.157-178). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Dowson, M. & Miner, M. (2013). Religion, culture, motivation & achievement. In Liem, G.A. & Bernado, A.B. (Eds.) Advancing Cross-cultural Perspectives on Educational Psychology: A Festschrift for Dennis M. McInerney (pp. ). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Dowson, M., Miner, M. & Sterland, S. (2012). Burnout and job satisfaction among Australian Catholic clergy. In Ata, A.W. (Ed.), Catholics and Catholicism in contemporary Australia (pp.194-205). Melbourne, Australia: David Lovell.
Miner, M. & Dowson, M. (2012). Spirituality as a key resource for human flourishing. In Miner, M., Dowson, M. & Devenish, S. (Eds.). Beyond well-being: Spirituality and human flourishing (pp.5-32). Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
George, T., Miner, M., & Dowson, M. (2012) . Human flourishing in education: The relationships among student attachments, attributions and self-regulation. In Miner, M., Dowson, M. & Devenish, S. (Eds.). Beyond well-being: Spirituality and human flourishing (pp.109-126). Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Dowson, M. & Miner, M. (2012) . Towards a theory of personal maturity: Links to spirituality and human flourishing. In Miner, M., Dowson, M. & Devenish, S. (Eds.). Beyond well-being: Spirituality and human flourishing (pp.127-150). Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Kaldor, S. & Miner, M. (2012). Spirituality and community flourishing: A case of circular causality. In Miner, M., Dowson, M. & Devenish, S. (Eds.). Beyond well-being: Spirituality and human flourishing (pp.183-198). Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Brouwer, R. & Miner, M. (2012). Wholistic coaching: A case study and analysis. In Miner, M., Dowson, M. & Devenish, S. (Eds.). Beyond well-being: Spirituality and human flourishing (pp.215-230). Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing.
Miner, M. & Bickerton, G. (in submission). Relational leadership: Trinitarian theology and the job demands-resources model. Journal of Psychology & Theology.
Bickerton, G. & Miner, M. (in press). The inter-relationships between spiritual resources and work engagement. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
Riley, R. & Miner, M. (in submission). A judgment in stone: Damnation and judgment in the Don Juan plays. Religion and Literature.
Yıldız, M., Bulut, M.B., & Miner, M. (2019). Adaptation of a Muslim Spiritual Attachment Scale (God Attachment) for Turkish Muslims: A Validity and Reliability Study. Mental Health, Religion & Culture.
Miner, M. (2018). Psychological Contributions to Understanding Prejudice and the Evangelical Mind. Christian Scholars Review, XLVII:4, 363-372.
Miner, M., Ghobary-Bonab, B., & Dowson, M. (2017). Development of a measure of attachment to God for Muslims. Review of Religious Research, 59(2), 183-206. DOI: 10.1007/s13644-016-0281-2
Miner, M. (2015). A Christian attachment-based therapy can support psychological healing and spiritual growth. Counselling Connections Across Australia, 6, 7-13.
Bickerton, G. R., Miner, M. H., Dowson, M., & Griffin, B. (2015). Spiritual resources as antecedents of clergy well-being: The importance of occupationally specific variables. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 87, 123-133. doi: 10.1016/j.jvb.2015.01.002
Miner, M., Bickerton, G., Dowson, M., & Sterland, S. (2015). Spirituality and work engagement amongst church leaders. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 18(1), 57–71. DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2014.1003168.
Dowson, M., & Miner, M. (2015). Interacting religious orientations and personal well-being. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 18(1), 72–84. DOI:10.1080/13674676.2014.1003167
Miner, M., Dowson, M., & Malone, K. (2014). Attachment to God, psychological need satisfaction, and well-being among Christians. Journal of Psychology & Theology, 42(4), 326-342.
Bickerton, G., Miner, M., Dowson, M., & Griffin, B. (2014). Spiritual resources and work engagement among religious workers: A three-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 87(2), 370-391. DOI: 10.1111/joop.12052
Bickerton, G., Miner, M., Dowson, M., & Griffin, B. (2014). Spiritual resources in the job demands-resources model. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, pp.1-24 DOI: 10.1080/14766086.2014.886517
Bickerton, G.R., Miner, M.H., Dowson, M. & Griffin, B. (2014). The incremental validity of spiritual resources in the job demands-resources model. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. 7(2), 162-172. doi: 10.1037/rel0000012
Miner, M., Ghobary, B.B., Dowson, M., & Proctor,M.T. (2014). Spiritual attachment in Islam and Christianity. Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 17(1), 79-93. DOI: 10.1080/13674676.2012.749452
Miner, M., Dowson, M., & Malone, K. (2013). Spiritual satisfaction of basic psychological needs and psychological health. Journal of Psychology and Theology, 41, 298-314.
Ghobary B.B., Miner, M., & Proctor, M.T. (2013). Attachment to God in Islamic spirituality. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 7 (2), 77-104.
Miner, M. & Dowson, M. (2012). Spiritual experiences reconsidered:
Miner, M. (2019). Re-vitalizing church leaders: Using organizational theory in schema therapy. Invited presentation for Activate, the Conference of the Christianity and Psychology Interest Group of the Australian Psychological Society, Marcoola, Queensland, on 3 May 2019.
Miner, M. (2018). Banish Teacher Burnout: The secret of long-term success for educators. Presentation at the Anglican EdComm Agora series, Tara School, Parramatta, on 22 March 2018
Miner, M. (2016). Researching in the Light. Keynote address at the opening of the Lumen Research Institute, Excelsia College, on 9 March 2016.
Miner M.H. (2010, August). Applying an attachment theory of spirituality in clinical practice. Invited presentation at the Iranian University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, on 8 August 2010.
Miner, M. & Bickerton, G. (2018). Relational leadership: Trinitarian theology and research into the job demands-resources model. In Write2018, a conference of the Simeon Network, Sydney, Australia, 7 April 2018.
Miner, M. (2017). Psychological Contributions to Understanding Prejudice and the Evangelical Mind. In The State of the Evangelical Mind: Reflections on the Past, Prospects for the Future, Conference of the Lumen Research Institute, Indiana, IN, on 22 September 2017
Miner, M. (2017). A framework for integrative social science research in higher education. In Envisioning Christian Higher Education, Conference of Australian Christian Higher Education Alliance, Sydney, on 18 August 2017.
Bickerton, G. & Miner, M. (2017). The inter-relationships between spiritual resources and well-being at work. In Envisioning Christian Higher Education, Conference of Australian Christian Higher Education Alliance, Sydney, on 19 August 2017.
Miner, M., Dowson, M., & Ghobary B. (2016, October). Spirituality and psychological well-being of Muslim Australians: A quantitative study of attachment to people and God. In Spirituality, Culture and Well-Being, Conference of the Lumen Research Institute and Excelsia College, Sydney, Australia, on 5 October.
McLean Hawthorne, Martin Dowson, Maureen Miner & Marie-Thérèse Proctor (2016, October). Re-development of a measure of attachment processes in Christian conversion and spiritual maturity using a cross-cultural sample. In Spirituality, Culture and Well-Being, Conference of the Lumen Research Institute and Excelsia College, Sydney, Australia, on 5 October.
McLean Hawthorne, Martin Dowson, Maureen Miner & Marie-Thérèse Proctor (2016, October). Attachment processes in Christian conversion and spiritual maturity in a cross-cultural sample. In Spirituality, Culture and Well-Being, Conference of the Lumen Research Institute and Excelsia College, Sydney, Australia, on 5 October.
Miller, H. & Miner, M. (2016, October). The relational self in therapeutic encounter: Towards an understanding of therapeutic relationship through a lens of theological anthropology. In Spirituality, Culture and Well-Being, Conference of the Lumen Research Institute and Excelsia College, Sydney, Australia, on 5 October.
Clanfield, J., Dowson, M., & Miner, M. (2016, October). School ethos, religiosity & orthodoxy. In Spirituality, Culture and Well-Being, Conference of the Lumen Research Institute and Excelsia College, Sydney, Australia, on 5 October.
Miner, M. (2016, April). Student flourishing through attachment and self-regulation. In Education for Human Flourishing, Conference of Christians in Teaching, Sydney, Australia, on 30 April.
Miner, M. (2016, April). Developing flourishing communities. In Education for Human Flourishing, Conference of Christians in Teaching, Sydney, Australia, on 30 April. Miner, M. (2014, November). A Christian approach to attachment can integrate psychological and spiritual perspectives in areas of forgiveness, hope and peace. In Forgiveness, hope and peace: Psychological and spiritual perspective, Christianity and Psychology Interest Group of the Australian Psychological Society, Sydney, Australia on 21 November.
Miner, M. (2013, November). Using Christian spirituality to move beyond well-being to flourishing. In Theology for Psychologists and Counsellors, Christianity and Psychology Interest Group of the Australian Psychological Society, Parramatta, Australia on 14 November.
Miner, M. & Dowson, M. (2012, October). Reaching towards the inexpressible: A psycho-spiritual expression of the good life. In The Expressible and the Inexpressible, Biennial Conference in Philosophy, Religion & Culture, Catholic Institute of Sydney, Australia, on 6 October.