Hello, I’m Mark Johnston—a psychology qualitative researcher, author, student and lived-experience advocate based in North Yorkshire England.

My work sits at the intersection of health psychology, lived experience, creative qualitative research, consultancy, community engagement and inclusion.

It is guided by a simple belief: behind every diagnosis, statistic and dataset is a person with a story that deserves to be heard, understood and valued.

My journey into academia has not been conventional. As a mature student and the first person in my family to attend university, I brought with me experiences of employment, fatherhood, unpaid caring, volunteering and supporting people through difficult periods of their lives. These experiences continue to influence how I approach research. They have taught me that meaningful knowledge should be created with people—not simply collected about them.

I graduated with a BSc in Psychology with Clinical Psychology and am currently completing an MSc in Health Psychology at Teesside University. My research has explored the workplace experiences of adults diagnosed with dyslexia later in life and the everyday realities of unpaid carers supporting people living with acquired brain injury, traumatic brain injury and stroke.

Through my research roles, I have also contributed to community-based projects involving people living with neurological conditions with NeuroKey, and chronic respiratory illness with Breathe Easy Darlington

A central focus of my work is the development of more creative, inclusive and accessible ways of conducting qualitative research. I am particularly interested in approaches that allow people to communicate through images, objects, movement, metaphor and personal artefacts, as well as through spoken or written language.

Alongside Dr Stephanie Kılınç and Eve Fitzgerald, I have helped to develop Lived Experience Journey Mapping—an inclusive qualitative approach that places participants’ own ways of communicating and making meaning at the centre of research. This work has been presented at qualitative research conferences, including the British Psychological Society’s Qualitative Methods in Psychology conference.

My commitment to participation extends beyond research. I have represented students at school and university level, chaired student representative forums, worked as a Student Ambassador, PASS Leader and Student Futures Navigator, and supported projects designed to improve mental health, inclusion and access to education. My contributions have been recognised through awards including Student Union Volunteer of the Year and School Representative of the Year.

I have also written a book called “Late to the Lecture” which is my journey as a mature student, single parent to 2 children, a grandad and how much Teesside University has been the most positive thing i have done in my professional life.

Community involvement remains an important part of who I am. My volunteering has included supporting mental health peer-support services, working with people living with dementia in hospital settings and encouraging children—particularly those who are neurodivergent or lack confidence—to recognise their potential. My longer-term ambition is to develop a career as an academic researcher and lecturer, advancing creative, participatory and experience-led approaches to psychology. I want to help create research in which people with lived experience are not treated simply as participants, but are recognised as experts and partners whose knowledge can influence services, professional practice and social change.