John Swinton, Ph.D., B.D., R.M.N., R.N.M.H. worked as a nurse for sixteen years, specializing in the areas of psychiatry and learning disability. He also spent a number of years working in the field of hospital chaplaincy, most recently as a community psychiatric chaplain. He now lectures in practical theology in the Department of Divinity and Religious Studies, King's College, University of Aberdeen, Scotland.