Congratulations to 2021 Dissertation Scholarship Awardee Matthew Beal

Matthew Beal

Matthew grew up on the coast of Maine among the lobsters and mountains of Acadia National Park and is now a doctoral candidate in practical theology at Boston University School of Theology. He is also an LCMHC (Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor) and a pastoral psychotherapist with the Association for Clinical Pastoral Educationpracticing in North Carolina. His therapeutic experience is in crisis counseling and outpatient therapy for trauma, grief, and major mental health disorders. His theological research is fundamentally interdisciplinary and takes place at the intersection theology of and psychology, engaging with poststructuralism, trinitarian and relational theologies, sociology, and gender studies. Building on a constructive relational theological anthropology, his dissertation develops a pastoral theology for fostering liberative transformation in masculinities at the interpersonal, ecclesial, and societal levels. He is also an avid hiker, a musician, and a devoted husband and father.