About Tim Carey

Timothy (Tim) A. Carey began his professional life as a preschool teacher. He then obtained a Graduate Diploma in Special Education for the Severely to Profoundly Multiply Handicapped and spent some time teaching in special schools.

Tim’s training in special education provided him with the opportunity to focus on behaviour management. He began working as an advisory teacher in primary schools and then secondary schools, assisting both teachers and students to negotiate their school days more satisfactorily.

While never relinquishing his passion for teaching, he pursued undergraduate and then postgraduate studies in psychology at the University of Queensland.

Along the way he got married in Las Vegas and rode shotgun in a helicopter through the Grand Canyon to start his honeymoon. He also watched the sun set over the Golden Gate bridge as the 20th Century came to an end.

Tim’s psychology studies culminated in the award of a PhD in Clinical Psychology. His PhD research investigated the obscure but dramatically important topic of countercontrol—something first mentioned by B. F. Skinner. From that research he published articles on countercontrol with his friend Tom Bourbon. With a shiny new PhD he travelled half way around the world to work as a clinical psychologist in Scotland where he set about learning as much as he could about the practice of the Method of Levels (MOL). The five years he spent in Scotland saw the birth of MOL as a genuine, systematic approach to efficiently and effectively helping people reduce psychological distress. The time in Scotland also saw the birth of his son and ignited the adventure of parenting which continues to be an unparalleled source of learning and joy.

From Scotland, Tim pursued an academic career which enabled him to further establish the credibility and usefulness of MOL. He has been fortunate to work alongside talented clinicians and researchers who have joined him in his efforts. In addition to his PhD, Tim earned an MSc in Statistics and has continued to extend his skills as a scholar and researcher. He was awarded a Fulbright Senior Scholarship and, through his scholarly efforts, achieved the rank of Professor. He has had the privilege of working as an academic in universities in Australia, the U.S., and Rwanda.

An understanding of people as living control systems has been a constant thread throughout all his work. He continues to research and teach about these ideas in whatever ways he can. His blog at Psychology Today has over 120 brief articles, all of which are about the implications of control for contented daily living. These articles have had over 1.5 million views.

Tim also developed the smartphone MindSurf app to make the benefits of MOL questioning accessible to more people. He now has over 175 publications, most of which are about MOL or Perceptual Control Theory (PCT), or both, and he has created the website www.drtimcarey.com as well as the YouTube channel Control Matters to help raise awareness about this important and beautiful natural phenomenon.

Never entirely sure where his next opportunity or adventure will be, Tim is happiest spending time with family and friends and connecting with people about control and the contribution an understanding of control can make to creating a better world for us all.