Prof Paul Rhodes (USYD)Title: Eco-psychology: a critical paradigm in the climate emergency
Abstract: This presentation makes the argument that mainstream psychological practice is not equipped to respond to distress associated with the climate emergency. This is because the field focusses on individual pathology, rather than ecological context. It remains reticent about activism and politics and is ontologically aligned with the Anthropocene, a new era in which the human species is creating an observable effect in the geological record, to the detriment of the planet and its life forms. An introduction is provided to ecopsychology, its history and philosophy, a movement that has sought to subvert and transform mainstream psychology over the last three decades. Ecopsychology still offers an opportunity for mainstream psychology to alter its approach in the face of the climate emergency. Six studies conducted by the Ecological Emotions Research Lab will be presented as exemplary of eco-psychological inquiry.
Bio: Paul Rhodes is a Professor in the Clinical Psychology Unit and co-leads the Ecological Emotions Research Lab with historian Dr Jamie Dunk. His research at present focusses on community-based responses to climate emotion, peer work and youth suicide prevention,  arts translation and social prescription  and issues related to cultural responsiveness and safety. Paul is also Chair of the Aboriginal Strategy Committee for the School of Psychology as a proud ally, and Coordinator of a new Unit of Study, Multiple Discourses in Mental Health co-designed and co-led by consumer/ex-patient/survivors of the mental health system. In his spare time he is a practising artist at Lennox St Studios and has exhibited extensively in Australia and the United Kingdom.