Paul Stevenson

Paul Joseph Stevenson OAM (born 12 September 1955) is an Australian psychologist and a recognised authority within the fields of psychological trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder, stress management and psychological recovery from disaster incidents.

Education

Stevenson holds a Certificate in Social Welfare from the Southbank Institute,^[1] a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Queensland,^[2] a Graduate Diploma in Psychology from the University of Queensland,^[3] and a Master of Psychology degree from the University of Queensland.^[4]

Professional career – disaster intervention and support

Stevenson has wide experience in general and trauma counselling and is widely recognised as an international trauma psychologist.^[5][6][7][8] His experience includes on-site involvement with the Moura Mine Disaster in 1994, the Port Arthur Massacre (Australia) in 1996, the Thredbo landslide in 1997, the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005, the Marriott bombing (Jakarta) in 2003, the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta, the Indian Ocean tsunami recovery in 2004–05, the Victorian Bushfires in 2009,^{[9][10][11][12]} the 2010-2011 Queensland floods,^[13][14] the 2013 Bundaberg floods,^[15][16][17] and support for the families of those lost in Malaysia Airlines Flight 370^[18]

Professional career – refugee support and advocacy

Stevenson has worked as a clinical psychologist at the Manus Regional Processing Centre and the Nauru Detention Centre, providing support to both staff and detainees.^[19] He maintains that the levels of psychological trauma at these Centres are the worst he has ever seen, and that Australia has an ethical responsibility to ensure these Centres are closed down.^[19] As a result of speaking out, Stevenson had his contract to work on Nauru summarily terminated by PsyCare.^[20]

Professional views

Stevenson suggests that the traditional method of Critical Incident Stress Debriefing needs to be used with caution, and suggests that an eclectic and humanitarian approach is necessary for stress and trauma response.^[21] Stevenson believes that to some extent psychological trauma may be a natural reaction to extreme circumstances, and we need to de-stigmatize this, as indeed we need to de-stigmatize mental illness.^[22]

Politics

Stevenson was an Independent Candidate for the Senate (Queensland) in the Australian federal election, 2016. He is a member of the Australian Democrats.^[23][24][25]

Critical recognition

• Medal of the Order of Australia^[10] OAM
• United Nations Queensland Award^{[26][27][13][28][29]}
• Past National President of the Australian College of Clinical Psychologists^[30]
• Current National President of the Australian Association of Psychologists^[31]
• Accredited Compassion Fatigue Educator, Green Cross International Academy of Traumatology ^[32]

Publications

• Stevenson, Paul. 2008. Best Practice for Human Services. Southport: Access Psychology.
• Stevenson, Paul. 2006. Are We There Yet? A Brief Strategy for Planning and Evaluation for the Human Services. Southport: Access Psychology.
• Stevenson, Paul. 2006. Postcards from Ground Zero. Burleigh: Zeus Publications.

References

External links

• Professional website
• Interview on ABC Radio, 28 September 2011
• Interview on ABC Radio on psychological impact of Qld public service sackings, 11 September 2012
• Interview on ABC Radio on the Bali Bombings, 17 October 2012