Paul Joseph Stevenson OAM (born 12 September 1955) is an Australian

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...

Professional career – disaster intervention and support

Stevenson has wide experience in general and trauma counselling and is widely recognised as an international trauma psychologist. His experience includes on-site involvement with the Moura Mine Disaster in 1994, the

Port Arthur Massacre (Australia) The Port Arthur massacre was a mass shooting that occurred on 28 April 1996 at Port Arthur, a tourist town in the Australian state of Tasmania. The perpetrator, Martin Bryant, killed 35 people and wounded 23 others, the worst massacre in mod ...

in 1996, the

Thredbo landslide The Thredbo landslide was a catastrophic landslide that occurred at the village and ski resort of Thredbo, New South Wales, Thredbo, New South Wales, Australia, on 30 July 1997. Two ski lodges were destroyed and 18 people died. Stuart Diver was ...

in 1997, the Bali bombings in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, the Marriott bombing (Jakarta) in 2003, the

2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta The Australian embassy bombing in Jakarta took place on September 9, 2004 in Indonesia. A one-tonne car bomb, which was packed into a small Daihatsu delivery van, exploded outside the Australian embassy at Kuningan District, South Jakarta, at ...

, the

Indian Ocean tsunami An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time (UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern Suma ...

recovery in 2004–05, the Victorian Bushfires in 2009, He received a

Medal of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for his work following the 2002 Bali Bombings. the

2010–2011 Queensland floods A series of floods hit Queensland, Australia, beginning in November 2010. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities. At least 90 towns and over 200,000 people were affected. Damage initially was estimated at ...

,"Selfless work recognized"
''Southern Star'' (Brisbane), 5 September 2012, p.12, accessed 5 September 2012

Cyclone Oswald Tropical Cyclone Oswald in 2013 was a tropical cyclone that passed over parts of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia over a number of days, causing widespread impact including severe storms, flooding, and water spouts. Coastal regions o ...

, and support for the families of those lost in

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 (MH370/MAS370) was an international passenger flight operated by Malaysia Airlines that disappeared on 8 March 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia to its planned destination ...

Professional career – refugee support and advocacy

Stevenson has worked as a psychologist at the

Manus Regional Processing Centre The Manus Regional Processing Centre, or Manus Island Regional Processing Centre (MIRCP), was one of a number of offshore Australian immigration detention facilities. The centre was located on the PNG Navy Base Lombrum (previously a Royal Aus ...

and the

Nauru Detention Centre The Nauru Regional Processing Centre is an offshore Australian immigration detention facility in use from 2001 to 2008, from 2012 to 2019, and from September 2021. It is located on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru and run by the Gover ...

, providing support to both staff and detainees. He maintains that the levels of

psychological trauma Psychological trauma, mental trauma or psychotrauma is an emotional response to a distressing event or series of events, such as accidents, rape, or natural disasters. Reactions such as psychological shock and psychological denial are typical. ...

at these Centres are the worst he has ever seen, and that Australia has an ethical responsibility to ensure these Centres are closed down. As a result of speaking out, Stevenson had his contract to work on Nauru summarily terminated by PsyCare.

Professional views

Stevenson suggests that the traditional method of

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine *Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing in ...

needs to be used with caution, and suggests that an eclectic and humanitarian approach is necessary for stress and trauma response.Stevenson, Paul. ''Postcards from Ground Zero''. Burleigh: Zeus Publications. Stevenson believes that to some extent

may be a natural reaction to extreme circumstances, and we need to de-stigmatize this, as indeed we need to de-stigmatize

mental illness A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

Politics

Stevenson was an Independent Candidate for the Senate (Queensland) in the

2016 Australian federal election The 2016 Australian federal election was a double dissolution election held on Saturday 2 July to elect all 226 members of the 45th Parliament of Australia, 45th Parliament of Australia, after an extended eight-week official campaign period. It ...

Critical recognition

* Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

OAM *

United Nations Queensland Award The United Nations Association of Australia (Queensland) Community Award is awarded annually by the United Nations Association of Australia in Queensland All residents of Queensland are eligible for nomination for the award, and more than one awar ...

* Current National President of the Australian Association of Psychologists * Accredited Compassion Fatigue Educator,

Green Cross International Green Cross International is an environmentalist organisation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, founded by former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993. Today, member organisations are in 30 countries. Its primary mission is to "respond to ...

Academy of Traumatology Australian Democrats Queensland Division Newsletter, Vol.5, No.2, October, 2014. p2.

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

Interview on ABC Radio, 28 September 2011

* ttp://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/local/nightlife/post_traum_m2103727.mp3 Interview on ABC Radio on the Bali Bombings, 17 October 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, Paul 1955 births Australian psychologists Australian whistleblowers Living people People from Brisbane Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia University of Queensland alumni