Pam Stavropoulos
Pam Stavropoulos, PhD is a consultant with a particular interest in politics and mental health. A former Fulbright Scholar, she left her tenured academic position to pursue study of psychotherapy and is co-author of nationally and internationally endorsed guidelines for treatment of complex trauma. She has held lectureships at Macquarie University and the University of New England, and is a former Program Director of the Jansen Newman Institute. The author of Living under Liberalism: The Politics of Depression in Western Democracies (Florida: Universal, 2008) she has written research reports, political commentary, and is a clinical supervisor in private practice.
Recent articles by Pam Stavropoulos
24 March 2025
Zionism, anti-Zionism, and the role of psychological coping strategies
As both the actively enabled genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the sanctioning of those who protest it continue, the associated psychological challenges likewise continue unabated. It is not only the international `rules-based’ order which is subverted (with all the political, legal, social, and economic dimensions that entails). When any pretence to a moral order is also subverted, the psychological scaffolding by which we navigate existence is at risk as well.
28 February 2025
Arts on notice: The clarion call of Tilda Swinton
At a time when the cost of living crisis undermines the wellbeing of millions — and when for besieged Palestinians in Gaza it rather represents a literal risk of being wiped off the face of the earth — focus on the realm of the arts can seem peripheral. So close attention to the recent acceptance speech of actor Tilda Swinton of her Golden Bear lifetime achievement award at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, the Berlinale, may seem trivial in comparison.
18 February 2025
Sourcing antisemitism: 'Paid actors’ and urgent questions to be asked
In a recent podcast, award-winning US journalist, author, and film maker Max Blumenthal underlined the importance of following up stories that are on the public record, but not getting adequate attention. A concerning example was explored in his podcast, titled Australian Authorities: 'Paid Actors' Spreading Anti-Semitism from Abroad.
1 February 2025
Scholasticide, academic complicity, and institutional betrayal
`It may be reasonable to ask if there is an intentional effort to comprehensively destroy the Palestinian education system, an action known as `scholasticide’ - UN OHCHR.
23 January 2025
Progressing to Barbarism: dichotomies, language, and media as upholders of genocide
Wearing his clearly marked press vest, and flanked by his older colleagues, 22-year-old former soccer commentator and `accidental journalist’ Abubaker Abed earlier this month indicted the negligence and hypocrisy of international media organisations regarding reporting of the genocide in Gaza: `You’ve seen us killed in every possible way. We’ve been immolated, incinerated, dismembered, and disembowelled. And recently we’ve been starving to death. What more ways of killing will it take for you to move and stop the hell inflicted upon us?’
13 December 2024
Why is youth radicalisation framed solely within an individualist lens?
At the same time as the finding of Amnesty International - over twelve months into the ongoing destruction of Gaza - that the state of Israel is indeed committing genocide, the Five-Eyes security and law enforcement agencies released a jointly authored report sounding the alarm on youth radicalisation.