The Green Apple Interview
Professor
Kathryn Nicholson-Perry
is the Chair of Discipline for Psychological Science based at the ACAP Sydney campus.
Tell us a bit about your work background
I originally trained as a clinical psychologist in the U.K. and my first job was on the first HIV Mental Health Team, which was in equal parts challenging and rewarding. I moved to Australia in 2001 and worked as a clinical psychologist in a chronic pain service, where I did my PhD on the use of cognitive behavioural therapy to treat chronic pain associated with spinal cord injury. After completing my PhD, I moved to an academic position at Western Sydney University working primarily in the professional psychology programs.
Tell us about your role at ACAP
I’m the Chair of Discipline for Psychological Science. I’m responsible for providing our students with the best possible education in psychology to prepare them for their future lives, and supporting the amazing academics who teach them. This year we’ve been working on refreshing all of our programs, which has been an enormous amount of work but also really inspiring.
What are some of the biggest things you’ve learnt form working in higher education?
I’ve learnt how extraordinarily resilient and brave our students are. I have been privileged to watch people who have overcome incredible challenges to fulfil their ambitions and go on to make amazing contributions to their communities.
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