Psychologists for Peace

Committee Information

Below are details of the current committee and vacancies. The APS is always on the look out for members who are interested in joining a Member Group committee, to help support and promote members, the profession, and the APS. For more information about joining a Member Groups committee, click here.

Have questions? Please feel free to contact committee members via PsyCommunity direct message here or reach out to APS Member Groups via [email protected].

 

Convener

Position vacant

Secretary& Acting Convener

Ms Elizabeth Freeman
Liz has been a long-term member of Psychologists for Peace. She is an Honorary Senior Fellow, in the Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne where she co-ordinated the Master of Education (Student Wellbeing) program for many years. She was engaged in a 16-year professional development and research partnership between the University and the Catholic Education system focused on the creation of positive learning environments and student wellbeing through teacher professional learning. Liz’ research interests have included interpersonal communication and conflict management in education. She collaborated with Eleanor Wertheim and Margot Trinder on the Enhancing Relationships in School Communities (ERIS) project which built on the work of PfP.

Treasurer

Prof Eleanor Wertheim
Eleanor Wertheim is Emeritus Professor in the School of Psychology and Public Health at La Trobe University. She has a background in clinical psychology and community psychology and has a keen interest in promoting cooperative methods for addressing conflict, which she has done at many levels. These include being part of the Psychologists for Peace project, Enhancing Relationships in School Communities (ERIS), as well as contributing to the UN Institute for Training and Research Peacemaking and Conflict Prevention Programme, which trains UN staff, representatives from regional organisations and diplomats from around the world. In addition to publishing in the field of conflict resolution and forgiveness, Eleanor has enjoyed being part of creating numerous Psychologists for Peace materials such as posters and calendars on peace and conflict resolution topics, including the Wise Ways to Win series, and she helped to found the Psychologists for Peace student Peace Research Award.

Committee Member

Prof Ann Sanson
Ann Sanson is a developmental and community psychologist, and a Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society and the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development. One of the early peace projects that she helped to organise was Letters to Leaders in 1987, in which over 30,000 Victorian school children wrote to a world leader of their choice about their hopes and fears for the future. Her current work focuses on the climate crisis as a peace issue, and how it will impact on current and future generations of children. She is now an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne.

Committee Member - VIC Coordinator

Mr Kane Gough
Kane is a clinical psychologist who joined Psychologists for Peace in 2019.

Committee Memberr - SA Coordinator

Dr Leonnie Blumson

Committee Member

Ms Colleen Turner

Committee Member - QLD Coordinator

Ms Margot Trinder
Margot has been a member of Psychologists for Peace (PfP) since 1993. She worked as the Peace Education Coordinator at the APS, then moved to the University of Melbourne to coordinate the PfP Enhancing Relationships in School Communities (ERIS) projects. ERIS utilised many of the conflict resolution resources developed by PfP. Margot has been involved in the development of many of the PfP materials including posters, the Wise Ways to Win picture story book and professional development. Margot loves being part of PfP and working closely and regularly with other psychologists who are committed to using our psychological knowledge to promote peace at all levels.

Committee Member - SA Coordinator

Ms Katherine Prescott

Committee Member - WA Coordinator

Ms Laura Curelic

Acting Secretary & NSW/ACT Coordinator

Mrs Alexandra Crawford
Alex is a clinical psychologist who works in solo private practice with adults, and as a project manager for a not for profit that supports children in rural areas via telehealth. Alex is passionate about using her professional expertise not only to facilitate positive change for individual clients, but also to make positive social change. This reflects Alex's approach to mental health intervention - that it is as important to address the root environmental causes of mental health difficulties as it is to treat their symptoms. These beliefs are what motivated Alex to join the APS SIG Psychologists for Peace as a national committee member in 2020. Alex has extensive experience working with neurodivergent and LGBTQI+ clients, and moonlights as a multicultural musician, playing violin with various world music groups around Sydney. These experiences have contributed to her particular interests and passions for diversity and inclusion, and use of the arts to bridge sociocultural divides.

Student Representative

Miss Ariane Virgona
Ariane Virgona is a PhD Candidate from La Trobe University studying the impacts of cultural ideologies on identity processes and group categorization, in a bid to help increase positive intergroup interactions. Ariane joined Psychologists for Peace in 2019 and was the recipient of the 2019 Research Award for her honours thesis on the impacts of polyculturalism on well-being outcomes in an Australian sample. Currently, Ariane is the student representative and is active in developing and hosting Psychologist for Peace events.