Heather Gridley is a feminist community and counselling psychologist
Heather Gridley FAPS
Community and Counselling Psychologist, Academic
Specialty Areas
Advocacy, Community Service and Engagement, Families, Feminist Policy and Politics, Women’s Affairs, Gender, Governance, Health and Medical, M.C. and Facilitator, Mental Health and Wellbeing, Other, Religion, Spirituality and Ethics, Social Justice and Human Rights
About Me
Heather Gridley’s career history as a humanities-based psychologist with a passionate commitment to social justice bridges the practitioner-academic divide. Although her training was in counselling, educational and clinical psychology, she found herself increasingly drawn to the relatively new area of community psychology. This interest stemmed from her work in community health in the 1980s, where she became aware of the limitations of interventions directed solely at individuals.
In 1990 Heather joined the fledgling Victoria University, where she coordinated the postgraduate program in Community Psychology, and developed a ground-breaking unit in the Counselling program on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault. Heather’s teaching, research and practice are based on feminist principles, and in 1995 she received the Australian Psychological Society’s Elaine Dignan Award for significant contributions concerning women and psychology. She served terms on the APS Board as Director of Social Issues and Membership, and was subsequently employed in the APS National Office as Manager (Public Interest). Other governance roles have included terms on the then Footscray TAFE College Council and the CASA House Advisory Group as well as a range of community groups.
She has published and presented on the history, commonalities and contradictions between feminism and community psychology, and on shifting meanings of spirituality within and beyond psychology. And she maintains her personal sense of community by singing with the Brunswick Women’s Choir in Melbourne, Australia.
Qualifications
MA Women's Studies (Melbourne University)Grad Dip Educational Counselling (RMIT)
Dip Ed (Melbourne University)
BA (Melbourne University)
