Stephen Butler

Biography

Professor; Director of Global Outreach (PsyD); Honorary Associate Professor, University College London (UCL)

MA (Courtauld Institute of Art); PhD (Ottawa)

I am a child clinical psychologist by training and Professor in the PsyD program at UPEI. I am also a Honorary Senior Lecturer at University College London (UCL), UK following 18 years employment in the doctoral training program in clinical psychology. Additionally, during my time in London I obtained an MA in Art History from the Courtauld Institute of Art. I came to UPEI in July 2018 when I was appointed as Director of Training for the UPEI PsyD and was moved to the position of Director of Global Outreach in July, 2019. My PhD, obtained at the University of Ottawa, is in Clinical Psychology.

My research interests are primarily in studying the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents. I like to apply an ecological approach, which considers factors at different levels that impact on young people's well-being, such as the individual, familial, social and cultural. I have been involved in quantitative and qualitative studies, as well as intervention research that integrates the two. I spent a good decade in collaboration with a very inspiring research team implementing RCTs and evaluating the impact of multi-systemic therapy (MST) on young people struggling with antisocial behaviour problems. Finally, I have recently been developing a framework to help understand the impact of socio-political and socio-cultural factors on child and adolescent well-being, elaborated in two recent publications. These publications propose an evidence-informed model of the impact of advanced capitalism on well-being, and the development of market-driven identities in young people in advanced capitalist societies.