Dr Patrick Kennedy
Clinical psychologist and Co-director, Climate Psychologists
First and foremost, Patrick believes in the unstoppable power of the human spirit.
Patrick is a leading expert in the field of climate change-related mental health. He holds a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oxford, where he also teaches and supervises doctoral research in the field of planetary and mental health.
Patrick is the co-founder and director of Climate Psychologists, an independent organisation providing therapeutic support and wider consultation regarding the mental health implications of climate change. Patrick has collaborated with local and national governments, businesses, and educators on community-based initiatives for climate anxiety and fostering people-centred and sustainable change towards net-zero. Patrick is an advisory board member for Climate Cares, Imperial College London, and the RAYES (Resilience and Agency for Youth with Eco-distresS) project group, University of Oxford.
He has worked with international broadcasters such as the BBC, CNBC, Sky, CBS, DW, ITV, Channel 4 (UK) and the Today Show (USA). His work has been featured in media outlets such as The Guardian, Reuters, BBC, Time Magazine, Vogue Business, and The Sunday Times (UK).
He strongly believes in an international parity of voices in the climate emergency, and in 'passing the mic' to those in more affected areas around the world, from whom we have much to learn. His organisation has proudly worked with initiatives such as the Climate Reality Project, Climate Generation Europe, and others around the world.
Climate Psychologists are also a European impact partner for the global COP2 initiative, as well as the Connecting Climate Minds international research programme.
Alongside contributing to research articles and book chapters related to the psychology of climate change, Patrick is also co-author of the book 'Turn the Tide on Climate Anxiety’ (2022), as well as a guide for young people, ‘You are Unstoppable!’(2023), both published by Hachette/Jessica Kingsley.