Paul Martin

Clinical Psychologist

“I’ve always had a love of people and have always hated unnecessary suffering,” says Paul Martin, a well respected Clinical Psychologist with over 15 years experience. “As a young boy I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian family, then I became involved in the Exodus ex-gay movement. After I left I went public with my disgust at how that organisation works and the damage that it does to people. I was on a mission. That’s why I chose this profession.”

With his excellent communication skills and boundless heart, Paul has passionately devoted his life to the mental health and well-being to the gay, lesbian and transgender community. Not only does he have a positive influence over his clients and their families and friends, he’s also on a mission to change the mindset of “people who are on the front line for gay and lesbian people when they are distressed”, be they GPs, counsellors or other psychologists.

“I want to debunk the myths and diminish the ignorance,” says Paul. “I see my influence on a few levels. In terms of our community, it’s not just about seeing the transformation in my clients, there’s also a ripple effect into other people’s lives too. I also write for the gay press, and those messages reach people who can’t afford to go to a counselor, or those who are still in denial. At my clinic I also take on straight counseling students and expose them to gay and lesbian clients. In fact, I’ve just taken on a Christian student who’s led quite a sheltered life. Part of her placement is to do some work with Open Doors, the gay and lesbian youth service in Queensland.

Paul cut his teeth working for two years in a maximum security prison, dealing with some of Australia’s hardest criminals. “They knew I was gay, I never said it but they just knew. The prisoners tested me and berated me with homophobic insults for the first three months. At the time I thought, ‘bring it on!’ After that, when they learned to trust me, that was quite a profound experience. I knew it was really challenging their homophobic beliefs. I realised that by having a lot of close relationships with straight people, it becomes impossible for those people to hold on to homophobic beliefs.”

Paul takes the responsibility of being a role model very seriously. “It’s not about being an idealised individual, or a perfect individual, it’s about having your own set of values and living by them. It’s about demonstrating to people that we as gays and lesbians can attain real happiness and we can create our own family in whatever way we want. We can design a life that’s compatible with who we are, rather than living up to other people’s expectations.”

By Christian Taylor