The Salvation Army Booth College

Sessional Lecturer

BBSc (Hons), Latrobe University; PhD (Clin Psych) University of Queensland; MThSt, University of Divinity 

Catherine's sense of calling resonates with Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me for he has called me to preach good news to the poor, to bind the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and recovery of sight for the blind”.

This calling led Catherine to develop skills as a psychologist, with a PHD and post-doctoral research fellowship considering processes that contribute to the development of peace between groups with histories of conflict. A desire to examine the intersection between faith and wellbeing in more depth led at a later stage to the completion of a Masters of Theological Studies.

She has been privileged to serve as a Salvation Army soldier, employee and Auxiliary Lieutenant in corps, inner city ministry and drug and alcohol rehabilitation. These roles have enabled her to integrate faith and psychological skills to promote holistic wellbeing in transformative communities of belonging. Catherine's primary role in 2024 is as the manager of pastoral services, providing holistic preventative and ameliorative support to officers in the Salvation Army. She is passionate about being part of God’s kingdom, wanting to be guided by the Spirit in promoting truth in knowledge of him, of ourselves and our communities.

Areas of Expertise  

• Interdisciplinary perspectives on apology and forgiveness
• Peace Studies
• Group processes
• Clinical Psychology
• Pastoral theology

Books

• Simić Olivera, Volčič Zala, and Catherine R. Philpot. 2012. Peace Psychology in the Balkans: Dealing with a Violent Past While Building Peace. New York: Springer.
• Philpot, Catherine. R., & Matthew J. Hornsey. 2009. What happens when groups say sorry? The effects of intergroup apologies for their recipients. Saarbrucken, Germany: VDM Verlag Dr. Muller.

Book Chapters

• Leask, Rebecca and Catherine R Philpot. 2012. Review of On the Promotion of Positive Peace for Indigenous Australians: Ideas from across the Tasman. In Peace Psychology in Australia, edited by Nikola Balvin and Di Bretherton. New York: Springer.
• Philpot, Catherine R. and Susan Tipping. 2012. Refugee mental health. In The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology, edited by Christie, Daniel J. Malden, Ma: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Philpot, Catherine R and Robert Schweitzer. 2012. Interventions for refugee mental health. In The Encyclopedia of Peace Psychology, edited by Christie, Daniel J. Malden, Ma: Wiley-Blackwell.
• Philpot, Catherine R and Matthew J Hornsey. 2006. Asking forgiveness for the sins of many: Does it work? In Forgiveness: A sampling of research results. New York: American Psychological Association.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles

• Hornsey, Matthew J., Michael J. Wohl, and Catherine R Philpot. 2015. “Collective Apologies and Their Effects on Forgiveness: Pessimistic Evidence but Constructive Implications”. Australian Psychologist, 50 (2): 106-114.
• Philpot, Catherine, Nikola Balvin, David Mellor, and Di Bretherton. 2013. “Making Meaning from Collective Apologies: Australia’s Apology to Its Indigenous Peoples.” Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 19 (1): 34–50. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031267
• Wohl, Michael J. and Matthew J. Hornsey and Catherine R Philpot. 2011. “A Critical Review of Official Public Apologies: Aims, Pitfalls and a Staircase Model of Effectiveness. Social Issues and Policy Review, 5 (1): 70-100.
• Philpot Catherine R. and Matthew J. Hornsey. 2011. “Collective Memory for Apology and its Relationship with Forgiveness”. European Journal of Social Psychology, 41 (1): 96-106.  
• Blatz, Craig W. and Catherine Philpot, 2010. "On the outcomes of intergroup apologies: a review", Social and Personality Psychology Compass (11), 4:995-1007. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2010.00318.x
• Philpot, Catherine R., and Matthew J. Hornsey. 2008. “What Happens When Groups Say Sorry: The Effect of Intergroup Apologies on Their Recipients.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 34 (4): 474–87. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167207311283.

Presentations

• Philpot, Catherine R. 2023, October. Division, Pain and the Transformative Potential of Forgiveness. Paper presented at Thought Matters: The conference of the Salvation Army South Pacific Theological Forum. Wellington, New Zealand
• Philpot, Catherine R. 2020, March. Death anxiety, suicide and the church: Ways in which Christian spirituality can speak into the postmodern, afterlife void. Paper presented at Nazarene Theological College Lead Seminars, Thornlands, Australia.
• Philpot, Catherine R. 2017, September. Hello from the other side: A psychological evaluation of Christians’ treatment of the “other”. Thought Matters 7, 29-36.
• Philpot, Catherine R. .2015, September. Healing suffering: The hope that Christians and (not) psychologists profess. Thought Matters 5, 161-174.
• Philpot, Catherine R., Nikola Balvin., David Mellor and Di Bretherton. 2011, October. Indigenous perceptions of the 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations. Paper presented at the International Conference on Indigenous Rights and Transitional Justice. Canberra, Australia.
• Balvin, Nikola, Catherine R. Philpot, Di Bretherton and David Mellor. 2010, July. Themes in Australian reconciliation: What comes after sorry? Paper presented at the 27th Annual International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
• Balvin, Nikola, Catherine R Philpot, Di Bretherton, and David Mellor D. 2010, July. What comes after “Sorry”? Aboriginal Australians’ views on the next steps in reconciliation. Paper presented at the Communicating Peace International Peace Research Association Conference.
• Philpot, Catherine. R., Nikola Balvin, Di Bretherton and David Mellor. 2010, July. Indigenous responses to the Australian apology to the Stolen Generations. Paper presented at the 27th Annual International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
• Philpot, Catherine R., Nikola Balvin, Di Bretherton, and David Mellor. 2010, July. What does “Sorry” mean? An examination of Indigenous responses to the apology to the Stolen Generations. Paper presented at the Communicating Peace International Peace Research Association Conference, Sydney, Australia.
• Philpot, Catherine R., Matthew J Hornsey, and Michael J Wohl. 2009, July. Apologies between groups: The view from both sides. Paper presented at the 17th Brisbane Symposium on Social Identity, Brisbane, Australia.
• Philpot, Catherine R., & Matthew J Hornsey. 2009, April. Memory for intergroup apologies and forgiveness. Paper presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists, Melbourne, Australia.
• Philpot, Catherine R., & Matthew J Hornsey. 2008, August. Is intergroup apology the first step to forgiveness? Paper presented at the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Society for Justice Research, Adelaide, Australia.
• Hornsey, Matthew J., and Catherine R Philpot. 2008, June. What happens when groups say sorry: The effect of intergroup apologies on forgiveness and reconciliation. Paper presented at the 11th Jena workshop on intergroup processes, Jena, Germany.
• Philpot, Catherine R., & Matthew J Hornsey. 2007, April. Intergroup apologies and forgiveness after intergroup injustice. Paper presented at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists, Brisbane, Australia.
• Philpot, Catherine R., & Matthew J Hornsey. 2006, August. Intergroup apologisers: Remorseful but unforgiven. Paper presented at the 14th Brisbane Symposium on Social Identity, Brisbane, Australia.
• Philpot, Catherine R., & Matthew J Hornsey. 2004, April. Intergroup forgiveness: Does an official apology help? Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Australasian Social Psychologists, Auckland, New Zealand.