James Collett

Dr. James Collett is an academic in the discipline of Psychology who has worked at RMIT University since 2016. James has completed a PhD (Clinical Psychology), qualifying him to practice psychology with clients in addition to being able to conduct research and lecture academically.

James is dedicated to implementation of efficient workplace processes to prevent staff burnout, and has served in multiple leadership capacities, including Program Manager, Honours and Masters Psychology, as well as Deputy Head of Psychology (Teaching and Learning). In these roles, James has coordinated program development, accreditation reporting, and benchmarking exchanges, and has proven to be a capable leader working with teams of staff of varying levels of experience.

James centres his teaching around setting a clear structure for learning, and carefully managing expectations on the challenge that assessment tasks represent. James was a key member of RMIT University's Belonging Program, enhancing student engagement, has led the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Assessment Practices research theme, and has also collaborated internationally to localise introductory psychology and psychopathology textbooks for Australian students, with a role as both editor and author. James implemented a streamlined honours entry pathway for Indigenous students, and the acknowledgment and inclusion of Indigenous knowledge, perspectives, and experiences is a key driver of his textbook localisation work.

James holds diverse research interests centred around mental health and wellbeing, typically applying a dimensional lens whereby mental health is viewed on a spectrum ranging from non-pathological to clinically significant. Presently, focal research areas for James include how attachment to material possessions informs identity and mental health, as well as how societally normalised perfectionism drives widespread workplace burnout. James is an experienced supervisor of honours, masters, and PhD students, and has worked together with many of these students to publish their research.

James is a passionate scientific communicator who believes that psychologists have a responsibility to positively inform public discourse, a public outreach opportunity where one can convey potentially helpful psychological knowledge to an audience of tens of thousands. James has contributed to a wide range of media articles across radio, television, and print media, consistently receiving positive feedback on his authentic, straightforward manner and ability to translate psychological science into understandable everyday language. Issues that James has spoken about in media pieces include compulsive hoarding problems, fashion recycling, reaction to pandemic lockdown restrictions, and use of artificial intelligence in psychotherapy. As a clinician, James has work experience in inpatient, community, and private practice settings. His primary area of clinical expertise is the assessment and treatment of compulsive hoarding problems, a topic that he provides practitioner-focused professional development workshops on.