Gerakopoulou Patricia

Born in Athens in 1975, Dr Patricia Gerakopoulou graduated from the Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences in 1997. In 2001 she obtained a post-graduate training qualification on the Psychodynamic of Groups and Group Counseling from the University Research Institute of Applied Communication, Department of Communication and Mass Media, National and Capodistrian University of Athens. In 2007 she obtained a PhD in the epistemological field of Social Psychology, from the Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, supporting her doctoral thesis titled " Super Hero Comics Fandom and Psycho-Social Identity Construction in Late – Modernity". From 1999 to 2004 she worked first as a qualitative researcher/ analyst and next as a research executive in the social and political research company Metron Analysis. Since 2000 she is actively engaged as a trained social psychologist in the field of psychological research and education and as a qualitative research and marketing consultant on various public and private institutions in Greece, London and Cyprus. Since 2010 she is a Visiting Lecturer in the Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens teaching post-graduate students in the MA ‘Conflict: Conflict Management and Communication’. In parallel, since 2010 she is a Lecturer at the Psychology Department of the British Hellenic College teaching under-graduate students various Psychology modules including Biopsychology, Group Counseling and Qualitative Research Methods in Psychology. Also, since 2010, Dr. Gerakopoulou has been collaborating as a research assistant with the Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Medical Statistics, University of Athens, the Center for Research and Prevention of Accidents and with the Hellenic Society of Social Paediatrics and Health Promotion. In 2009 her book titled "Children of Superman", based on her doctoral thesis, was published by Polytropon Publications, Athens. She has also published numerous articles and papers in edited scientific volumes and collective books. She is a member of the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM). Her research and academic interests include psycho-social phenomena of individuals, groups and cultures, such as social identity formation, consumption, construction of attitudes, representations and subjective knowledge based on social structures and their application to health promotion and prevention of injury, communication in intimate relationships and conflict management in the context of post-modernity.