David Roland is a writer, speaker and psychologist (BSc Hons and PhD in clinical psychology). For more than twenty years David worked as a clinical and forensic psychologist in the treatment and assessment of clients ranging from children to adults, for the Children’s Court Clinic and the Criminal Court. He is an Honorary Associate with the University Centre for Rural Health, University of Sydney, and a founding member of Compassionate Mind Australia. He is an advisor to the Young Stroke Project with the National Stroke Foundation.

David’s latest book The Power of Suffering: Growing through life crises (Simon & Shuster, 2020) draws together the real-life stories of 11 incredible people who survived their crises and grew in transformative ways. David not only narrates these stories, but he also examines them through the lens of posttraumatic growth. He details how to be an ‘expert companion’ to someone going through crisis.

His memoir How I Rescued My Brain: a psychologist’s remarkable recovery from stroke and trauma (Scribe) describes how David implemented his own rehabilitation plan using neuroplasticity, psychology and social connection. This book was shortlisted for an ABIA award in 2015 and it was selected by Reading Well (UK) as a prescription book.

The Confident Performer (NewSouth) came out of David’s PhD research and his work with hundreds of performers, public speakers and examination takers. It has been used worldwide in performing arts teaching institutions.

David is published in Best Australian Science Writing 2015. He has been featured in the Sunday Express (UK), The Independent (UK), Rolling Stone, The Sydney Morning Herald, Huffington Post, The Conversation and Wellbeing. He has appeared on ABC Television, Channel Ten, ABC Radio and many international podcasts. In 2015, he was awarded the Stroke Foundation’s Creative Award. He has academic publications in the fields of performance anxiety and vicarious trauma.