Wesley

In 2021, I’ll be continuing my academic journey into my honours year in psychology at the University of Melbourne. 

As a young gay man growing up in rural NSW, I faced a lot of bullying in high school. Along with this, my undiagnosed and untreated attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, anorexia, and anxiety made my teenage years really hard. And while I now have the support of my friends and loved ones, teachers, and now the Pinnacle family and my mentor, healing from these experiences in an ongoing process. 

My early experience with mental illness pushed me to pursue psychology to become an advocate and practitioner for better research and practice for gay, bisexual, and trans and gender diverse men suffering from eating disorders and body dysmorphia. This goal has pushed me to always challenge myself and achieve the academic results I have. I want to provide help to people like me that I didn’t have access to when I needed it. Studying at the University of Melbourne is the first step to achieving this dream! In particular, I’ve already begun discussing my thesis research with my supervisor who is a trailblazer in the field of eating disorders, body image and dysmorphia.