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Dr. Patric Plesa

Assistant Professor (limited term)
DepartmentPsychology
EducationPhD, York University
OfficeJOR-925
Phone416-979-5000, ext. 556518
Areas of ExpertiseCritical psychology, psychedelics research, existentialism, ecopsychology

Biography

Dr. Plesa is an Assistant Professor of Psychology (limited term). They are a critical psychologist with a PhD in Historical, Theoretical, and Critical Studies in Psychology from York University. Their research tackles critical issues in psychology from theoretical perspectives toward improving understanding, innovating interventions, and reassessing practices that affect mental health, wellbeing, and the environment. They are working on psychedelics research, existentialism, ecopsychology, and critical psychology. Specifically, they are interested in questions around systemic issues, meaninglessness, and subjectivity. Dr. Plesa’s pedagogy has an interdisciplinary approach with a focus on critical theory as a lens to understand course material from social and cultural perspectives.

Dr. Plesa has previously taught a variety of courses at Toronto Metropolitan University, York University, and Slippery Rock University. During 2024-2025, they are teaching PSY 105 (Perspectives in Psychology) and PSY 505 (Theories of Personality).

 

Selected Publications

Plesa, P. (2024). Neonihilism: Meaninglessness and irony in neoliberalism. Theory and Psychology (advance online publication). https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543241258471 (external link, opens in new window) 

Plesa, P., & Petranker, R. (2023). Psychedelics and neonihilism: Connectedness in a meaningless world. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1125780, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1125780 (external link, opens in new window) 

Plesa, P. (2023). Authenticization: Consuming commodified authenticity to become “authentic” subjects. Theory and Psychology, 33(4), 555-576, https://doi.org/10.1177/09593543231174030 (external link, opens in new window) 

Plesa, P. (2022). An ethical ecology for research on therapeutic environments. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 43(1), 3–15. https://doi.org/10.1037/teo0000218 (external link, opens in new window) 

Plesa, P., & Petranker, R. (2022). Manifest your desires: Psychedelics and the self-help industry. International Journal of Drug Policy, 105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103704 (external link, opens in new window) 

Plesa, P. (2021). Reassessing existential constructs and subjectivity: Freedom and authenticity in neoliberalism. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221678211032065 (external link, opens in new window) 

Plesa, P. (2019). A theoretical foundation for ecopsychology: Looking at ecofeminist epistemology. New Ideas in Psychology, 52, 18-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.newideapsych.2018.10.002 (external link, opens in new window)