Welcome!
I specialise in working with writers at every stage of the writing life, as a psychologist, coach, researcher and workshop leader. I have Master of Clinical Psychology and a background that includes coaching, training, broadcast journalism and conflict management. I provide writers with individual therapy and coaching through the Writer's Psych Clinic (formerly A Mind of One's Own). This year I am also launching The Writermind Project - a series of group programs designed to address the perennial psycological factors that writers have brought to their work with me over the years. Research Considering how many writers struggle with procrastination - and the distress, frustration and poor mental health that can be linked to chronic procrastination - I have conducted two research projects to better understand some of the psychological factors associated with different levels of procrastination severity. I'll be incorporating my findings into Writermind Project programs. Helping writers develop the skills for a sustainable, engaged writing life The essence the decade I've spent working with writers has been focused on one thing: helping writers to develop what I now call a Writermind; a mind that has balance, fexibility, perspective, attunement, self-awareness, insight and discipline. A mind that can stay connected to a project even when confidence is at a low ebb. I have come to believe that a toned Writermind is the centrepiece of the sustainable, engaged writing practice. |
Benefits of developing a Writermind
A writer with a toned writermind can manage overwhelm, self-criticism, procrastination, perfectionism, what-if paralysis, self-doubt and the inevitable concerns that come with producing creative material that others may read and evaluate. Writermind superskills involve having awareness of one's thoughts and emotions, and developing the crucial capacity to interpret internal experience with insight, accuracy, flexibility and wisdom.
A writer with a well developed writermind can prioritise, back their own judgement, tolerate uncertainty and discern which aspects of feedback to take on, and which to discard.
Importantly, a writer with a well developed Writermind is able to manage the anxiety that comes with the prospect of appraisal from others, learning how to focus as much as possible on aspects of the writing life that are within the writer's control, rather than on external factors related to publication and critique of their work.
The Writermind Project
In 2023, a decade after starting my first writers' practice A Mind of Own's own, I searched through my records to identify common factors that prevent writers having the writing practice they crave. This involved examining clinical notes, re-reading my own and others' academic research findings, and reflecting on thousands of conversations with writers, individually and in groups. What I found reflected findings of Australian and International research: that writers experience significantly more, and more severe mental health difficulties than the average person.
With this in mind, and tired of the post-pandemic world of hypermarketing and false promises I am launching The Writermind Project in 2024. The Writermind Project aims to define and promote the characteristics of a healthy and well-functioning creative mind. The project will feature programs and events that address the common problems my work has identified.
These Writermind Project events will be quiet, hype-free programs designed for writers to develop their own writermind capacities. Writermind Reset retreats, Mind Management Essentials workshops, and Writermind Studio co-working writing days, where writers get to implement writermind practices.
The Writermind Project programs will be offered in addition to the existing individual therapy that is offered through the Writer's Psych clinic. Australian writers are eligible for a Medicare rebate for individual therapy, if referred by a doctor.
Please take a look around the site, and explore your options for individual therapy, Writermind Project programs and coaching opportunities, all focused on improving writers' mental health, wellbeing and writing engagement.