“One’s only rival is one’s own potentialities.”

ABRAHAM MASLOW
Dr Marie Anderson

Dr Marie Anderson

BBSc(Hons)
DHealthPsych MAPS
Fellow, APS College of Clinical Psychologists (FCCLP)
Fellow, APS College of Health Psychologists (FCHP)
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Book a time for a chat at the Balanced Wellbeing Centre in Eltham to discuss what’s possible so you can realise a purposeful, fully self-expressed life.

The quote at the top of the page comes from Abraham Maslow’s 1962 book Toward a Psychology of Being. Maslow (1908-1970) was an American humanistic psychologist best known for developing a theory of human motivation known as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. In his book, Maslow promotes mental wellbeing by moving away from the idea of dysfunction and toward what makes life meaningful and purposeful. He was interested in what motivates people to thrive and feel fulfilled.

The quote highlights that genuine growth comes from transcending or overcoming our limiting perceptions of self, rather than competing with other people. The word ‘rival’ in the quote, is not an opponent outside of us, it refers to our own untapped potential. It means that instead of striving to be better than someone else, Maslow encourages us to be better than who we are today so that we focus on who we are becoming. Growth and fulfilment doesn’t come from trying to outdo someone else. But from closing the gap between our current known self and our potential unknown self. In doing so, we evolve into a future not shaped by limitation, but by possibility.

The work I do with clients reflects Maslow’s intention: to understand what motivates people to thrive and flourish. Using evidence-based techniques, I support individuals to grow their potential by helping them explore what’s possible, rather than living according to who they think they should be based on life expectations. I offer education and strategies to help them cultivate affirming beliefs, nurture their strengths, and live by their core values, so that they can experience a deeper sense of meaning, purpose, and passion in their lives.

My approach is integrated, eclectic, and strategic, whilst grounded in the therapeutic model. Despite that many people seek out support because they feel unhappy, I often say that if happiness is our goal in life, then we may find ourselves endlessly chasing moments upon moments of happy. This searching can be draining and dejecting especially when life can bring many down in the dumps experiences.

Instead, my aim is to encourage adaptability and resilience so that clients can navigate life’s ups and downs constructively and confidently. In doing so, I believe they move toward fulfilment given that realising one’s potential is not a fixed outcome but an exploratory journey into who we are becoming.

In collaborating with my clients to achieve a balanced sense of self, we work towards attaining a healthy mind and a healthy body.

Studying psychology is something that I aspired to all through my 20s. However, at the time, it felt out of my reach. I believed that I wasn’t smart enough to get through the years of study. I was actually happy working in human resources and training, and I really did love my work. But, by age 27, I started to feel unfulfilled and purposeless.

One day I found myself standing in my office staring blankly at the wall questioning whether this was it. I had just been promoted to Personnel Manager for a large, well known corporate head office, and yet I felt empty. This astounded me given how hard I had worked up to that point; somehow the achievement meant very little.

I came to learn with time that my defined sense of self, which gave my life meaning, was based on who I thought I was supposed to be rather than who I truly can be. This insight didn’t occur to me for another 5 years after embarking on my own developmental journey. After many confidence and esteem boosting workshops and therapeutic coaching, I came to see that creating a meaningful, balanced life required me to step outside my comfort zone in order to grow my potential.

At the point that I distinguished this, I was faced with absolute fear. What I was proposing to myself was to quit my secure, comfy, very well paid corporate job to study psychology. I was pregnant with a 3 year old and a husband who was also venturing into new horizons. Nevertheless, not only did I plunge, I dived right into exploring this unknown version of myself. Somehow I knew that it would all work out exactly how I wanted it to.

During this time I studied full-time, financially had to work casually, and shared the child rearing with my husband. The study years and practice building were long, sometimes tiring and relentless, but I never faltered in achieving my vision to grow my potential. Twenty plus years down the track, I am still doing what I set my sights on, and feeling more fulfilled than ever.

Through my training and life experience I developed both psychological and coaching principles; I practice coaching strategies inside of the therapeutic model.

My main aim is to move people forward either in a way that resolves their immediate emotional difficulties and or by helping them establish action plans so they work towards creating meaning, fulfilment, and purpose in their lives through goal achievement.

I am trained under the Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) model. I have been in private practice since 2004 and draw on evidence based strategies to treat a range of emotional imbalances. I also explore the use of motivational strategies to help clients change their unhealthy habits and self-defeating behaviours.

I am particularly interested in working with busy women to help them balance life challenges so they reach their potential without compromising their identity. I understand all too well how the stresses of work, family, and relationships can leave us feeling drained, rundown, and listless.

Training:

• Doctor of Health Psychology

• Doctoral thesis explored motivation and health behaviour change

• Bachelor of Behavioural Sciences (Psychology) with Honours

• Registered Psychologist with APHPRA

• Member of the Australian Psychological Society (MAPS)

• Fellow, APS College of Clinical Psychologists (FCCLP)

• Fellow, APS College of Health Psychologists (FCHP)

• La Trobe University Psychology Tutor

• Long history in human resources, training, occupational rehabilitation, and health psychology at a leading general hospital

• Additional training through Deakin University to provide Clinical Psychology Services through Medicare, which means clients may be eligible for a higher rebate with a GP referral under a Mental Health Care Plan.

Transforming the self is my passion. What do I mean by the self? Establishing our sense of self is a very complex process – too complex to discuss here. Essentially, our self is a conglomeration of what we know, what we do, and who we think we are based on the feedback from our environment. That is, our parents, siblings, childhood friends, teachers, employers, significant others, and the world around us.

Who we are constitutes both our ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ self: Our interests, values, worth, strengths, vulnerabilities, beliefs, identity, esteem, vocation, choices, relationships, hobbies, attributes, defences, achievements, judgements, experience, purpose, image, and so forth.

Our sense of self is constantly changing and emerging. As a child, our self is aligned more with imagining how others perceive and judge us.

As an adolescent, our peers have a big influence as we become more conscious of comparing ourselves to others.

And as an adult we begin the journey towards evolving a greater awareness of our public vs our private self.

Our public self is based on the perceptions of others, whilst our private self is based on our own emotions, thoughts, and beliefs. Individuation, self-actualisation, and the idea of becoming ‘whole’ is about integrating the various parts of our self-image (how we see ourselves), self-esteem (how we evaluate ourselves), and ideal-self (who we want to be) so that we develop into a strong, positive, optimistic version of our potential.

A goal with clients is to help them identify who their potential is as opposed to just who they think they are. In doing so, they learn to feel good about themselves and start to feel at ease with growing their potential in a fulfilling direction. By experiencing a more positive sense of self, people get to see what’s possible in their lives and perceive a stronger sense of meaning and purpose.

Anxiety
Assertiveness
Change and adjustment
Conflict resolution
Depression
Eating problems
Life & Wellbeing Coaching
Loss and grief
Obsessive-compulsive behaviours (OCD)
Pain management
Panic disorder
Phobias
Pre and post natal depression
Purpose and meaning
Relationship issues
Self-esteem and lack of confidence
Stress management
Vocational and career issues
Weight management