During March-April, the Australian Psychological Society ran a public campaign – ‘Believe in Change’ – to promote  psychologists and their work.  Maybe you heard it on the radio, the television, in cinemas, or on social media.  There were several goals to the campaign; one of them was to encourage people to seek support to create positive change in their lives.

The idea of stepping into change can feel somewhat confronting for some people.  Perfectly understandable because, for some, change might mean confronting barriers or obstacles.

i) Emotional baggage – Most of us have baggage from our childhood, adolescence, and or adulthood.  Such baggage can affect our self-esteem, our feelings, our reactions, and the choices we make.  Baggage also has a way of sabotaging our efforts to achieve a fulfilling life.

ii)  Problematic Habits – When we play out our baggage, our sabotaging behaviours become ingrained overtime.  Despite that changing a habit can take some people only three months to achieve, these health depleting habits become our “normal.”  Therefore, it can feel too overwhelming to create health promoting habits.

iii) Sabotaging Environment – When health depleting habits are entrenched, we inadvertently create an environment that thwarts change.  Maybe we stay in a job that doesn’t express our sense of self, we stay in an unhappy relationship, or we stay stuck in health behaviours that keep us sick.

iv) Negative Thoughts – To create change means changing how we think about ourselves or the situation.  This can feel scary for some.  Stepping into change can feel risky as it might mean addressing our sense of failure or perceived incompetence.

Whichever obstacle is plaguing you, feel assured that change is possible.  Trained as both a Clinical and Health Psychologist, Marie supports her clients with an array of mental health concerns.  Her expertise is in health behaviour change, using motivational strategies to support her clients to step into and create health promoting change.

So, if you have felt stuck in believing that change is possible, please give Marie a call to discuss what’s possible for you.