| Story |
By ANNA McCOOE
BAYVIEW resident and
psychologist Amanda Ferguson has used her own life-changing
experiences to write her first book, Life Works.
In an effort to
making psychology more accessible she has developed the book, which
is a tangible insight into psychology and contains easy to
understand advice on how to apply it to one's self.
Ms Ferguson
said she wrote the book because she wanted "to make psychology
affordable, accessible and achievable".
The message she aims to
spread through her book is that people can change their lives.
"If we are prepared to work on ourselves we can absolutely
transform our lives from quite dreary or miserable into wonderful,"
she said.
Ms Ferguson has applied the message of the book to her
own life, leaving two careers (in writing and publishing), a long
marriage and a large property in Mosman behind.
In her late 20s
she reached a point in her publishing career where she was
relatively well established.
She was facing management as the
next step in her career and children as the natural next step in her
marriage. She realised that she did not want any of it.
" I had
come to the end of an era and had to be honest with myself; it
wasn't the real me, I had been following my family's program for
me," she said.
At 30 years of age, Ms Ferguson found a job with
the Cancer Council and began a six-year psychology
course.
"Within three weeks I thought, 'this is it, this is me',"
she said.
Ms Ferguson worked as a psychologist for 10 years, but
the success she shared with clients led to the frustration of being
only able to reach one person at a time - thus Life Works was
born.
"It suddenly occurred to me, I could put it down in a
book," she said.
Life Works took four years to write as she
struggled to find her voice as a writer.
"It was totally
different to the technical writing I had done before; I had to find
a style and tone that was more accessible," she said.
Ms Ferguson
wrote the book specifically with Australians in mind.
"It's time
for an Australian psychologist to stand up, speak in an Australian
style and tone, and give strategies and tips that are for
Australians," she said.
The book has been very well received by
academics, psychologists and official bodies such as Relationships
Australia, as well as media and initial readers.
Life Works is a
Harper Collins publication available from all good book
stores. |