Georgina Mavor - Psychophysiologic Therapist

28/10/2025

Anxiety, depression, fatigue, anger ... and more, are connected with our body's fight/flight mechanisms and play a role in supporting our survival.

We are a society addicted to overstimulation and 'powering through'. Both activate the body's threat system and put the brain on high alert. A brain on high alert sends different messages and chemicals through the body than a brain at rest, and predisposes it to perceiving threat when there is none further escalating the threat response. We react less in a calm mood than when we are in an agitated one.

If we are living in a 'default' setting of overstimulation and powering through, our mental and physical health is compromised. But we have the wherewithal to reset it. Anxiety tells us we are setting the bar too high, treating ourselves badly, and at risk of nervous system collapse. It is telling us our thinking patterns are a threat and that we need to address them. Awareness, mindfulness and different choices make a difference.

There are also times when we go through periods of high alert as we navigate the illness of a child, the dissolution of a relationship, the instability of job security, migration, injustice ... Depression can follow. Depression is the beautiful human nervous system's way of ensuring our survival. When life defeats us, then like an embattled boxer in the ring, we need to retire, to regenerate, to reflect and reenter the game having learned from our experience and different. Rest is needed to rejuvenate.

Medications can be prescribed for all these conditions, but in doing so do we miss their wisdom? Do we inadvertently contribute to our ongoing ill health through the ignorance of our nervous system's messengers?

We all have moments when we are at such a low point that personal and/or chemical support is needed. But let's not undervalue the wisdom in the various psychological and/or physical symptoms that the brain produces to tell us our nervous systems are struggling. The power/life that animates us needs to be supported. Reducing stimulation, increasing mindfulness, letting go of thinking patterns that have reached their 'use by' date, and listening to the wisdom of our nervous system's warning bells can ensure we are self sustaining instead of self destructive. Pause.

24/10/2025

How would our attitudes change is we understood mid life as a powerful call to independent, empowered, adulthood ... to crafting our lives on the knowledge of ourselves, of who we really are, and wish ourselves to be - instead of what the first half of life lulled us into believing?

Relationship breakdowns, psychogical breakdowns, health breakdowns, friendship and family breakdowns, career breakdowns, whilst incredibly painful and not wished upon any of us, can also be an invitation to something deeper and ethereal.

Midlife is where we get to choose - stay small or be brave. Live according to what we have been taught to think or take the road less travelled and explore our unknown. With help we can move from grief and anger to curiosity and courage. Contrary to popular beliefs about the second rate nature of the second half of life, embracing our own 'hero's quest' can liberate an internal energy and faith alien in the first half.

My favourite 'guide' to navigating the kind of deep change associated with mid life is 'A Mudmap for Living' by Dr Clive Williams. His generosity in sharing his 'humanity' touches ours and offers courage when we are stuck in self doubt.

Midlife isn't the beginning of the downhill slope. It's the beginning of something way more adventurous. Psychologists and coaches can be the mentors Dr Williams writes are integral to the hero's journey. If you are feeling tossed on the stormy seas of transition, grab the life buoy, come in, and let's see if we can't set you on a calmer path.

https://drclivewilliams.com.au/resources-on-the-heros-journey/ #

The Hero’s Journey is a map of change, here are some more resources on the hero's journey

21/10/2025

"You want a good life? A happy life? Do something about it, it's up to you," indigenous elder Alby Clarke told the ABC before his death.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-11/indigenous-elder-alby-clarke-endurance-athlete-remembered/105827808

Moving out of psychological and emotional pain requires two parallel processes:
- amputating habitual behaviours/thought patterns/'dementor' modern day equivalents/narratives about ourselves, and,
- cultivating experiential pockets of peace. These experiential pockets of peace create new neurological wiring which eventually reaches critical mass and becomes the 'driver' of a new revitalised way of living. Neurological pockets of peace are like biodynamic fertilizer for the brain.

Cultivate 'peace pockets'. Sit in nature for half an hour each day, pay attention to what is around you, be present. Meditate on the elements supporting you with no effort on your part - gravity, oxygen giving trees, bone building sunlight. Write or draw.

Notice the people, places and thoughts that depress your feeling state. Let them go, withdraw your attention, and allow them to fall away into the 'wake' behind your boat.

Listen to your body and learn to discern what enervates and what depletes. Use it as a 'divining rod'. Be brave.

Change doesn't happen overnight but with a decision, small actions, and awareness, possibility emerges. Alby Clarke and others are testament to that. Listen to their stories, harvest their wisdom and collectively build a new tribe.

An Indigenous elder well-known for his sporting achievements, including using long-distance running and cycling to advocate for Aboriginal reconciliation and health, is remembered by loved ones.

17/10/2025

Everyone faces stressors in their lives - external and internal. Some people face an inhumane number of challenges just to survive. Others experience trauma and abuse in childhood leading to impairments in psychological functioning that endure forever. None of us escape the development of internalised (mal)adaptive survival patterns.

We live in a complex overinformed environment. The strain on our nervous system and brain's capacity to process an extraordinary volume of 'data' is beyond that which the human being has ever been called to digest before. Is it no wonder that nervous systems everywhere are sending SOS signals in the hope that we wake up and take control.

The brain's capacity to process sensory data is not infinite. It has limitations. Information, expectations, internalised (mal)adaptive ways of getting through life (pressure) stretch the brain's capacity beyond its limits. Instead of living within our neurological limits we now push it everyday. Many live pushing to lift 150 or 300 kgs each day instead of the 100 kg load our brains and bodies were designed for. Something has to give.

And give it does. The brain orchestrates the beautiful symphony that keeps our bodies and minds in harmony. When we overload it, it sends messages via the body - pain, fatigue, gut issues .... We need to listen. We need to pause and ask ourselves some tough questions. We need to make changes so that our brains can relax and turn off the warning bells. We need to live differently.

If you, or anyone you know, is suffering from neuroplastic symptoms, open to a new way of understanding, and learning a few simple tools, I'd love to work with you. In person and telehealth sessions are available.

14/10/2025

I recall a saying either from quantum physics or religion or both, 'as above, so as below'.

In a fascinating recent news article on immunotherapy treatment of lung cancer, the cutting edge researchers found that the energy of a person's immune cells makes a difference to whether the treatment will be successful or not. Their research led to the question, "Do your immune cells have the right energy … to actually destroy the tumour cells?"

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-11/university-of-queensland-lung-cancer-immunotherapy-keytruda/105635628

In Pain Reprocessing Therapy we know that the energy with which we approach life makes a difference as to whether neuroplastic symptoms such as chronic pain, chronic fatigue, chronic gut issues (to name a few) are activated, and .... relinquished. It seems that the feeling we have circulating through our bodies makes a difference.

If you live your life with a feeling of pressure, must do, anger, fear, failure ... this alters the homeostasis of the nervous system (which is governed by the brain). Attitudes, how we have learned to think about life, conscious and unconscious thoughts all make a difference.

But with understanding and a better feeling anyone can learn how to change old habits. What is that were a possibility?

University of Queensland researcher Arutha Kulasinghe studied lung biopsies from the tumours of almost 250 patients with non-small cell lung cancer across Australia, the United States and Europe.

11/10/2025

I'm now listed in the Mental Health Clinician section of Pain Reprocessing Therapy as a provider! If you, or anyone you know, is suffering from neuroplastic symptoms (ones inadvertently generated by the brain); would like to understand more; begin the process of recovery; and move towards living life with greater ease, I am here to help. In person and telehealth sessions available.

https://www.painreprocessingtherapy.com/mhp/ #!directory/map

As the science develops, the list of neuroplastic symptoms expands. To view the latest list of symptoms that come under the neuroplastic umbrella, scroll down: https://www.freedomfromchronicpain.com/training/

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09/10/2025

It's been a while since I ran a journal writing program at The Meeting Place in Fremantle. I have learnt a lot in the space between and am looking forward to starting with a new group on Tuesday!

Journal writing course for women to explore truth, heal shame, and build self-trust through guided prompts and reflective themes.

30/09/2025

From Zoe at SIRPA.

'Learn to listen to yourself - your inner world is incredibly insightful, and we often give that part of ourselves far too little credit.'

Out of journal writing for many decades, this has been the gift that keeps on giving - the abundance of my inner world no matter what challenges I face or how isolated I may be feeling. My inner world is ALWAYS available to soothe the noise in my head.

https://www.facebook.com/SIRPAUK

SIRPA provides a much-needed solution for the epidemic of chronic pain. Buy the 1st UK book on this

30/09/2025

I subscribe to the weekly newsletter from artist Danny Gregory. In his most recent one he talks about the power of drawing to calm his mind and bring him into the present moment.

"When I feel anxious, or restless, or just overwhelmed, you know what makes me feel better? Drawing. It doesn’t fix everything, but it helps a lot. Here’s why.

Most of the time, when life is difficult, our brains won’t stop spinning. We replay the past. We invent scary futures. We get stuck in the churn of “what ifs.”

But when I sit down with my sketchbook, that cycle slows and stops. Because to draw, you have to be here, in this moment. You have to look closely at what’s actually in front of you, right now — not what might happen tomorrow or what went wrong yesterday. It’s like meditation.

No, actually, not “like” meditation — it is meditation.

The act of looking, of observing, of translating what you see into a line on the page — it quiets the noise in your head. When I draw, I feel that knot in my stomach untying. The tension in my shoulders relaxing its grip. I come back to the present. And usually, the present is … okay. I’m here, enjoying myself, drawing. It’s all good, man."

I experience the same when journal writing. The act of observing, reflecting, of putting internal and external experience into words slows down my mind and connects me to presence.

I've taken to spending time journal writing in my garden or in the bushland near my home. And I've decided to expand that 'present moment' doing nothing into drawing. I've subscribed to his 'quick draw' sketching class. Human animals have become addicted to an occupied mind - stillness is now something to be afraid of. And we are paying for it psychologically and physcially. Instead of scrolling and heightening our nervous systems, deliberately create daily pockets of present moment meditations. Your health will thank you for it.

You don’t have to rush or be messy. It’s all about drawing fluently—so you can create more, overthink less, and feel good about what’s on every page.

19/08/2025

For anyone experiencing IBS or related symptoms eg. chronic pain, CFS, I highly recommend the Digestible App. The first two days of presentations are free, providing excellent information on the mind/body connection, the role of current stress and that originating in childhood, self reflection on the relationship between symptoms and stress, and an introduction to meditations designed to change the fear based relationship to your symptoms that increases their expression.

I look forward to exploring the journalling prompts provided; listening to recovery stories; guidance in changing in internal scripts; and learning more as I allow the app to support me.

Digestible helps you go beyond just "managing" IBS symptoms to treat the root cause. Providing evidence-based tools to target the brain-gut connection and break the cycle of pain and symptoms.

08/08/2025

I find myself in several of these 'emotional avoidance' lists. Thankfully I am much more 'tuned in' these days and panic less.

As we see time and time again in our work with clients, people often unconsciously avoid or suppress their emotions in a variety of ways. These avoidance strategies are usually developed as coping mechanisms, and often as a result of our early life experiences. Over time though, they can prevent emo

02/08/2025

Lists are really powerful therapeutic techniques. In CBT, one of the strategies for change is to identify the negative beliefs fuelling dysfunctional behaviours and to look for evidence that refutes or confirms that belief i.e. create lists.

I find that a more dynamic approach is to create the list that confirms the opposite. For example, if I continually tell myself I am lousy in relationships, I can turn my attention in the direction of 'list all the times I have been effective in relationships' and wait for remnants of memory to surface. As that list grows the feeling in my body changes.

The mind is a thought generating machine. It will generate them in the direction you turn it. And if you 'think' there is no evidence in the other direction, that is just a script from old thought patterns that dominate the conscious part of your mind. There is an ocean sitting in your unconscious. A hidden memory bank of every little detail you have taught yourself not to pay attention to, just waiting to be exercised. But it is still there.

Think you are unemployable and feeling down? List all the times you have been employed or asked to do something. Or list everything you know you are good at.

Think you have no value and stuck in bed? List everything in your home that survives because of your efforts .... everything, every plant, every animal, every child, every ..... Or list every person you have made an impact on.

Think that your life is terrible and avoid people? List every small item that is good in it.

The mind never sees the complete truth .... complete truth is too big! Become more conscious of how you use your attention. You have a choice. Keep it turned towards negativity and those are the thoughts it will generate. The mind is your genie in the bottle. It is at your service. Attention is the dial you operate. Turn it to a different direction and the mind will leap into action for you there too. Perhaps the most interesting direction is the unknown. Even there it will get to work, offering up small snatches of what you know and then make connections, crafting new thoughts as synapses spark to life.

When you find yourself stuck in a groundhog day of negative thoughts, tell them to 'eat my dust' and spend half an hour creating a list of evidence for the opposite.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash: Brian McMahon.