Dr Aimee Maxwell, Clinical Psychologist

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Dr Aimee Maxwell, Clinical Psychologist

Psychologist To book an appointment, please contact InMind 4 Health admin on:
(07) 5627 1382
info@inmind4health.com.au

13/01/2026

My thoughts and reflections on the times we are living in. It’s okay that the world feels scary- it is. We as humans need to remember the power we have to enact change.

07/01/2026

Clocking in for the first day with 💅🏻💃

22/12/2025

✨ The holiday season isn’t one-size-fits-all ✨

For some, the holidays are filled with joy and connection.
For others, they bring grief, exhaustion, loneliness, or overwhelm.
And for many, it’s a mix of all of the above. This time of year is often a time of reflection, where there is lots of temptation to compare yourself to others’ highlight reels. Remember, we’re all running our own race in this crazy little thing called life.

There is no right way to experience this time of year.
Whatever you’re feeling- excitement, heaviness, numbness, gratitude, stress, it’s all valid.

Whatever you’re hoping for this year- whether it’s time for yourself, time to connect with others, or whether you’re hoping to be skip this next week, please take care of yourselves.

Be gentle with yourself.
Go at your own pace.
You don’t owe anyone a version of the holidays that doesn’t fit you. 🤍

EmotionalWellbeing

09/12/2025

Therapy memes 🤝 50 cent

(Low-key obsessed with the Diddy documentary. 10/10 recommend).

06/12/2025

THE 6 CORE CONCEPTS WITHIN PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPY

If you’ve ever wondered what sits at the heart of psychodynamic therapies, these six concepts form the backbone of how we understand people, symptoms, and change:

1. The Unconscious Mental Life
So much of what shapes our feelings, reactions, and patterns operates outside our awareness. Psychodynamic therapy helps make the unseen seen.

2. Unconscious Psychological Conflicts
We all carry inner tensions between opposing needs, fears, and desires. These conflicts can show up as anxiety, avoidance, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and therapy gently brings them into clarity.

3. Transference at the Core
Old relational patterns don’t stay in the past, they show up in the therapy room and are a central agent for a corrective attachment experience. Not as a problem, but as the greatest source of insight and healing.

4. Defence Mechanisms
Defences aren’t “bad.” They’re creative, protective adaptations. Therapy helps honour their purpose while expanding what’s possible beyond them.

5. Symptoms Have Meaning
Emotional and physical symptoms aren’t random, they hold psychological and phenomenological significance. They’re signals, not failures.

6. Developmental, Genetic & Social Interplay
Mental health doesn’t come from one source. Our early attachments, biology, and environment intertwine to shape how we cope, relate, and thrive.

✨ Together, these concepts illuminate why psychodynamic approaches go beyond symptom reduction-they aim for deep, durable, relational change.

05/12/2025

That, and Bitter Sweet Symphony.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. But also, go to therapy 💅🏻

27/11/2025

🧠✨ Psychodynamic Therapy Isn’t Just One Thing - It’s a Family of Approaches

When people hear psychodynamic therapy, they might imagine the stereotype: a leather couch, a quiet therapist, and endless talk about childhood.

Here’s a quick tour of some key branches above ⬆️

The field of psychodynamic/psychoanalytic therapy is vast and historically deep; over more than a century, many theorists have proposed modifications, integrations, and entirely new offshoots. Some models sit at the border of “psychodynamic” and other modalities (e.g. integrative, humanistic, interpersonal). Many therapies are hybrids or draw on psychodynamic roots- so what counts as a “variant” depends partly on how strictly you define psychodynamic therapy.

But psychodynamic work has evolved, a lot.
Today, it includes a diverse range of theories and clinical approaches, each with its own lens on how we become who we are and how change happens. Other notable variants include Self-Psychology, Object Relations/ Ego Psychology, Transference-Focused Psychotherapy. I, myself, completed my intensive 3-year Core Training in Affect State Therapy, an attachment-focussed variant of ISTDP under the tutelage of Dr Steve Arthey, who himself trained under classical psychoanalysis and ISTDP. I am also receiving supervision currently within a Relational framework. Each person will put their own “spin” on their brand of psychodynamic therapy, meaning no two therapists or supervisors will practice or teach exactly the same. Psychodynamic approaches are truly a living organism for this reason.

💬 *Which approach resonates most with your training or clinical identity? Or which one challenged you the most along the way?*👇 (I am definitely NOT an expert in the many variants, so please comment any additional ideas or corrections below!)

(Also this song still slaps and was always a favourite, long before opening my first psych textbook).

22/11/2025

Had the privilege of spending today amongst great friends and colleagues at the inaugural

Special shout out to and Rachael Burton for their amazing and thought-provoking presentations. The future of psychodynamic is female and strong 💅🏻

22/10/2025

Eating disorders are never really about eating. They are about survival.

When the world felt unpredictable, food became something you could control.
When love felt conditional, you learned to manage the body that would make you acceptable.
When emotions felt too big, food became the language to express what couldn’t be spoken.

What we call “disorder” is often an intelligent adaptation — the body’s way of saying, I am not safe.

ED behaviours are not choices made in freedom. They are nervous system responses. They are attempts to find grounding in a world that felt unsteady.

The healing, then, is not in mastering willpower or fixing behaviour. It’s in restoring safety.
Safety in the body. Safety in relationships. Safety in being who you are without threat of abandonment or shame.

When you start to feel safe, the need for control starts to loosen.
What once felt like a fight with food reveals itself as a longing for connection — with yourself, with others, with life.

You never had a food problem. You had a pain that went unseen.
And what looks like pathology was always, in truth, a bid for safety.

❤️💜

06/10/2025

I mean, exploring a relationship based in power dynamics through Mafia themes? Yes Mafioso Swift, here for it 💅🏻

My general thoughts on this album because not everything has to be super serious therapy posts: certified BANGER that had me saying “excuse me MAAM” at multiple points.

Fate of Ophelia: amazing, no notes. How I would imagine a kaleidoscope would sound like.
Elizabeth Taylor: not at all how I thought this song would be. Predicted a boppy show tune ala the LOASG bridge. The beat drop was stunning. Great song.
Opalite: it’s giving Christmas vibes for some reason. Such a summer hit. Very 70’s, channeling Fleetwood Mac.
Father Figure: Fave. Glorious clap back to Scott and Scooter. “You’ll be sleeping with the fishes before you know you’re drowning.” I will absolutely be incorporating this into therapy somehow 😂
Eldest Daughter: what we have come to expect of Track 5 songs from Tay Tay. Haunting Melody. Is it my fave Track 5 ever? No but it’s still beautiful.
Ruin the Friendship: or lord she pulled a surprise twist ala LOML from TTPD. Not prepared for that ending.
Actually Romantic: Probably my fave new diss track. Guitar at the start is giving Beverly Hills by Weezer. Delicious song 😂
Wi$h Li$t: honestly giving Midnights. In fact, the entire album was how I imagined midnights would have sounded before I heard it. The entire album is midnights and Rep coded. Cute little bop of a song.
Wood: 👀…
And that’s the tea. Period. Oxytocin is important for women and thank you Dr Swift for reminding us of this.
CANCELLED!: Banger. So Rep coded. No notes. Guitar giving Hole/Nirvana.
Honey and LOASG: Cute little songs. Will I skip them? Yes. But appreciate the vibes.

My top 3 that nobody asked for:
Father Figure, Fate of Ophelia, CANCELLED!
Honourable mentions go Actually Romantic, Opalite and Wood.
Thank you coming to my Ted Talk 💅🏻

Swiftwift ❤️‍🔥

23/09/2025

Where to start. These are hard days, on top of a hard week, on top of what will be a hard month. And when we’re in the thick of these hard times, I’ve often found comfort in the notion that once today is done, I don’t have to do it again. Tomorrow brings it own tribulations, but for now, today is done. Sometimes, all we can do is fine solace in these small things.

To anyone going through it right now, I hold space in my heart for you. No matter our stories, that common humanity we all share is often the most important thing to come back to.
These days are tough. Go gently, my friends 🤍

15/09/2025

For me, therapy comes in a variety of forms. A good laugh and conversation, a quiet reflective moment, music and lyrics that pe*****te your mind or poetry that is as poignant as it is painful.

For me, writing is a way to process. I wrote this poem as a way to process, to acknowledge and validate the emotions I am experiencing. Words can hurt and heal. And remarkably, these two states often coexist together. An inconvenient irony of life 🤍

Address

InMind 4 Health
Southport, QLD
4215

Telephone

+61756271382

Website

http://aimee-maxwell.com/

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