Perri – Q&A
NICKNAME: I’ve had a few over the years. The less-embarrassing ones are Pez and PC.
QUALIFICATIONS: Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), Bachelor of Social Science (Honours)(Psychology), Postgraduate Diploma (Coaching Psychology), Master of Psychology (Clinical)
ACHIEVEMENTS: Personally: leaving the comfort of home and friends and striving out on my own aged 18 to travel Australia. Professionally: Presenting some of my clinical research at the European Psychiatry Association’s annual scientific congress.
WHY DID YOU PURSUE PSYCHOLOGY? Oh wow. I feel like Psychology was a natural progression for me. I enrolled in a fine arts degree straight out of year 12 but dropped out after 1 year to travel around the east coast of Australia. When I settled in Sydney I began a psychology degree and loved it! I was rather ambivalent about school and this was the first time I had really enjoyed studying and found it easy.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO WORK AT BODYMATTERS? I had been developing my skills in the assessment and treatment of eating disorders for a few years when I came across Sarah and the BM team. Working in this area is often incredibly humbling and rewarding and the BM philosophy, values and structure align well with my own practice.
YOUR FAVOURITE QUOTE: “Be yourself, everyone else is already taken.”
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 10 YEARS: Pretty much the same life I am living now but with a lot more dogs…
FAVOURITE SPORTS OR ACTIVITIES: I love to run, hike or combine the two and go trail running with my dog.
FAVOURITE HOBBIES OR INTERESTS: I love swimming and find it a great way to relax. I also enjoy cooking and love to try new recipes with lots of ingredients and complex processes. This is when you realise why you should clean as you go!
WHAT IS YOUR SECRET SKILL: I am a not-so-secret cheese maker! I started with fresh cheese a few years ago and am now having fun trying to perfect camembert. In my defence, I live on a farm with not much to do on rainy days…
WHO OR WHAT INSPIRES YOU: Whilst completing my training as a clinical psychologist, I’ve had the chance to work with and learn from, some truly incredible women. Psychologists who have started their own businesses, whilst also mentoring and supporting colleagues and the community, overcoming their own personal challenges and often raising children as well. Hard working, intelligent, fun, supportive women are super inspiring!
WHO WERE YOUR CHILDHOOD HEROES: Growing up in a conservative small town, I was a pretty dreamy child who looked up to rebels and rule-breakers… much to my parents’ displeasure! Arthur Rimbaud, Kim Gordon, Patti Smith.
3 THINGS YOU WOULD TAKE ON A DESERT ISLAND: a tarp, my dog and my husband.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE INDULGENCE: Time, definitely. Time to sit, think, not think, or be with friends and not have anywhere else I need to be.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE MOVIE: Goodness! I don’t have one, I have 50! I suppose a film I tend to return to is Aliens. Also, anything with Leonardo DiCaprio…
FAVOURITE PLACES TO TRAVEL: ooh…Italy in the summer and Japan in the winter!
IF YOU DIDN’T PURSUE PSYCHOLOGY, WHAT OTHER PROFESSION WOULD YOU PURSUE: I would have loved to enlist in the Australian Defence Force. My Father and Grandfather served but it didn’t occur to me when I was younger.