Pamela Stephenson

“I don't like the term mid-life crisis.”

“I've really written my books for my husband and our family. They've brought us closer together by allowing us to discuss things that were unspoken for so long.”

“There is a probably natural and learned reticence with myself talking about my early life.”

“I grew up in the suburbs of Sydney, an arid kind of place, but every day I took the ferry across the harbour to get to school. I'd watch the ships coming in and going out.”

“When I came off the boat I was very proud of the thick calluses which had developed on my feet. But now, I am struggling to get into my favourite high heels which is a shame, as I have so many.”

“The work of a psychotherapist involves being empathic and insightful with one's patients without getting too lost in their painful stories to be helpful.”

“There was a special challenge in describing the awful childhood of a person who happens to be my own husband. It was very painful at times, for both of us.”

“We have a couple of dogs, but I wouldn't describe myself as an animal person.”

“There may be a point where I may decide to write an autobiography.”

“So many people suffer from abuse, and suffer alone.”

“After all my probing into the human brain, I should still be aware of mysteries and come up with them myself.”

“The notion of a contemporary epiphany to me is very exciting, because it's a sort of biblical thing. It's something that has happened to people in other centuries or in the context of religious experience.”

“Most people who went about saying a ghost had poked them with a brolly would be locked up somewhere.”

“There seems to be this impression that if I really am a psychotherapist, I can't be serious about it. They think there must be something fishy going on.”

“Love is an obsession. It has that quality to it. But there are healthy obsessions, and mine is one of them.”

“It is one thing to go on stage and be funny or be in a good place in your career, but for a woman, actually facing the elements in a physical way is a very powerful thing.”

“Sexual dreams aren't usually about sex.”

“There's been a number of erroneous biographies, articles and so on written about Billy and we both thought it would be a good idea to produce a true one.”

“Being a psychologist did enable me to maintain objectivity.”

“I loved my life, but my choices were overloading and overwhelming me. Listening to inner feelings and fulfilling some of these urges when they come along is incredibly important.”