MAFS’s Dr Trisha Stratford talks about the science of love

FROM covering wars to hostage negotiation, this TV love expert has done it all

Married At First Sight’s clinical psychologist, Trisha Stratford at her Manly home. Pictures: Jeremy Piper

• WHO: Married At First Sight clinical psychotherapist Dr Trisha Stratford

• WHERE: Heritage cottage in Manly

• FAVOURITE THING: The brain clearly fascinates me. I’m also facintated by why people haven’t evolved. Why do we still have wars and conflict?

• INSPIRATION: My daughter Gina is good at designing spaces so we work well as a team

• HOME IS: My sanctuary, quite simply

YOU may already know Dr Trisha Stratford as one of the experts on Channel 9’s Married At First Sight, but the clinical psychologist is so much more than a TV relationship commentator.

Trisha has also been a war correspondent in Somalia and Bosnia, has published two books, produced and directed 20 prime-time documentaries on social justice issues and has experience in hostage negotiation.

“I love to reinvent myself,” she says, now having found fame on one of the most-talked about shows in the country.

Trisha’s background is in developmental psychology, neuroscience and corporate training, running workshops in “resilience, conflict transformation and visionary leadership”. She was discovered by the MAFS producers when her PhD research showed that when people have a “deep connection with another, the energy of our brain and bodies line-up”.

AT HOME WITH KRISTY WITHERS

If one person is happy or anxious, the other person will feel it. Ideal training for her new role, some would say.

Trisha is hardly surprised by the interest in MAFS, with strangers approaching her on the street to talk about couples on the show, and even her clients wanting to discuss the show for the first five minutes of their session.

“We’re all social animals and born to be in a relationship,” she says. “People can relate.”

Trisha, who is from New Zealand, followed her daughter Gina to Sydney when she relocated from the UK. She settled into a heritage property in Manly 14 years ago.

“It reminds me of a beach house in Santa Monica,” Trisha says.

More:9now.com.au, MAFS airs Sunday at 7pm then Monday-Wednesday at 7.30pm on Nine

Favourite thing: The brain clearly fascinates me. I’m also facintated by why people haven’t evolved. Why do we still have wars and conflict?

Sneakers: I used to be a jogger, but I am more of a power walker now. I exercise everyday, except at the moment. I hurt my Achilles tendon when I was riding my bike at the beach.

Guts, Tears and Glory: I wrote this in 1989 about women who won Olympic or Commonwealth gold medals. Women in sport weren’t rated, and I couldn’t stand that people didn’t know their stories.

You make me happy: My daughter Gina gave me that when she was really little and it has been everywhere with me, including warzones. I mean it has come absolutely everywhere with me.

Matisse lithograph: I bought it at auction when was no one else bidding. The auctioneer yelled out ‘that woman got a great bargain’, when it was sold to me.

Outdoor artwork: I have been collecting art for years and my son-in-law Mark (O’Neill) is an artist, he goes by the name Marcie. He did this is piece of work in exterior paint so it can stay outside. It’s nice to look at outside of my kitchen window.

Lotus woman: I am a daily meditator. I started transcendental meditation with George Harrison in the ‘70s and I have done it ever since. I meditate for half an hour in the morning when I wake.

Granddaughter Lily: When I told her I was doing this story, she said ‘You have to put me in, you can’t live without me’. And she’s absolutely right.

Camel saddle: I was a war correspondent in Somalia during the civil war. I lived in a container at the port and the Somali women gave that to me.

Tourouzelle home: I have little house in southwest of France. This village only has 1,400 people and I did the classic thing of holidaying there seven years ago and falling in love with the area.

Philippa Blair artwork: She is a New Zealand artist who I admire very much. This piece depicts Tiananmen Square and it is a very motivating piece to have in my house.