George Blair-West

Dr Blair-West is a researcher, author and psychiatrist sub-specialising in trauma and couple therapy. His latest TED talk is based on research covered more fully in the book he recently coauthored with his daughter - Jiveny Blair-West, a Dating Coach - "How to make the biggest decision of your life - Unlocking the secrets to a healthy lasting relationship". He has undertaken self-funded research in a variety of fields. He began, in the 1990's, with scientific publications on suicide in major depression which revised the then extant suicide risk from 15% down to 3.5% by proving a sampling bias and reanalysing the data. Two further papers in peak journals looked at the highly disparate gender fractionation and diagnostic issues. Along with a presentation at the International Association for Suicide Prevention Congress, this work resulted in his invited lifetime admission to the New York Academy of Sciences in 1998. Based on the new research into restraint theory, he then wrote the world’s first book on the psychology and self-sabotage of weight loss which was sold in all the English-speaking countries and translated into Dutch and Chinese with an invited presentation at the International Congress on Obesity in 2006. He has trained hundreds of psychologists, dietitians and doctors in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in applying restraint theory to weight management. A children’s book on developing healthy eating followed. Reflecting his study of existential philosophical and psychotherapeutic teachings in 2013, he published the historical novel "The Way of the Quest" on finding one’s meaning and purpose. It garnered awards in each of the three international competitions, of the time, that had an ‘inspirational fiction’ category. George provided expert legal opinion in the landmark case where, for the first time, Dissociative Identity Disorder was used as the basis for criminal prosecution, as opposed to the basis for defence. In 2022 he went on to publish “The Girl in the Green Dress” with his ex-patient, Jeni Haynes, detailing this remarkable story of resilience and justice that resulted in her father receiving a life sentence. Twenty years ago, George began researching what he calls Unconscious Lateral Intelligence after noticing an historical pattern in the way highly complex problems were resolved by great thinkers through unconscious processing. Resolution typically involved a paradigm shift redolent of Edward de Bono’s conceptualisation of lateral thinking. George’s study of this phenomenon is ongoing.

For those interested in Dr George Blair-West's new TEDx talk on the link between romantic love and a higher risk of divorce, see his later talk from 2022.

Couple Therapy, Partner Selection, Trauma Therapy

After my 2017 TED talk on preventing divorce exceeded four million views, I was taken on by the international publisher Hachette who, in 2020, released “How to make the biggest decision of your life”. This led to an invitation for my second TED talk in 2022 on how romantic love contributes to divorce. The most interesting consequence of the first talk was being invited by the Hungarian government (all expenses paid from Australia) to speak at their Budapest Demographic Summit III (2019) on how divorce rates (high in Hungary) directly relate to low fertility rates. I shared the stage with presidents, ex-prime ministers and experts from Europe.

Mechanical work - restoring old cars. Ocean sailing.