The Importance of Undergoing Our Hero’s Journey for Mental Health

originally written March 2024

the r e t u r n to Sydney, the end of a 9-year mythical quest & a w h o l e new world

[+ the importance of undergoing the heroes journey for mental health]

Here I am, back in Sydney.

Here I am, back where I burned my life down 9 years ago after becoming severely disillusioned with modern day psychology and our social care systems.

Here I am, back where I began my grand adventure, determined to uncover a new way to genuinely support the mental health of the humans I worked with.

Here I am.

Starting over.

Starting again.

Starting w h o l e.

After dedicating myself to publicly sharing the rawest insights from my journey over the last decade, this last chapter has been for me - and me alone.

The last few months of 2023 leading up to my move back to Sydney were the most challenging, most dark, and most deeply s a c r e d of the entire 9 years.

This passageway required me to apply all of the lessons and skills I had developed along the way...

In the face of burnout, I was asked to heal myself and trust in my body.

In the face of suffocating self-doubt, I was asked to break through the limitations of my mind and trust in life.

In the face of heartache, I was asked to keep my heart open and no matter what, trust in love.

It was mythical.

It was initiatory.

It was brutal.

And I’m so grateful. 🥹

It was everything I needed.

Everything I prayed for.

Yet nothing what I had expected.

I received the final pieces required to complete the puzzle I have been working on for 9 years…

The final puzzle pieces which allowed for the grand re-union of my perceived seperate parts of my psyche into a felt sense of wholeness.

The final puzzle pieces which fulfilled my understanding of “Open-Hearted Psychology” and its purpose in the world.

It was actually 9 years ago when I left Sydney that I serendipitously stumbled upon the “Hero’s Journey’ concept.

Understanding how mental health (and illness) maps onto the psychological adventure of the “Heroes Journey” (Joseph Campbell) has been at the core of my work in developing OHP over the last decade.

But it wasn’t something I could learn via a textbook.

I was asked to live and breathe it.

I was initiated into the healing arts, my mystical gifts as a modern-day practitioner, and psychology (in a way my psychology degree never taught me).

I was asked to undertake my own journey into the underworld of my psyche, in order to uncover this “new way” I had been so desperately seeking.

I had to be willing to lose my mind (and dance with the absurd) to follow my heart.

As John Breeding PhD writes in his article ‘The Danger of Refusing The Call of The Heroes Journey’ -

“Madness and unproductivity are necessary ingredients of deep change, yet they are discouraged and often punished in our society, very often with labels and psychiatric drugs.”

He also writes about the fruitfulness of embarking on the heroes journey with full support - not just for the mental wellness of the hero but for the benefit of the community.

The hero brings something back to society which is a greater contribution than they could have made without having taking their journey.

Since returning to Sydney and planning for the next 10 years…

I have been reflecting on what I am “bringing back” to contribute to society in a new way.

This led me full circle in reflecting on the very foundations of my work —-

My signature True-Self Transformation program:

Wildly-Authentic Superheroes.

I built out this program based on principles from

the heroes journey and drawing from over a decade of study and experience in psychology, mental health and complex trauma.

It unites the soul and science of psychology to help people break free from their minds, open their hearts and transform their lives.

For the better part of a decade now, I have coached and mentored clients through my Wildly-Authentic Superheroes program to help free themselves of low self-worth, general lack of fulfilment in life, and mental health diagnoses which they had never found true support for.

It is tried and tested, and much-adored.

To this day, I still have past clients reach out to thank me for this program…

For the impact it has had on them, and on their family and intimate relationships.

This is the program that has stood the test of time.

Today, I still see people struggling with the impact of a) not undergoing their heroes journey due to fear or social constraints or b) stuck in the darkness of their heroes journey, unable to integrate back into society.

In both cases, mental health is impacted.

I also see ongoing problems with the way our mental health system is structured; the over-focus on clinical intervention over community intervention, the over-pathologising, the limits of talk based therapy, the misuse of power within the industry at large, the challenges matching with a psychologist, the length of time on a waitlist, the lack of support whilst on waitlist… (I could go on).

I’ve deliberately taken time away from society over the last 9 years to truly contemplate these issues, and to test out different models and possibilities.

Over the past few months I’ve taken stock of what I’ve learnt and the problems I still see people facing, and how I can be of greatest service moving forward.

The truth is, I truly believe there is a soul-deep process for healing, inner-freedom and peace more intricate and profound than any instructions provided to us in a psychological textbook.

This is the stunning perfection of trusting Life as our greatest teacher,

of trusting the archetypal path of evolution our soul yearns to take,

of daring to undergo the psychological initiation into the “underworld” that our personal legend calls for.

This is what I wish for everyone who is forever struggling to make sense of themselves or where they fit…

Or is struggling with mental anguish, or anxiety, or burnout or a general lack of fulfilment living inside this socially-oppressive, capitalist, consumerist world…

I wish for us to have the support, education and resources to undergo the personal adventure of a lifetime —

The adventure of knowing our own soul;

Of expressing who we truly are in this lifetime.

My 9 year journey has taught me more about myself, healing and reality creation than my psychology degree ever did -

And yet I’m aware it was my professional experience and love for psychology that helped me navigate each ego-destructive, soulful step….

And innovate a new vision for psychology along the way.

Because of this all, I knew I had to explore a new long-term, sustainable way to share Wildly-Authentic Superheroes (level 1 Open-Hearted Psychology) with those too who are seeking deeper answers as I once was.

I’m excited to say that this new way is finally here.

Although the journey has felt intense and harrowing at times -

I would not change it.

I could not have ignored the call and stayed the same.

No Wildly-Authentic Superhero truly can…

The Wildly-Authentic Superhero knows deep down they must bravely run into the unknown.

They must listen to their heart as matter of life and death.

They must choose a life of truth over fear.

They must choose to truly know Love above all else…

Because at the end of the day…

All else will fade and all that will remain is the evidence of how much we truly loved.

Here’s to this wild, wild adventure called life, and the Wildly-Authentic Superhero inside all of us ♥️

WILD-Authenticity (noun); a way-of-being in which one displays raw and untamed courage in embracing and expressing their Truest Self, heart’s desires and intuitive calling for aliveness.

Wildly-Authentic Superheroes

Wildly-Authentic Superheroes is Tessa's flagship identity-work program within the Institute. The program unites Tessa's 15+ years of experience across worlds of psychology, health, coaching, creativity, spirituality and social work to deliver an unforgettable experience to participants to help them break free from their minds, open their hearts and transform their lives.

Please note: This program is no longer available as a stand alone offering. It is now offered as a self-paced option with community calls facilitated by Tessa as part of the 12-Month Open-Hearted Membership (available July 2025). It will also be offered as foundational education in The True-Self Expression Clinic (opening July 2025) where you will be supported 1:1 by a trained OHP Mentor.

Join the waitlist for Open-Hearted Here or The True-Self Expression Clinic Here.