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Writer
Psychotherapy researcher & coach
Public speaker
Interfaith leader
Former publisher
Stephanie Dowrick, PhD, is a multi-award-winning writer of that rare category of books that can genuinely be called life-changing. Her writing is unfailingly accessible, deeply thoughtful, and truly loved. Her writing life also includes internationally published fiction for adults and children, plus contributions to a wide range of mainstream and social media, including ten years as ‘Inner Life’ columnist for Good Weekend Magazine (Sydney Morning Herald and the Age). Her former career was distinguished by pioneering achievements as a publisher (including co-founding the London-based publishing house, The Women’s Press, where she was Managing Director). A long time humanitarian activist, Dr Dowrick is recognised for her leading contribution to multi-cultural, inter-religious understanding through her books and non-sectarian teaching and scholarship. Born in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Stephanie has lived in five countries, respects a global view of our human story, and currently lives in Australia. b
‘Stephanie Dowrick is a lilting genius of the inner worlds.’ SARK
‘Ultimately it is Dowrick’s honesty, combined with her huge heart, that lifts herabove others.’ Claire Scobie, Sydney Morning Herald.
‘Through thoughtful observations and compelling stories, [Stephanie] Dowrick models for the reader an effective way to consider the journey toward love of others and of self.’ Publishers Weekly (USA)
‘Stephanie Dowrick is a godsend. Her gift is the ability to write in a manner that genuinely enriches and changes lives.’ Nigel Marsh, host of Five of My Life
‘Dr. Stephanie Dowrick makes the hard questions simple. She makes the impossible real and possible. Her wisdom is contagious.’ Paul Wilson, author of the Calm books
‘She offers penetrating insights into some of the most complex paradoxes in human relationships.’ The Guardian(UK)
‘Stephanie Dowrick is renowned for her writing on relationships, spirituality, and how to foster a happy life…[her work] is essentially a reflection on emotional intelligence and how to develop its gifts.’ Herald-Sun
‘Stephanie Dowrick’s words are like a soothing balm that she applies to our scratches and cuts and sometimes terrible pain… [she] brings together the wisdom, experience and learning she has gained from a rich and varied life.’ The Age
‘One of the most authentic teachers of our time.’ Tao de Haas, psychotherapy coach
‘Dowrick has her finger on the emotional pulse and spiritual pulse of people…offering us intelligent, effective ways to take control of our world.’ Australian Women Online
‘Dr Stephanie Dowrick is making a calmer, happier and more rewarding life possible.’ Insight Magazine
‘I love her combination of practical advice, connection, strategy, and research.’ Kathryn Heyman, author of Fury
‘Like the great sages, Dowrick is aware that the progress from denial to understanding is a lengthy one, and that true wisdom comes from experiencing all that life can bring and reflecting deeply upon it.’ Anne French, The Listener
‘Since I was a teenager, Stephanie Dowrick’s work has been absolutely central to my understanding of the possibility of happiness.’ Clare Bowditch, musician and author
Stephanie Dowrick, PhD, D. Min, is a multi-award-winning, bestselling author with an exceptional career in both publishing (she was co-founder and Managing Director of The Women’s Press, London), and writing. She has been published in ANZ by Allen & Unwin for many years, formerly by Penguin.. She currently has six books in print in the US with PenguinRandomHouse and was previously published in the US by W.W. Norton. Her work is widely translated, and available in audio as well as print and e-book editions.
Stephanie Dowrick has twice been awarded Nautilus awards (USA): in 2009, the Nautilus Silver Award in the Psychology category for Choosing Happiness: Life & Soul Essentials; in 2014, the Nautilus Grand/Gold Award for Heaven on Earth: Timeless Prayers of Wisdom and Love in the Religion/Spirituality category. In 2010, she won a COVR (Coalition of Visionary Resources, USA) Award for Creative Journal Writing: The Art & Heart of Reflection.
Her international non-fiction bestsellers include Forgiveness and Other Acts of Love, Everyday Kindness, The Universal Heart, and her ground-breaking success, Intimacy & Solitude. That book, continuously in print, has been updated three times, most recently by Allen & Unwin in 2021 to meet the anxiety and loneliness that came with COVID19. Her newest book is Your name is not Anxious: A very personal guide to putting anxiety in its place (2023).
As a social commentator, Stephanie Dowrick has written for multiple media outlets, including a 10-year “Inner Life” column in Good Weekend Magazine (The Age and Sydney Morning Herald). In addition to two acclaimed adult novels, she has written two picture books for children and the libretto for an acclaimed short opera, composed by Professor Kim Cunio. While she brings to her books the skills of an experienced creative writer and former publisher, Stephanie Dowrick has unusually broad clinical experience also.
She studied analytic psychotherapy and trained in the UK in the psychospiritual psychology, psychosynthesis. She is strongly influenced by the ethics of Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy, and the need to understand individual experiences within a larger social context. She has been an ambassador for several key health and justice non-profits and is much in demand as a gifted speaker and workshop leader. She was ordained as an Interfaith minister at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in NYC in 2005, and from 2006-2020 led a large post-denominational congregation in Sydney, while continuing to offer psychological and specialist supervision. Stephanie is active on social media including Twitter and her public Facebook page.
Stephanie Dowrick uses her public Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StephanieDowrick to stay in frequent contact with readers. You do not need to be a Facebook user to view her page. Facebook users can communicate with Stephanie on that page – and with each other. She can also be found on Instagram where she is a newbie, with her social justice hat on, on Twitter.
