Flow Expert & Experienced Psychologist
Dr Sue Jackson is an experienced psychologist with a special interest in working with individuals in high-performance domains (including athletes, medical doctors, business professionals, artists) to help them tap into their potential to find the optimal psychological state of flow in performance challenges, or simply with life as it is happening in each present moment. With a strong academic background, Sue brings to her consulting an in-depth understanding of the science behind flow states and optimal performance, complementing her extensive practical toolkit of psychological skills and strategies to help clients create positive change in their lives.
Sue is a world-leading expert on the optimal psychological state of flow. From her ground-breaking doctoral research on flow in elite athletes in the early 1990’s, Sue then continued to research flow as a university researcher until 2007. Having always loved to work at a practical level – making a positive difference in people’s lives – Sue moved from an academic-focused career into full-time consulting in 2008. Sue has extensive experience working with high performers as a flow expert and performance psychologist. Sue has also undertaken training in meditation and mindfulness, and draws on relevant practices from these areas, as well as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy).
Sue enjoys working with individuals and groups across many domains of performance and in daily life, helping success become a standard measured by full involvement in the task at hand.
Experiencing Flow: Life Beyond Boredom & Anxiety
Experiencing Flow: Life Beyond Boredom and Anxiety is a transformative guide that unlocks the secrets to achieving optimal experiences and living a life filled with purpose and joy. Published in 2024, Sue takes the reader on a captivating journey through the life-changing concept of flow – a state of complete absorption where challenges are met with skill, time seems to stand still, and enjoyment reaches its peak.
My Academic Background
After learning there was a field of study called sport psychology in the mid 80s, I left my native Australia to embark on postgraduate studies at leading North American programs, first at the University of Illinois (MSc) and then the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (PhD). I was fortunate during these training years in North America to be mentored by leading sport psychologists including Professors Dan Gould, Glyn Roberts, Diane Gill, and Tara Scanlan. As well, I met the founder of flow, Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, and having found out about this state called flow in Csikszentmihalyi’s writings, I had my course set for my doctoral thesis focus.
The title of my thesis was “Elite Athletes in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Sport Experience”, and it was awarded Dissertation of the Year by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP), and the Sport Psychology Academy of NASPE. I returned to Australia in 1993, to begin an academic career in Australian universities. I have published extensively on flow in both academic journal articles and in applied publications.
With my flow mentor, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, I co-authored Flow in Sports: The Keys to Optimal Experiences and Performances. You can buy a copy of Flow in Sports here. In my many years of researching the concept of flow, I developed self-report instruments that assess this optimal psychological state. You can find information on how to obtain these instruments, the Flow Scales, here.
After many years of researching & writing about flow, and working with high-performing individuals, I have recently published a new book on flow, Experiencing Flow: Life Beyond Boredom and Anxiety.
Academic and Professional Credentials
Sue has completed degrees in Education (1st Class Honours, University of Sydney), followed by graduate degrees in Sport & Exercise Psychology: a Master of Science (University of Illinois), and Doctor of Philosophy (University of North Carolina-Greensboro). In addition, Sue has a Graduate Certificate in Writing, Editing, & Publishing (University of Queensland), a Diploma in Yoga Teaching (IYTA), and practitioner training courses in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), iRest™ Yoga Nidra, and Mind with Heart mindfulness training.
Sue is a registered psychologist and Fellow of the College of Sport and Exercise Psychologists of the Australian Psychological Society. With this strong and diverse background of training, and an interest in making a positive difference to real-world challenges, Sue can provide skills and strategies to help you navigate toward what is important in your life.
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