“Curse words are ‘release’ words that can act as a physical or emotional pain reliever,” Muriel said. “However, you should save your ‘shit’s for when you really need them, and also not necessarily say them out loud, or you might end up in the shit.”
This candid wisdom sets the tone for her latest book: Up Shit Creek in a Barbed Wire Canoe (and how to cope with it). This refreshingly honest guide gives practical strategies for dealing with everything from accidents and anxiety to difficult relationships and depression. It’s a concise, humour-filled alternative to the doorstop-size self-help books that dominate the market.
“There’s no way anyone who’s in the shit is going to be able to plough through them,” she said. Instead, she offers readers practical strategies for dealing with what she calls the “SAD cycle” of stress, anxiety and depression.
Muriel’s distinguished career has seen her become the first woman in Australia to rate No.1 on prime-time talk radio at 3AW Melbourne – a journey that came with its own challenges.
“Women weren’t seen as serious commentators,” she said. “The first time I rated No.1, the sales manager came up to me in the control room, patted me on the head and said: ‘Aren’t you a good girl?’ As you can imagine, that made me angry. I gave him a serve, and he avoided me after that.”
Up Shit Creek in a Barbed Wire Canoe draws from Muriel’s experiences navigating difficult times. “Becoming a psychologist was hard. I was up the creek more than once, especially in the first couple of years when I left the media, separated from my then-husband, became a student and moved house all in one year. This book encapsulates my approach by combining strategies and a neurocognitive behavioural approach, which is knowing how your brain works and how to use your mind to manipulate it – in the nicest possible way, of course.”
Muriel advocates a solution-focused approach rather than endless analysis. “It didn’t feel right to get people to talk about their childhood and their problems over and over again without offering them any strategies.”
The book’s title was inspired by a Michael Leunig cartoon, which is featured on the cover. The book was launched in April by comedian Sammy J, who Muriel describes as “hugely intelligent and wise”.
Now happily settled on the Mornington Peninsula after escaping a “frantically busy road in Hawthorn” where “the traffic had become unbearable”, Muriel divides her time between her psychology practice, writing, and simple pleasures: “I love photography and gardening. Growing things you can eat is a joy.”
For readers facing their own challenges, Muriel offers this key message: “The major takeaway for me is that there’s always something you can do, even if it’s to take a deep breath and make a plan, even if it’s how you’re going to cope. The brain loves a plan; otherwise, it will panic.”
When you’re dealing with life’s inevitable messiness, Up Shit Creek in a Barbed Wire Canoe (and how to cope with it) offers a figurative paddle – and a laugh – to help traverse those troublesome waters.
