Bio Details of Dr. George Blair-West

Author of Weight Loss for Food Lovers: Understanding the Psychology and Sabotage of Weight Loss

Dr Blair-West is a Life Fellow of the Obesity Prevention and Treatment Society and is their media spokesperson. He has been invited to share his work at the International Congress on Obesity, the Queensland Premier's Obesity Summit and the Dietitians' Association of Australia (Qld annual meeting).

As well as his clinical work with obese patients in group and individual therapy, he is a regular contributor on national television on Channel Nine's breakfast program the Today Show. He has also appeared on national ABC radio (Life Matters) and Sydney's top rating talk-back radio station 2UE where his book is featured in the 2UE Booktopia Book Club. His abiding interest is in translating research findings into strategies that lay people can relate to and use immediately.

For Health Professionals interested in the scientific background to Dr Blair-West’s work click here to go to the Professionals page.

Dr Blair-West qualified as a doctor in 1983 at the University of Queensland and then as a Psychiatrist in 1990. He now sub-specialises exclusively in only three areas of psychiatry, the psychology of weight loss, relationship difficulties and post-trauma syndromes. He comes to this work as a psychotherapist which means he helps people change through teaching them new ways of thinking and feeling rather than through prescribing drugs.

Through working with people with obesity he has developed a deep understanding of the issues around weight loss. In helping people with weight problems he has been enormously assisted by his wife Penny - a gifted psychologist and University medallist - who worked for some years in an eating disorders clinic. He is passionate about mixing personal growth teaching with the day-to-day challenge of weight loss. Weight Loss for Food Lovers is the first book he actually finished writing!

Dr Blair-West has been married for 19 years and has two children. He enjoys mucking around with boats and cars. He loves good food and wine and sees no better way to spend his leisure time than enjoying a great meal with family or friends.