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IT was while working as a war correspondent in war-torn Somaliain 1995 that Trisha Stratford hadan epiphany of sorts.

“I was with a Somali cameraman and we were filming these huge fires in the desert,” recalled Stratford, who is now a clinical neuropsychotherapist and TV personality.

“The UN (United Nations) werepulling out and had set all their equipment, even office equipment, alight on the sand so the Somali soldiers couldn’t use any of it.

“The Somalis started firing at meand my cameraman, so we just hit the sand, but as I was lying there, the cameraman crawled away on his stomach and left me.”

Luckily, Stratford was rescuedby a group of Pakistani peacekeepers, who managed to form a human shield by lying on the sand and pulling her to safety.

“That was an amazing moment,” she said.It was also a life-changing moment.“It got me thinking about the brain and the human

capacity for compassion, but also the human capacity for destruction,” she said.

After 16 years as a broadcast and print journalist foroutlets including the BBC and CNN, Stratford went on to study neuroscience.

Her work on the neuroscience of relationships hasgained international recognition and seen her become a resident expert on Channel 9’s Married at First Sight.

Stratford, who also has a master’s degree in psychotherapy, lives in Sydney’s Manly with two miniature schnauzers, Karen and Ebony, which she dog-shares with daughter Gina, son-in-law Marcie and granddaughter Lily.

Typical Saturday morningI always meditate in the morning. I have been to an ashram a few times in India, which was important to me after being in war zones, just to put the body and soul together again. Then I go to pilates and my local cafe where I enjoy a nice coffee and something sweet. I also like to read the paper because I am a political animal.

NATASHA PERERAINSIDE STORY

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Dr Trisha Stratford

Something people don’tknow about meI like to sing. I have sung with the SydneyPhilharmonia Choir and am about tojoin another choir in Manly. I’ve evensung at the Sydney Opera House.

First thing I do when Iwalk in the door at homeI’ll drop my bag and have a shower.I’m quite lucky because I commuteinto the city by ferry. It’s really lovelydowntime, so when I walk in thedoor I’m pretty chilled already.

Favourite chill-outmusicI have eclectic music tastes. I likeclassical, cello, opera; even Lorde. I also play piano and have since I was five.

On my bedside tableSeeds of Contemplation by Thomas

Merton and You are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter by Dr Joe Dispenza. I always have tonnes of books on the go.

Happiness at homeA calm, peaceful house.

My favourite thingsPOTTERY FIGURINEMy daughter, Gina, made this for me the first day she went to school. I was a singlemother way before it was fashionable. There was no day care and no benefits back then. We have been a strong team for many years. She is a psychotherapist and also runs her own business. I am also very close to her daughter, Lily. Gina and her husband invited me to be in the room when Lily was born; it was a real privilege to be present at her birth. I have created a book for my granddaughter I write in once a year, capturing all the special moments and details of her life. There is a photo for each year and cards and drawings she’s made for me.

FRAMED PRINTThis is a limited-edition print of Henri Matisse’s last self-portrait, The Sorrows of the King. The work is a massive bookend to his career. And if you look closely, you’ll see he has actually signed it! I got it at an auction in Sydney quite by accident. I found it folded and stashed under some pieces. It went to auction but I think the fact it had been folded put a few people off. When the hammer went down, the auctioneer looked at me and said, “That woman in the back has got a very good deal”. It was the deal of the day! I took it home and got it framed and now it hangs in my lounge room.

FRENCH HOUSEThis is a picture of a little village in the southwest of France where I bought a house online three years ago. It’s in the middle of a winegrowing area in a working village of 1400 people. It’s not far from Carcassonne and only a two-and-a-half hour drive to Barcelona. When I arrived in France and collected the keys, I realised I had no furniture, so I stayed the night at a bed and breakfast. The next day, the real-estate agent’s husband drove me to the next village and helped me buy some beds. When we came home, we found the council had cut a great big ditch across the road that led up to my house. After some huffing and puffing and waving of arms, the council workers agreed to help me get the beds inside. They put boards across the ditch and carried my two mattresses up to the house, so I spent the first five weeks there with a bed and that was it! I have since renovated the place and furnished it and will be heading there for a month in May.

CAMEL SADDLEI worked as a freelance journalist for many years and was in Somalia during the war in the ’90s. I originally went over to do a story for 60 Minutes in New Zealand and ended up staying on for 18 months to help the local women who had so littleand worked for nothing. I convinced the owner of the company who had the contract to feed the UN troops in Mogadishu to buy six sewing machines and some fabric. I then took those to the women in a village just outside the war zone so they could use them to make things and support their children. They befriended me and, when I was leaving, gave me this camel saddle they’d made.

CLOAK I collect art and one day, in the 1980s, I was

sitting with a group of friends chatting about how we love art and wanted to get more involved in it. We started a group that commissioned and collected artworks and gottogether once a month. All the artwork had toreflect a political statement of the ’80s andalso had to be auctioned. I commissioned thispiece by artist Philippa Blair depicting the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989. It wassuch a political statement of our time. It evokes a sense of justice and passion abouthuman rights and how we had to protectthem. When it went to auction, I couldn’t let itgo and sold my shares in the group and putall my money into buying the piece.