About Dr Maxine Thérèse
BA (Psych), BA (Hons) PhD Philosophy
Doctoral Research Thesis 'Philosophy of childhood: the foundational childhood needs and wellbeing
Dr Maxine Thérèse, PhD (Deakin University), is the Founder of Childosophy™ and creator of the Foundational Needs Model (FNM). Her pioneering work explores how early childhood experiences - alongside inherited emotional patterns - shape how we see ourselves, relate to others, and move through the world.
Childosophy and the FNM examine the developmental, emotional, and archetypal patterns of the child and inner child, supporting individuals to uncover early shaping experiences, understand generational influences, and reconnect with their authentic self beneath conditioned layers of identity.
As a speaker, practitioner, and educator, Dr Thérèse has worked globally, supporting transformation across psychological, somatic, spiritual, and relational dimensions.
Her work bridges modern psychology, subtle-body wisdom, consciousness studies, and ancient healing traditions.
Melanie Greblo, Humans of Purpose
“If you go searching for information on whole child development, what you often see is educational and psychological theory. You can’t find in any one place, a synthesis of all of the aspects of a child, as they relate to their development and wellbeing,
Maxine’s work is truly groundbreaking, for all of us, as ideally we are all responsible for raising the children on our planet.
Because Maxine’s Foundational Needs Model weaves together psychology, family systems theory, chakra theory, philosophy, physiology, neuroscience, and epigenetics, her work illuminates the world of the child in a completely new light, and sheds deeper understanding for adults of themselves also, so the work becomes not only a tool to better reaching teaching and parenting potential, but also to improve adult emotional intelligence."
"If we truly want to support children we must listen to them, and learn that their behaviours are not problems to be solved - but rather, vital communication about what they need.
After becoming a mother I realised that there were many gaps in our adult understanding of children's needs. This set me on a journey that has spanned decades, working with children and families, formally researching children's needs and creating my own framework - the Foundational Needs Model."
Dr Maxine Thérèse