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Rachael Sarah Patricia Haynes (born 1972) is an Australian Psychologist who is best known in relation to her Differential Emotional Processing Theory of Maladaptive Daydreaming, a landmark study into Maladaptive Daydreaming and the first formal theory of Maladaptive Daydreaming.

Haynes’s research has included exploring the effects that fear of crime has on child eyewitnesses, the use of photographic stimulus on child eyewitnesses, staff wellbeing during COVID-19. Her main research has included exploring the use of two emotional processing pathways, these being emotional protection and emotional growth, as theoretical explanations for Maladaptive Daydreaming.

As well as her scientific work, Haynes has worked as an Australian Registered Psychologist registered with the Psychology Board of Australia, in private practice for over sixteen years, equating to over 12,000 hours of therapy delivery.

Haynes is an approved Psychology Board of Australia Supervisor of Provisional Psychologists. She has assisted over twenty Provisional Psychologists to achieve General Registration as Australian Psychologists. Additionally, Haynes provides honours supervision and examines qualitative honours for the School of Psychology at Charles Sturt University.

Early Life
Shaw was born on July 26, 1972, in Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. She lived there with her parents, John, and Mary Shaw, until leaving high school. She decided to study psychology and was interested in applying the scientist-practitioner model to her future career, blending psychotherapy, with the conducting of evidence-based practice. Her interests developed on a wider level towards the teaching of psychology and the supervision of early-career psychologists.

Education
She began her psychology studies as a mature student at the age of 27. She received a Bachelor of Science (Psychology) from the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, in 2005 followed by a Master of Science (Applied Forensic Psychology) from the University of York, United Kingdom, in 2006. She moved to Australia with her husband and daughter in 2007. She undertook a Psychologist Registration Program at the Australian College of Applied Psychology from 2007 to 2009, becoming a Registered Psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia in 2009.

Haynes has recently completed the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (Learning and Teaching) at Deakin University. She has taught and conducted research at The University of Leeds, United Kingdom, the Australian College of Applied Psychology, the College of Professional Psychology and at Charles Sturt University. She is currently an Adjunct Lecturer at Charles Sturt University.

Haynes received her Doctor of Philosophy from Charles Sturt University, Australia in 2023. Her doctoral thesis was titled A Constructivist Grounded Theory: ‘The Differential Emotional Processing Theory of Maladaptive Daydreaming’.

2007-09
Haynes worked in three psychological positions as part of her Psychologist Registration Program. These placements included working within Vocational Rehabilitation and BreakThru in Liverpool, Sydney, NSW. She also worked within Personal Psychological Support for Campbell Page in Katoomba, Blue Mountains, NSW and worked in the Penrith Mental Health Team for Sydney Southwest Health Service, working with complex mental health presentations.

2009-16

Upon completion of her Psychologist Registration Program, Haynes opened her own private practice in Penrith. Over the years, Rachael built White Rose Psychology to be a business that offered affordable psychology to the local community. At the same time, the practice provided training for Provisional Psychologists and provided room rental to other private Psychologists.

2016-21

In 2016, Haynes commenced a PhD in Psychology at Charles Sturt University, and changed her work focus towards building academic skills. During 2016 to 2021, Haynes taught as a Sessional Academic at the Australian College of Applied Psychology in Sydney CBD and at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst. In early 2020, she commenced full-time tenure ship at the Australian College of Applied Psychology in Brisbane CBD.

2021-present

In mid-2021 Haynes decided that she needed to focus her full attentions on completing her PhD thesis and decided to leave Australian College of Applied Psychology. She connected with the College of Professional Psychology, offer supervision to Provisional Psychologists and running workshops on Personality Disorders. This allowed Haynes the extra time that she needed to successfully complete the examination of her PhD thesis, graduating from Charles Sturt University on 19 December 2023.

Since early 2023, Haynes has returned to private practice and works from a residential clinic in Brisbane, providing psychological assessment and treatment to children, young adults, and adults. At the same time, Haynes also provides ongoing supervision to Provisional Psychologists, marks and examines Honours for Charles Sturt University and teaches for that University and the College of Professional Psychology.

Research
Haynes’ PhD research led to the co-construction of the first psychological data-driven theory of Maladaptive Daydreaming. The main concept underpinning the Differential Emotional Processing Theory of Maladaptive Daydreaming experience is an alternate, non-traditional method of accessing emotional processing. This idea suggests that the process of engaging in Maladaptive Daydreaming can at times lead to either emotional growth or emotional protection, which then results in emotional processing through the Maladaptive Daydreaming experience.

The emotional growth pathway of the theory proposes that Maladaptive Daydreaming provides a practice environment for further developing an emotional skillset that can be applied within real-life. This emotional skillset includes, for example, compassion and empathy and thus enhances emotional intelligence. The idea of Maladaptive Daydreaming as emotional growth pathway is a new one, not explored within the existing literature on Maladaptive Daydreaming prior to 2022.

In contrast with emotional growth, the emotional protection pathway of the theory offers that fantasy can be used to provide emotional protection, by focusing on what is lacking in the real-world to safely fulfil emotional needs through the daydream experience. This enables new perspectives to be formed through the emotional experiencing of many fantasy worlds. The experience this becomes a source of protection from difficult emotional situations, enabling the processing of emotions from within the safety of the daydream experience. For instance, some of the participants across this theory’s two studies were able to use their Maladaptive Daydreaming to process earlier trauma, aggressive feelings, and social difficulties. Maladaptive Daydreaming protected them from this processing becoming too intense to handle, it enabled their emotions to be manageably processed, and supplied an avenue through which they could approach and experience difficult emotions.

To put the Differential Emotional Processing Theory of Maladaptive Daydreaming into an model, a visual model is shown below and described.



The top of the model shows an existing pre-disposition for fantasizing. This means that Maladaptive Daydreaming is very different to normal daydreaming, in that the daydreaming is engaged in for long periods of time, whereby vivid and highly absorbing daydreams are experienced. Often kinaesthetic features are included in the daydreaming, such as the use of movement and music to deepen the experience. The model then depicts a range of reasons for Maladaptive Daydreaming that were discovered through the theory’s research studies exploration of this phenomenon. Reasons identified included social difficulty; having comorbid mental health conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder and Anxiety Disorder; having experienced trauma; having experienced loss within life; tapping into creativity; for enjoyment; for boredom, when highly stressed and when goals were not met within daily life. The model then includes kinaesthetic behaviours and a function of behavioural addiction, whereby one or both behavioural (kinaesthetic or behavioural addiction) is involved. Then the Maladaptive Daydreaming experience occurs, with vivid daydreams that are highly detailed, very personal and tailored to the person’s emotional needs at that time, with the daydreaming occurring for a large period.

The resultant outcome is either emotional processing or emotional growth occurring, with the person being able to access as needed either one. Their emotional needs are met through the Maladaptive Daydreaming, where their emotions are processed through the two pathways.

The Differential Emotional Processing Theory of Maladaptive Daydreaming moves the research into Maladaptive Daydreaming away from pathologizing the experience as a disorder, towards exploring the emotional processing benefit of the daydreaming experience. The theory is a data-driven theory, that was co-constructed between Haynes and the participants in the two research studies. This theory of Maladaptive Daydreaming provides Maladaptive Daydreamers and their health professionals with a useable idea, whereby they can utilize the theory to address some of the negative aspects of Maladaptive Daydreaming, and harness some of the positive features of Maladaptive Daydreaming. The theory offers a new context and a new direction for Maladaptive Daydreaming research and provides an original, credible, and relevant explanation for Maladaptive Daydreaming.