Carmen Ostrander, Narrative Therapy Counseling Square Peg Therapy

You don't fit in a box - neither do I...

Therapeutic Influences

Rigorous curiosity, broad lived experience, compassion, creativity, queerness, ethics rooted in social justice, and a capacity to hold and hear difficult things, combined with my deep love of otherness, & subversiveness to fuel my work.

My approach has developed through layers of influence beginning with empirical theories of mind & body, followed by humanistic, client centred & transpersonal approaches, in addition to feminism, queer theory, expressive arts, post modernism, social constructionism and Narrative Therapy, which situates all of the above into a contemporary social and political context.

"The phenomenon of personal failure has grown exponentially over recent decades. Never before has the sense of being a failure to be an adequate person been so freely available to people, and never before has it been so willingly and routinely dispensed."
- Michael White

Narrative Therapy

Narrative Therapy is a relatively new kid on the therapeutic block. It's more an orientation or way of seeing things, than a prescriptive set of techniques.

It emphasises collaboration over the delivery of expertise, is informed by Feminism, social justice, and considerations of power and privilege, along with a healthy dose of scepticism around the value of pathologizing people and problems through traditional medical model approaches to mental health. Find out more about Narrative Therapy here.

What to expect

You may find yourself engaged in lively conversation, or working with your hands in a quiet contemplative space.

I value authenticity and aim to provide a space where you can be yourself, or a multiplicity of selves.

You'll be able to shape the direction and style of the process to suit your needs, including the length and frequency of our meetings.

Training & Education

A graduate of Melbourne University & The Dulwich Centre's Masters program in Narrative Therapy & Community Work, I also hold a BA in Psychology, BA Hons, in drama (performance), and an Advanced Diploma in Transpersonal Art Therapy. I'm currently training independently in entheogenic medicine. I hope to always be learning.