Ostara Occupational Therapy

Ostara Occupational Therapy Women's health occupational therapy services with a special focus on perinatal and maternal mental health.

The things I believed as a first-time mother that (very often) brought me to my knees:That struggling in public meant I ...
17/09/2026

The things I believed as a first-time mother that (very often) brought me to my knees:

That struggling in public meant I was failing.

That routines existed if I just tried hard enough.

That breastfeeding pain was something to push through.

That perfection was the bar, not a myth.

That reading every book would make me immune to losing my s**t.

None of it was true. All of it was human.

What's in your museum? Drop one below — I'll go first in the comments. 👇

Thinking about the environments we're trying to exist within, especially when we've got additional needs, disabilities, ...
16/09/2026

Thinking about the environments we're trying to exist within, especially when we've got additional needs, disabilities, or chronic illness — feels simple. And maybe it is.

Change the environment, make it adaptive, make it supportive of what an individual actually needs (a leg up, not a handout) and everybody benefits. That's it. That's equity.

So simple it's almost embarrassing!

And yet here we are stuck in systems that are archaic, outdated, inequitable as hell. Who signed off on that?

Whether it's the built environment, society at large or perinatal health care systems, building supportive contexts and environments seems like a no brainer to me. Imagine what would be possible!

14/09/2026

Strong, sour, sharp tastes aren't just a lolly aisle guilty pleasure...they're a legitimate sensory regulation strategy!

When you're dysregulated (anger, rage, panic, that scary-blank overwhelm feeling), your body isn't always able to listen to logic.

Intense sensory input e.g. sour, cold, strong smells, can interrupt that spiral fast, because it gives your nervous system something big and immediate to respond to.

I use sour lollies as one option in a whole toolkit I build with clients, tailored to their nervous system, their triggers, their life. This isn't a one-size-fits-all hack; it's one small piece of a much bigger, personalised picture.

Credit where it's due: this sits within the sensory modulation work of Carolyn Fitzgibbon and Julie O'Sullivan, two incredible Brisbane OTs doing brilliant work in this space.

If this resonates and you want the fuller picture built around your nervous system, that's what I do in clinic 🍬

11/09/2026

The wildest part of this job? Years of study, a brain full of theory, frameworks in abundance and sometimes the most useful thing I can offer is "yeah... that was f$*@*d up."

I'm not sitting across from you pretending I'm not human. I feel things. I relate. And occasionally a well-placed swear word says what "I hear the significant distress you're experiencing" just can't.

Doesn't mean I'm not serious about this work. I just refuse to be stuffy about it.
Need perinatal mental health support that actually meets you where you're at? Knock on my door ✨️✌️🔥

The perfect mother myth is a lie you were sold, not a standard you failed to meet.A mum in clinic this week said somethi...
09/09/2026

The perfect mother myth is a lie you were sold, not a standard you failed to meet.
A mum in clinic this week said something I hear on repeat: "I still feel like I should be able to do all this."
So let's talk about it.
You were never meant to be chef, doctor, PA, taxi driver, mediator, referee, stay-at-home mum, employee, wife, daughter, sister and friend — all at once, all day, every day. That's not a personal failing. That's not humanly possible.
We also weren't designed to multitask like this. Our brains do better with one thing at a time. We can switch fast, sure — but switching isn't the same as doing it all simultaneously, and our nervous systems know the difference even when our to-do list doesn't.
And we definitely weren't built to consume this much information, this constantly.
So here's your reminder, ladies:
No one is doing it all. Not me. Not your neighbour. Not the mum who looks put-together at school drop-off, or the one running the PTA like it's her second job. Everyone drops balls — you just don't see it happen for other people the way you see it happen for you.
The standard was never achievable. That's not a coincidence. That's the design.

07/09/2026

In clinic, I'm sitting with so many ND mothers who are completely overwhelmed. By life, by their own emotions, by needing to hold space for everyone else while barely holding themselves.

Minds racing.
Bodies stuck in overdrive.
Not thriving, just surviving...and even that feels like a stretch some days. They carry so much guilt and fear that they're not doing it "right" or efficiently enough. Old wounds around people-pleasing and being the "good girl" showing up hard, driving decisions until they hit breaking point. Most days they're working double time just to keep their heads above water. It's like the rest of us run 100m and cross the finish line ~ and they're asked to keep running another 50m.

The reality is that some mothers carry more. Not because they're failing or not trying hard enough.. but because of how they, or their kids, are wired.

ND brains aren't broken versions of "normal" brains. They're different operating systems, running in a world designed for one type of human. So when you or your kid need more sensory support, more processing time, more co-regulation, more room to just be ~ that's not a flaw to fix. It's a mismatch between your needs and/or their needs and the environment.

The load is real. The love is real too. Both things can be true without one cancelling the other out.

I support a lot of ND mums through this exact thing ~ whether it's you who's neurodivergent, your kid, or both.

If that's you and you're looking for "get your hands dirty", practical support that goes beyond talk therapy, come say hi!

My door (and books) are open 🌿

An invaildating social environment can make it very hard to regulate emotions.Let's allow that sentence to percolate for...
05/09/2026

An invaildating social environment can make it very hard to regulate emotions.

Let's allow that sentence to percolate for a hot minute....

Now put that sentence inside western motherhood and what do you have?

From pregnancy onwards you're handed a rulebook that contradicts itself on every page. Breastfeed, but don't make it your whole personality. Be present, but also bounce back. Trust your instincts, but also listen to the seventeen professionals who all disagree with each other. Stay home and "lose yourself," or go back to work and be told you're missing it.

No wonder so many of the mums I sit with are white-knuckling through crushing self-doubt and decision paralysis. Not because they're indecisive. Because they've been fed so many contradictory ideals of "good mothering" that there's no version of them that meets all of them.

And that messaging slowly seeps its way in, until it becomes the inner voice telling you that no matter what you do, you're somehow getting it wrong.

Some mums go back to work far sooner than they wanted to — not because they love their baby any less, but because a KPI and a finished spreadsheet can hand you something motherhood so rarely does: a clear, external "you did that, and you did it well."

Because when the loudest messages mothers hear are be grateful you have a healthy baby, at least you survived birth, you wanted this so don't complain — where exactly is the room for how hard this actually is? Or for the complex and layered emotions that come with matrescence?

If gratitude is the only feeling we allow mothers to have, is it any wonder their mental health suffers?

If this is landing for you — my books are open to new clients ✨️ I'd love to meet you.

02/09/2026

📍I'd love to be part of more GP referral conversations 🤍

Most people picture OT as splints and home mods (rightly so — huge part of what we do). What's less known is that OT can also be Better Access endorsed, meaning we're able to see patients under a Mental Health Care Plan alongside psychologists and accredited mental health social workers.

In perinatal mental health specifically, I think we bring something genuinely complementary — working with the sensory and nervous systems, the identity shift, the return to daily function, the co-occupations with baby, alongside the emotional piece.

Not here to replace anyone in the referral pathway, just want to be an option in it. If you're a GP and this is useful to know, I'd love to connect with you.

01/09/2026

Motherhood prep has its priorities backwards! All the emphasis goes into the shower and the birth plan, very little of it into who's actually going to hold you, once the dust settles. And I don't just mean within the first 8 weeks.

I see the parts nobody warns you about... the identity stuff, the nervous system stuff, the "who even am I now" stuff.

You don't need to be in crisis to deserve support. Prevention is healthcare too!

That's the work I do.
Come find me 🤍
Medicare rebates available with a mental health care plan ✨️

These are the things I won't budge on. Intuition first. Your goals, not mine to assign. A real human face, not a therapy...
29/08/2026

These are the things I won't budge on.

Intuition first.
Your goals, not mine to assign.
A real human face, not a therapy mask.
No self-blame allowed in this room. And yes, there will be tea and Tim Tams involved 🍵

This is me, non-negotiables and all. 🤍
What's yours?? For yourself, not just your practitioners?

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Melbourne, VIC
3136

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 3:30pm

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