Perinatal, Child & Family Hub; Carla Anderson Clinical Psychologist

10/09/2026

10/09/2026

Thankyou to Magnolia Health for inviting me to speak about women’s mental health and some little tips on what might help.

Head to their website for full video and more details:

https://www.magnoliahealth.com.au/blog/magnolia-health-breathe-womens-health-week-2026

05/09/2026

My Flannel Flowers have just started to bloom. These are my favourite flower, not only are the beautiful to look at but they have the most velvety petals and leaves. What i also love about them is their meaning. Flannel flower is all about resilience. It is even the national symbol of mental health awareness in Australia, chosen for its softness and strength, thriving even in harsh coastal conditions.

I have shared my story of trying to grow my own Flannel Flower, the struggles I had trying to get it to germinate (even starting a fire in a pot in my back yard because they need fire to germinate….it didn’t work). And the parallels of its meaning for me as I navigated big changes in my life, that despite the difficulties, there was this beautiful flower that thrives from adversity, but yet is so soft and delicate. I love how flowers can give us a different way to reflect on how we feel and what we are going through.

I would love to hear what flowers have meant to you!

04/09/2026

🌸 I’ve just added a new page to my clinician training website, sharing a little more on one of the ways I use flowers for self-care and reflective practice. I would love to know what you think.

🗒️Details about my free Reflective Flower Journal PDFs for healthcare clinicians now have their own home. 💐

If you’ve been curious about The Clinician In Bloom® and wondered what flowers have to do with clinician self-care and reflective practice, the journals offer a little glimpse into that world.

Through botanical stories, floriography, floristry, therapeutic horticulture and reflective prompts, each journal uses a flower as a different way to explore the self-care that might genuinely work for you. 🌼

I’ve shared the “Which Flower Are You?” quiz before, but now you can find the thinking behind them and the quiz all together on my website.

🌸 Come and explore the new page.

https://carlaandersoncliniciantraining.com/floral-quiz-journal-for-clinicians

🌷The quiz and journals are designed for education, reflection and enjoyment. They are not psychological assessment, therapy or treatment.

Explore your self-care with our quick flower clinician quiz. Discover which flower reflects what self-care may work for you in just 90 seconds.

04/09/2026

We become parents with our own ideas, expectations, and childhood experiences of being parented.

Differences between partners can result in disagreements, which can be difficult for either parent but also for children.

But your family unit is unique to you so it’s really important to focus on open communication about these differences and to avoid criticising one parent's parenting in front of the child.

Take some time when you are both calm to explore these differences, what ideas you like, what ideas you don't like, to come up with your own united parenting style however that looks.

And learn together about undersatnding your child’s emotions, behaviours and cues.

It can be helpful to seek additional supports on your journey together.

03/09/2026

Yesterday is the first time in nearly three months that I have been able to pick my own flowers in my flower patch. Flowers can express what words can’t, and I don’t have words for how it has felt to not be able to do this for so long…. And in contrast how amazing it felt to do it, how grounding it is for me.

Which is exactly what I wanted to share with the conference delegates.
I really wanted flowers to be part of my conference presentation at the Therapeutic Horticulture Australia National Conference.

I also wanted to share how flowers help challenge perfectionistic tendencies because flowers and nature can vary so much and are not perfect but are still beautiful.

And how much they remind us to engage in creativity, colour and fun.

02/09/2026

All ready to present today at the Therapeutic Horticulture Australia - THA National Conference today. I am so grateful to the THA team for the last minute gear shift to allow me to present online when unable to be there in person. As always it reminds for of the metaphors of adaptability as shown to us by many plants and flowers.

Today I will be presenting on the topic “Beyond the bouquet; Applications of floristry in therapeutic horticulture” where I’ll be sharing how I’m bringing together psychology, floristry and therapeutic horticulture together and the development of my programs Floriful and The Clinician In Bloom®.

I am also really looking forward to hearing all of the wonderful presentations through the day today.

💐🌱

01/09/2026

Last week, I wrote to my Clinician In Bloom® waitlist about waiting for a lily bud to open. The parallels with growing and shaping The Clinician In Bloom behind the scenes, waiting for it to burst open in bloom.

And now, on the first day of spring, my paper daisies have started to pop. 🌸

Some are already open, some are just beginning, and there are still plenty of little buds waiting their turn.

There’s something lovely about seeing those first little bursts of colour after watching the buds develop.

And there’s a little more beginning to bloom behind the scenes here too. 🌸

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more about The Clinician In Bloom, why I chose flowers as the medium, and what happens when we bring together floristry, therapeutic horticulture, psychology and reflective practice.

Because the flowers are beautiful, of course, but it’s what happens amongst the flowers that interests me most. 💐

If you’ve been following along and would like to join me for The Clinician In Bloom this October, send me a message and I’ll send you the registration details. 🌷

Happy first day of spring 🌿🌷

Keep blooming,
Carla 💐

30/08/2026

Last week I had the opportunity to present a webinar on “Circles of Support” a relational tool for working with families in the perinatal period for perinatal psychologist members of Centre for Perinatal Psychology, a dedicated network of trained perinatal and infant mental health psychologists.

The perinatal period is a time of so many significant changes including changes in relationships, with partners, family and friends. For many parents these changes can be confusing and difficult not to internalise, particularly during times of distress.

The circles of relationships and supports provide a different way to explore what happens when these changes occur and validate the experiences of parents. It can also help clinicians and parents understand the parent’s relational world.

Thankyou.

This week, members of the Centre for Perinatal Psychology were treated to a terrific in-house webinar by fellow CPP Member and Clinical Psychologist, Carla Anderson. Carla presented her model called ‘Circles of Support’ and walked us through case study examples to illustrate its application. Thank you, Carla!

As a network of dedicated, private-practicing perinatal psychologists, we are committed to ongoing professional development.

All of our psychologists are trained in Perinatal and Infant Mental Health. Membership to the Centre for Perinatal Psychology also requires ongoing professional development in the field.

As Director, I am ever-proud of this remarkable group of clinicians who support parents and infants in their perinatal journeys with such skill.