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I founded Rainbow Muse in 2019 in response to feeling like there were limited safe spaces for magical humans with diverse intersecting identities. I dreamt of establishing a magical therapeutic safe space where people who do fit into “boxes” could feel seen, heard and valued while on their mental health journey. My first team member on my Rainbow Muse Journey was Lucy who to this day is a part of this beautiful collective with Embrace This Space.
Rainbow Muse grew beyond what I could have dreamed. In 2022 I joined forces with my best friend Sammy and we decided to marry our passion, love and fierceness into an even bigger dream. Thus Rainbow Muse Clinic was born, created from the beaming hearts of both Sammy and me, with a vision of creating a safe and inclusive practice where people can feel supported and accepted as they are.
Very quickly our clinic and all its therapists were full and our waitlist was overflowing to the point we had to close our books. I was sitting in our clinic, looking at the “by appointment only” sign outside, knowing our website said no new clients. My heart ached realising how inaccessible this setting is for a lot of communities.
I got to wondering how I could work with community and find other ways to be part of humans creating together and making meaning. Years in community development showed me the power of community, togetherness, creating, moving, playing and sharing.
We need spaces of kindness and acceptance where people can be supported in coming together to be creative, express themselves and co-construct meaning within the context of their experiences and identities – from a place of equality and openness.
The answer was Tandara Pa Rainbow! It is a love letter to my mother Eunice and an expression of her heart. She died in February 2022. The grief I felt is the most heart wrenchingly painful thing I have ever experienced but I learned quickly that this it is the price we pay for love.
My mother was my first safe space, my first place of belonging, and my biggest teacher in what it means to be love in this world. We always need love, to be connected and to be a part off. Thats what I want to cultivate in my work. Tandara is the embodiment of my loving, creative, hilarious, generous and kind mother.
She loved fearlessly and hard and she valued community and togetherness. In her honour birthed an expression of radical love and imagination. A space for celebrating culture, art-making, social justice, creative expression, wellness and community care, with a multi-systems advocacy approach that acknowledges systems and prioritises community building and the collective.
Thus Tandara Pa Rainbow was born, a community care focused not-for-profit born from Rainbow Muse. It was created as a space for creativity, connection, culture and collective care. Sometimes people just need to to express themselves, engage with community, feel supported and enjoy the magic of other humans. Through Tandara I had the privilege of running Tandara a bunch of programs and form incredible partnerships
Simultaneously working with individual therapy clients as Rainbow Muse Clinic continued to expand in the most beautiful ways. I became burnt out and bogged down in admin. Having Tandara wasn't enough, my whole way of working had to change. In January 2024 I moved to Warburton and opened Rainbow Muse Studio in an attempt find myself in all bigness.
In this time I also started my PhD research in Community Psychology, working title: "Everyone is a Rainbow: Re-imagining and Re-structuring Normativities through the Lenses of Decolonial Practice, Collective Care, and Social Justice."
This allowed me a context to examine my whole journey and the sociocultural and therapeutic space and what it means to confront what sickness, trauma, pain, or even treatment mean when we de-centre the biomedical models of mental health that frame our operations.
This inspired me to create The Rainbow Muse Collective Governance Framework and as a team we chose to lovingly dismantle the "clinic" and move towards being a collective. A space where we co-lead, co-work, co-create and co-responsibility.
As a team we collectively made the decision to dismantle Rainbow Muse Clinic after reflecting deeply on how this model did not align with the original vision of Rainbow Muse or any our values. Thus Rainbow Muse Collective was born!
I work exclusively from the Studio in Warburton and online but I am proud of the beautiful team and commuity we are building.
Previous Work Experience
I draw from experiences gained within the multiple roles in the mental health and community service sector. Prior to starting Rainbow Muse I previously worked in:
Community Engagement, Programs and Youth Mental Health at headspace
Community Liaison and Family Dispute Resolution/ Mediation at Relationships Australia Victoria
Early Intervention Crime Prevention and for young people at YSAS
Family and Youth Support for Refugees and Asylum Seekers at The Brotherhood of St Laurence
Youth Support and Programs in local government Youth Services
Parent and Child Programs with Communities in Remote East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory
Youth Programs in the Tiwi Islands Northern Territory with NTCSA
Tertiary QUalifications
PhD (Community Psychology), 2022 ongoing
Dissertation Working Title: "Everyone is a Rainbow: Re-imagining and Re-structuring Normativities through the Lenses of Decolonial Practice, Collective Care, and Social Justice"
Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice (Therapy),, 2018
Thesis Title: “Look at All the Rainbows: My Journey through the Implementation of a Therapeutic Arts Program in a Youth Mental Health Setting”
Graduate Certificate in Autism Studies, 2021
Graduate Diploma in Family Dispute Resolution, 2013
Bachelor of Arts, (International Relations and Community Development), 2007
Professional Development
Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) Certification Program (ongoing)
Synergetic Play Therapy (2022)
Monteiro Interview Guidelines for Diagnosing the Autism Spectrum, Second Edition
MIGDAS-2 Interview Training (2022)
NDIS Functional Behaviour Assessment (FBA) Training (2021)
Child Centred Play Therapy Training 2019
Drumbeat (Discovering Relationships Using Music, Beliefs, Emotions, Attitudes and Thoughts) Training 2019
Kids Yoga Teacher Training 2019
Tuning Into Teens – Emotion Focused Parenting Facilitator Training (2018)
Trauma Sensitive Yoga Training 2018
Yoga Teacher Training 2018
Tuning into Kids-Emotion Focused Parenting Facilitator Training (2017)
Space 4 Us -Program Facilitator Training, 2017
CHAMPS (Children and Mentally Ill Parents)- Program Facilitator Training, 2017
Advanced Training in Mindfulness Based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
Advanced Training in Psychotherapy
Youth Mental Health First Aid, 2014
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASSIST) Training, 2014
registrations and memberships
Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association (ANZACATA) Professional Member
NDIS Registered Service Provider NDIA Registered for Therapeutic Support and Innovative Community Participation
The Australasian Society for Autism Research (ASFAR)- Full Membership Autistic Researcher
The Australian Professional Association for Trans Health Member (AusPATH)
The Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) - Community Psychology, American Psychological Association
Registered Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner
Registered Yoga Teacher RYT200 Yoga Alliance
Updates for the Rainbow Muse Blog
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