Hi there, I’m Zan

There are too few opportunities in life where we get to be witnessed and listened to in all our complexity with dignity and compassion. I hope to be able to offer pockets of space where it’s possible to remember, reclaim, rediscover and reimagine stories about who we are that make us feel stronger.

My background

I have spent nearly two decades working with people in community service settings and am so grateful for the twists and turns in my journey that have lead me to the work I am doing now.

I discovered Narrative Therapy in 2017 and have been working as a counsellor since, including completing a Master of Narrative Therapy and Community Work with Melbourne University. I began my practice as a counsellor in a family counselling team specialising in responding to the effects of family violence and sexual violence. In my time there I set up a service to support trans young people and their families. This work helped me grow the roots that I needed to strike out on my own.​

More recently, my experiences of fertility struggles, pregnancy, birth, post partum, pregnancy losses (including termination for medical reasons), re-lactation and supporting my partner through the pregnancy and birth of our second baby have sparked a fiery passion for supporting families of all kinds through the kaleidoscopic and tectonic shifts of trying to grow and care for kiddos. You can hear more about my experiences on the Australian Birth Stories Podcast.

I completed my doula training with the Australian Doula College in 2023 and have had the absolute privilege of supporting numerous families preparing for birth, during labour and post-partum.

I now have the freedom to work with whoever reaches out to me.

How I work

I do not see myself as separate from the the folks I work with. I am shaped by our work together.

I see the you as the expert in your life. Not me. My job is not to advise you on what to do. It is to support you to reconnect with wisdoms, skills and collective knowledges problems can separate us from and to create a space to speak richly about what you believe and care about.

  • I deeply value respect, and I will not assume I know what that looks like to you, so where possible I will ask you;

  • I will always be paying attention to and curious about how the context of your life is influencing your sense of identity and what feels possible;

  • I believe that struggle often coexists with resistance, pleasure, connection and any number of other things- you don't have to be either/or, you can be both/and and I'm here for all of it; and

  • I am committed to considering how my privilege limits my perspective and all the ways that I risk perpetrating oppression. I welcome the courageous generosity it takes for folks to let me know about any harm I have caused.