Folk n Fable in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia | Mental health service

Folk n Fable

Locality: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Phone: +61 411 477 893

Address: Bentleigh East 3204 Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Website: https://www.folknfable.com

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• Medical and health
• Mental health service
• Counsellor

25.01.2022 Grief is the honour we pay to that which is dear to us. And it is only through the connection to what we cherish that we can know how to move forward. In this way, grief is motion. Yet in our culture, we are deeply unskilled with grief. We hold it at a distance as best we can, both in ourselves and in each other, treating it as, Joanna Macy says, like an enemy of cheerfulness.

25.01.2022 feel it all... you're not doing life wrong, you're doing it right, if there's any secret you're missing, it's that doing it right - is just really hard. feeling all your feelings is hard, but that's what they're for. feelings are for feeling. all of them. even the hard ones. being fully human is not about feeling happy, it's about feeling everything.... So return to yourself, fearful and trembling, practice feeling it all. even when taking the time and energy for feeling makes you a little less efficient, a little less convenient, and a little less pleasant. I learned I couldn't be free from pain but I could be free from the fear of pain and that was enough. I finally stopped avoiding fires long enough to let myself burn and what I learned is I am like that burning bush, the fire of pain won't consume me, I can burn and burn and burn and live, I can live on fire, I am fireproof. I can use pain to become. I am here to keep becoming truer, more beautiful versions of myself, again and again, forever. Whether I like it or not pain is the fuel of revolution. Everything I need to become the woman I'm meant to be next is inside my feelings of now. Life is alchemy and emotions are the fire that turns me to gold. I will continue to become only if I resist extinguishing myself a million times a day. Untamed by Glennon Doyle

23.01.2022 Love this! "sensitizing people to barrier-free travel" #raisingawareness #accessibility

23.01.2022 screens + shields + masks... continuing to support my clients and their mental health during stage 4. also wearing my teacher’s hat to school from home...... I thought I knew what juggling was. But 2020 is showing me otherwise Sending out generous waves of gentleness. May we be gentle with ourselves and each other as we navigate these tough times.

23.01.2022 this month our family invited a puppy into our pack. and as a consequence my eyes have been pointed skyward each day. as we join pup outside in play, i lay on the ground, smell the soil, watch the grass flicker in the wind, and remember the wonder of sounds as my pup’s ear prick up with every birds chirp. . my words for 2021 are PRESENCE + PLEASURE. . the call to be more present came through strongly, the ability to be fully embodied, and not preoccupied by a gazillion thou...ghts sounded just like the mind-cation i needed. . but if I’m honest, it sounded amazing for about a week... knowing my sagittarius heart, the ultimate voyager who needs the freedom to roam, even within the present moment... i knew i needed a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down. . enter pleasure, often regarded as short-lived and reckless, the rebellious sister of saint joy. But when used as nouns, joy means a feeling of extreme happiness especially related to the acquisition or expectation of something good, whereas pleasure means a state of being pleased or contented. so yes, I’ll have both; conscious awareness and delight. 2020 left me feeling accomplished but burnt out. may presence, pleasure and puppies restore my weary body so I can keep exploring and expanding! i look forward to seeing + sharing how these words and their postures expand over the year. please feel free to share yours i’d love to know! words and intentions have power, belief combined with action are what realized dreams are made of. #wordfortheyear #2021

22.01.2022 INTEGRATION is my word for 2020. It’s a place of wholeness + harmony. 2019 was a big year for me, one that involved extended periods of focus and diligence, as well as extended periods of play + discovery. I achieved and experienced so much, it was intense and saturating, leaving little time to process. ... What I’m hoping for this year is a softer dance. A greater flow in the changing of gears between work + play + process. And what is true for human beings is true for every living thing: all organisms require alternating periods of growth and equilibrium. Any person or system exposed to ceaseless novelty and change risks falling into chaos; but one that is too rigid or static ceases to grow and eventually dies. This never-ending dance between change and stability is like the anchor and the waves. Ester Perel I’d love to know your word or intention for 2020! Art by hubris.jpeg

22.01.2022 A little bit of imagination in these dark times goes a long way

22.01.2022 It was a thrill to be invited back to provide Grade 3s at Aspendale Primary with another Art Incursion this year. The central theme was naming and managing our emotions (for self and with others). Leading 85 kids through this exploration involved all the colour, movement, stories, mindfulness, and sensory play. And if their overall engagement and enthusiasm weren't enough, one of the students said, this is the best Art Incursion we’re ever had! was only to be topped by this is the BEST thing I’ve ever done!

20.01.2022 as our (melbournian) faces are free to feel the breeze again, see our loved ones, dine at our favourite restaurants, go to parties, and to the shops to buy our Christmas presents, please think of those within your community who were predominantly housebound prior to the pandemic and will remain so long after... in a multitude of ways it was an incredibly challenging time for lots of us, but we now have the privilege of returning our abundantly abled selves into the wider worl...d. as much as we may want to put this time behind us, I encourage you to remember these recent constraints and reach out to those still confined. many of my clients experience an isolated locked down life due to chronic pain and disease, mental illness, physical and/or intellectual disabilities and financial hardship. A phone call, card, gift, visit, act of service, or invitation you offer can bring much needed connection to another’s ongoing isolated world. See more

17.01.2022 at this time of year I love helping my clients make cards + gifts for their loved ones. but it’s not all joy + good cheer, in the hallmark sense... yesterday a client said, Christmas is a time you’re meant to be with your family... And for several reasons, this cannot be... So amongst the glitter, tinsel and hot glue I try to offer comfort, companionship + creativity, and embrace the deeper sense of joy.... And @realrobbell says it best, joy never denies, suppresses or avoids it just wraps it arms around the full spectrum of experience, doubt, angst, betrayal, and loss.

16.01.2022 CLOSE is what we almost always are: close to happiness, close to another, close to leaving, close to tears, close to God, close to losing faith, close to being done, close to saying something, or close to success, and even, with the greatest sense of satisfaction, close to giving the whole thing up. .... Our human essence lies not in arrival, but in being almost there, we are creatures who are on the way, our journey a series of impending anticipated arrivals. We live by unconsciously measuring the inverse distances of our proximity: an intimacy calibrated by the vulnerability we feel in giving up our sense of separation. . To go beyond our normal identities and become closer than close is to lose our sense of self in temporary joy, a form of arrival that only opens us to deeper forms of intimacy that blur our fixed, controlling, surface identity. . To consciously become close is a courageous form of unilateral disarmament, a chancing of our arm and our love, a willingness to hazard our affections and an unconscious declaration that we might be equal to the inevitable loss that the vulnerability of being close will bring. . Human beings do not find their essence through fulfillment or eventual arrival but by staying close to the way they like to travel, to the way they hold the conversation between the ground on which they stand and the horizon to which they go. We are in effect, always, close; always close to the ultimate secret: that we are more real in our simple wish to find a way than any destination we could reach: the step between not understanding that and understanding that, is as close as we get to happiness. . ‘CLOSE’ From CONSOLATIONS: By David Whyte . Art by A*

13.01.2022 creating art kits for all my wonderful clients. in this extraordinary time connection + creativity are more important than ever! so I’m pumped that I can continue to companion my folks via the inter-web. #telehealth #zoom #arttherapy

13.01.2022 Ahh... so wonderfully privileged to have just offered Uniting Aged + Carer Services a tailored art therapy workshop. A small gathering during this global state of dis-ease felt significant and needed. I invited these selfless carer’s to engage in some much needed self care to create their very own clay Mala Beads. The term ‘mala’ is a Sanskrit word for meditation garland. Malas are used as a tool to help the mind focus on meditation, or count mantras in sets of 108 repetit...ions. Similar to praying with rosary beads, meditating with a japa mala has been shown to help slow respiration and encourage well-being. Repeating the mantra of your choosing redirects the mind from daily obsessions and introduces positive thought patterns. Practicing mindfulness meditation can reduce stress which causes an inflammatory response within the body that can greatly affect our fight-or-flight response by releasing too much of the stress hormone cortisol. It also leaves us more vulnerable to infections and disease. So it’s more important than ever to find ways to intentionally + regularly co-regulate.

11.01.2022 GIVEAWAY Head on over to my Instagram page @folknfable to enter the giveaway! Because I can’t hug... I’ll do a giveaway instead! I may have an oracle card obsession, so why not share a resource I adore by an incredible Aboriginal writer + artist @laurajbowen please check out, follow and like Laura’s page if you haven’t already.... These Saltwater Reading Cards are stunning and as we are midwinter and entering the second half of 2020 it’s the perfect time to turn inward + reflect with the help of some beautiful resources. To win, simply: 1. Follow @folknfable 2. Like this post 3. Tag friend/s That’s it!! A winner will be chosen via random generator on 18th July 2020. Australia only. This giveaway is in no way sponsored, administered, or associated with Instagram inc. By entering, entrants confirm they are 18+ years of age, release instagram of responsibility, and agree to instagram terms of use. No purchase necessary.

09.01.2022 CALL OUT FOR TRAINED THERAPISTS TO VOLUNTEER FOR BUSH FIRE RECOVERY

09.01.2022 And the voice keeps on saying, ‘Come back To the bush and the wallaby-track- To the bush, with its sadness, It’s grandeur and gladness,... It’s space and freedom. Come back!’ #thomasspencer . My client finished this painting today and has dedicated it to all the lives lost in the Australian bushfires. Such a rich + heartfelt honouring of this significant and very current tragedy. . Art by Allan See more

07.01.2022 morning world. adjusting to this faster + yet seemingly slower pace of life right now. Deeply breathing into this new morning, so I can bring my best self to myself, my clients and my family.

07.01.2022 when you live in melbourne and you’ve decided to do a cleanse because well you’re literally doing everything else and nothing at all at the same time anyway. next, you make warm elixirs with no less than 42 organic ingredients because you are trying to summon all the dosha, qi, and jing on earth to give you a morsel of their vitality... then you pull all the cards to find a skerrick of insight...... but today, only abstract expressionism makes sense... oh, melbourne... i’m with you, dreaming of a future where this is behind us. be soft and kind to yourselves. you may feel disheveled and distressed but if shabby chic deems that beautiful, then so are we. . #melbourne #covid19

07.01.2022 ‘love conquers all’ wherever you find yourself today I hope you feel loved.

07.01.2022 YES! YES!! YES!!! Snatching may disguise itself as relief but it’s only temporary. It’s really a disservice, being with, is the key.

04.01.2022 #reflection #endofyear my word for #2019 was QUEEN Queen in the manifestation of self sovereignty - a reclamation of my power, standing in authority over the areas of inner chaos. Refining + reordering to find more ease, more joy, more peace, more space. More responsibility for more freedom. ... To be less overwhelmed, to be more conscious + conscientious. And what a powerfully potent year it was. My arts therapy private practice continued to build. I worked hard. I was diligent + disciplined. I planned. I saved. I created new goals. I ticked them off. I absorbed. I studied. I challenged myself. I meditated. I played. I moved. I explored. I became a certified Sandplay Therapist. I read. I listened. I created. I companioned. I had the longest holiday of my life + went to London, Paris, France, Barcelona, Venice + Rome! I also turned 40! I achieved + received so much I may have inundated myself! So I might need some of 2020 to process all that 2019 served up! After a year of being more intentional, consistent, proactive, + measured - I leant in, and became more resilient + emboldened than ever. Fortifying my core carried me through the extravagant highs + brutal lows this year delivered. Now, for a new word, a new decade, a new vision, a new horizon #wordoftheyear #wordshavepower #resolution #intention

02.01.2022 what a phenomenal March we’ve all experienced! if I could hug you I would! but I can’t... so instead, I decided to create some resources for you. . our ‘fight or flight’ responses have been triggered, activating our sympathetic nervous system. the release of cortisol has kept us feeling on edge. for me, I’ve noticed that I would begin 56 tasks, jumping from one to the other, never quite finishing one before starting another. which as you can imagine felt great I also bough...t 1/2 kg super immunity boosting tea because clearly, that will fix everything... maybe not, but just maybe three dogs could.... . And while I’ve been fortunate to continue my private practice, I’ve been trying to keep up with all the changes. As well as mum through school closures which has had me juggling like never before - how do I be in two places at once!? How do we keep safe and still do all the things? . And I know you’re all been in it with me, and just look at how we’ve adapted and already created a somewhat new normal! The resources I’ve created can help support the parasympathetic or ‘rest and digest’ system as we enter a calmer state of equilibrium. . I’ve added some templates and tips to the highlight section on the folknfable instagram page (and I'll add them here in an album) feel free to check them out, screenshot them to create your own routines (edit to add your own text) or use the prompts to nourish n’ nurture yourself in this time. I’m all for practical tools that can help ground us in this time of upheaval. I’ll be creating more over the next few weeks and months to support you in this quarantine life.