About Me

Hi, I'm Carla Anderson,

A Clinical Psychologist, Trainer and Florist. I have more than twenty-five years of experience supporting parents, infants and the clinicians who care for them. I also have a long held love of floristry, which has become an important part of how I support clinicians with grounding, creative self-care.:

My work sits at the intersection of three worlds:

I understand the clinical landscape of perinatal and infant mental health.

I understand how this field has changed and evolved over the past two decades.

I understand the changing landscape of business that clinicians now navigate.

All of this combined, gives me a strong understanding of why sustainable self-care practices matter, including the grounding and creative support that floristry offers healthcare clinicians.

Where My Passion Began

My journey began in 2001 whilst studying my Psychology degree and following my own struggles in the perinatal period. After engaging in a peer support group, I later stepped into a volunteer role as a peer support worker and group facilitator with the Queensland Postnatal Depression Association. This meant I got to support other mothers experiencing similar difficulties to what I had been through. It also gave me the opportunity to begin speaking about my lived experiences in hospitals to clinicians supporting parents. This helped me realise how powerful it can be to feel understood not just by other mothers, but also by clinicians during a tender and often overwhelming season of life.

This is where my passion for perinatal and infant mental health began.

Soon after, I joined the Bonnie Babes Foundation as a bereavement counsellor and became a national trainer of bereavement counsellors and training healthcare clinicians in hospitals in Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and Hobart, in support skills when working with bereaved parents.

These early experiences taught me that perinatal care is far more than just clinical work. It is deeply relational and shaped by how we meet people in their most vulnerable moments, and this matters just as much for the wellbeing of parents as it does for the clinicians who support them.

Two Decades of Clinical Experience & Learning

My early work with the Qld PND Assoc. and Bonnie Babes, was followed by work as a psychologist in Child and Youth Mental Health, and Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault services. This work experience taught me to see the layers beneath every story.

When I established my private practice in 2005 my work specifically focused on Perinatal, Children and Family support. All of these earlier insights shaped every part of the care I offered.

Across over twenty plus years, I have stood beside families through fertility challenges, grief and loss, depression and anxiety, birth trauma, pregnancy related fears, early bonding difficulties, parenting challenges and relationship changes.

I have also undertaken extensive training focused on the perinatal period and perinatal and infant mental health (PIMH) including for example Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Intensive, Perinatal Bereavement Training, Circle of Security, Newborn Observation Training, Attachment Theory, Reflective Practice Training, Mindfulness and Schema Therapy. I was also fortunate to tailor my Clinical Psychology Masters to focus on perinatal mental health, publishing research in the Australian Psychologist on "Pregnancy-related anxiety: Re-examining Its Distinctiveness", contributing to the evidence base in understanding anxiety in the perinatal period. And I engage in weekly reflective PIMH group supervision ensuring my work remains reflective and responsive.

Outside of training focused on the perinatal period I have undertaken training in Schema Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, Family Therapy, Trauma Approaches, Autism & ADHD, Expressive Therapies, and Sex Therapy.

My work is informed by Attachment, Developmental and Relational theoretical frames, with a focus on reflective practice. The support that I provide is grounded in trauma-informed, culturally safe and neuroaffirming practices, recognising the diverse experiences people bring with them.

Clinician & Training Experience

Throughout this time, I have also had extensive experience supporting healthcare clinicians, as I am acutely aware that the emotional and relational demands of their work has grown significantly. I am passionate about supporting clinicians through training and clinical reflective supervision.

I have experience in delivering many perinatal and infant mental health training workshops to various disciplines and organizations across my career, as well as presenting at conferences, projects collaborating with other organizations, contributing to podcasts, and participating in media interviews across a wide range of topics, including;

Perinatal mental health

Perinatal grief and loss

Birth trauma

Fertility and reproductive challenges

Perfectionism in the perinatal period

Pelvic pain and its psychological impact

Perinatal psychological support skills for midwives and child health nurses

Self compassion for health professionals

floriful Workshops combining floristry, self care and mindfulness

Understanding the Business of Care, and Importance of Self-Care

Running a clinic for two decades taught me a great deal about the realities clinicians face today. Both the administrative load and the emotional labour. The responsibility of holding a team. The quiet, unseen work of keeping a service steady. I understand these pressures because I lived them for many years. In 2025, I made the significant decision to close my clinic premises and return to operating as a solo practitioner via telehealth. I did not sell, I closed, and I learned that closing is not the same as letting go. It required clarity, courage and a slow return to what feels purposeful. It also helped me rediscover the part of myself that imagines, creates and looks ahead. Affirming my passion for supporting other clinicians navigating business challenges.

It also reminded me of the importance of clinician self-care. For me floristry entered my life at a time when I needed something grounding and restorative. Studying floristry introduced me to the field of therapeutic horticulture and deepened my understanding of how sensory, hands on creative practices can support emotional regulation, reflection and wellbeing for clinicians. I found that working with flowers invited presence and I noticed that it offered a gentle way for clinicians to reconnect with themselves, especially when the emotional weight of their work builds quietly over time. What began as a personal practice has grown into a meaningful, evidence informed framework for clinician self care.

Conferences & Presentations

Alongside my regular training programs and workshops, I have also presented at conferences and professional events focused on perinatal and infant mental health and clinician wellbeing. These settings have offered space to pause, share my knowledge, and add thoughtful contributions to ongoing conversations within the perinatal and infant mental health community.

Some of these include:

Perinatal Training Centre
Australian Association of Infant Mental Health (AAIMH)
Marcé Society for Perinatal Mental Health
Maternal, Child & Family Health Nurses Australia (MCaFHNA)
Childbirth & Parenting Educators Australia (CAPEA)
Australian Psychological Society (APS)
Queensland Health
Gidget Foundation Australia
Mental Health Professionals Network (MHPN)
...as well as universities, hospitals, professional associations, conferences, webinars, and community organisations across Australia.

Projects & Collaboration

Across the years, I have been fortunate to work alongside many organisations, teams and clinicians who share a commitment to supporting families in the perinatal and infant mental health space. These collaborations have shaped my work, grounded my perspective and widened the ways I contribute to the field. Some of the roles and collaborations that have been meaningful to me include:

Board of Advisors for the Perinatal Training Centre.
Co-creator and Trainer of the Perinatal Training Centre’s Grief, Trauma and Attachment: An Integrated Approach to Perinatal Loss training (delivered annually since 2019, including training for the NHS in the UK).
Co-facilitator of Perinatal Training Centre’s Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Masterclasses,
Co-facilitator of Elly Taylor’s Becoming Us Perinatal Relationships, Wellbeing & Mental Health training.
Training for The Pink Elephants Support Network workforce support program.
Guest professional development presenter for Gidget’s Start Talking Program clinicians.
Facilitator of Precious Wings Support Group.
Co-developer with Kristy Howard: Nurtured by Nature: Working Therapeutically with Plants and Flowers.
Earlier in my career, I also contributed to a range of community, health, and government funded initiatives focused on perinatal mental health, family wellbeing, domestic violence, and peer support, including projects with Queensland Health, Relationships Australia, Communities for Children, Bonnie Babes Foundation, and the Queensland Postnatal Depression Support Association.