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About sarah at Pawsitive Directions
About Sarah
Hey, my name is Sarah. I am a qualified counsellor, animal lover, and the person behind Pawsitive Directions.
I grew up on cattle farms in South Gippsland, surrounded by dairy and beef cattle, horses, chickens, dogs, cats, and native wildlife.
Animals have been part of my everyday world for as long as I can remember and that relationship has shaped not just who I am today, but how I understand connection, trust, and what it means to feel safe.
When I discovered animal assisted counselling after completing my diploma, something clicked.
Here was a way to bring together everything I'd always known, that animals have a way of reaching people that words sometimes can't and animal assisted counselling provided a way to combine it with the professional skills to assist with mental health.
My background
Pawsitive Directions Animal Assisted Counselling is an ABN registered sole trader private practice business registered in Victoria, Australia in 2026.
I hold a Diploma of Counselling through the Australian Institute of Professional Counselling, with six advanced study majors, and have undertaken specialist training in Animal Assisted Psychotherapy through the Equine and Animal Assisted Psychotherapy Institute (EAAPI) in Victoria.
I am registered with the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) at Level 1. I hold professional insurance that specifically covers working with animals through BMS and membership with the International Institute for Complementary Therapists (IICT).
Alongside my formal qualifications, I continuously engage in short courses, research, and professional development with a particular focus on anxiety (generalised and social), depression, panic disorder, and agoraphobia.
I engage in regular clinical supervision to ensure my practice remains ethical, current, and grounded in best practice.
Why I do this work
I understand what it's like to navigate mental health challenges, both personally and as someone who has supported family members through their own life long struggles to varying degrees.
This doesn't make me an expert on any condition and I would never proclaim myself to be, but having actual lived experience coupled with the learned knowledge I feel puts me in a unique position to offer help to others going through something similar while offering that open curiosity to understand your unique experience rather then just going by a text book.
I also know what it can feel like to sit across from someone and wonder if they really get it, have they ever felt such debilitating anxiety that they thought their heart would race out of their chest? Do they even truly care about what I'm going through? Or am I just another paycheck to them and I'll be forgotten the moment I walk out that door.
I want you to feel the difference.
I have a particular passion for working with women who experience chronic anxiety or depression, who haven't found traditional talk therapy in a clinical room helpful in the past, and who feel more at ease in the company of animals or nature than in a waiting room.
I also want to create sessions that are personalised to each person, so that we work together to find what really supports you to live your best life instead of just surviving another day.
If any of this resonated with you then you're in exactly the right place, and I hope our work can help you to go in a more pawsitive direction moving forward!
My Mission
My mission is for you to feel genuinely understood as an individual, not just going through the counselling process as just another appointment.
I want to support women who are struggling with feelings of anxiousness or low mood, who have been let down by traditional therapy before and who feel more at ease around animals than inside a clinical room.
My hope is for you to feel safe and supported during our sessions with no judgement, no pressure and never treated as just another paycheck.
With the support of animals and nature, and at a pace that's entirely yours, I want to help you move from just getting through the day to genuinely living your best life, that is uniquely you!
My Commitment to you
I am committed to offering high-quality, evidence-based counselling that genuinely integrates the support of animals, nature and creative therapies (movement, art, photography etc).
Not as a gimmick, but as a meaningful part of the therapeutic work.
I invest continuously in my own training, supervision, and personal development so that what I bring to each session is thoughtful, ethical, and effective.
Every session takes your needs, your pace, and your goals into account. I check in with you regularly to make sure our work together is meeting your expectations and I will always tell you honestly if I think a different kind of support would serve you better.
Where Pawsitive Directions is heading
My vision is for Pawsitive Directions is to be recognised as a trusted, ethical provider of animal assisted and nature-based counselling in Victoria and across Australia.
Known for care that is deeply personalised and genuinely different from what most people have experienced in therapy before.
In the near future I'll be expanding into structured group programs through the Animal Wisdom Program, and exploring the use of nature-based and wildlife observation alternatives for those who prefer to connect with the living world more broadly.
I'm also developing ways to incorporate interactive and video game-based tools into sessions for clients who engage best through online community and technology.
Because not everyone processes best by sitting still and talking, and that's always been fine with me.