Untangled Therapy and Training

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Untangled Therapy and Training

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Untangled Therapy and Training is a specialised occupational therapy and mental health service located in Bunbury and servicing the southwest of Western Australia.

08/11/2026

Not all behaviour needs a consequence. Often it needs a closer look. When we move beyond what a child is doing and start exploring why we create opportunities for understanding, connection and meaningful change.

We can hold boundaries while remaining curious about what a child might be experiencing.

06/11/2026

We can sometimes underestimate just how important play is. In a world where we are increasingly focused on learning outcomes, milestones, structured activities and preparing children for what next activity we are going to, it is worth remembering that play is not separate from development. It is a fundamental part of it.

Through play, children develop problem solving skills, creativity, emotional awareness, social understanding, communication, confidence and so much more. They experiment, make mistakes, negotiate, take risks, test ideas and discover what they are capable of. Play also provides opportunities for connection, particularly when adults slow down follow a child’s lead and enter their world.

Not all play needs to be structured, purposeful or facilitated by an adult. Children need opportunities for child led, imaginative, physical, social and exploratory play with time and space to follow their own interests. We don’t need to turn every play experience into a learning opportunity. Play is already doing so much. Sometimes the most developmentally valuable thing we can do is simply make room for children to play.

05/11/2026

Our thoughts can feel like facts AND that does not mean they are. Our brains make assumptions, fill in gaps and sometimes tell us stories that are shaped by our experiences, expectations, emotions or past threats.
We do not have to believe everything we think. Sometimes we need to pause and consider what else might be true.

05/11/2026

Saying no to our children is not always easy. Sometimes it is easier to give in, avoid the argument or make an exception. However there is something important happening when we establish boundaries, communicate them respectfully and follow through.

In these moments we are teaching children that:
• Disappointment is uncomfortable AND manageable.
• Someone can love them and still say no.
• Their needs and limits matter.
• Other people’s boundaries deserve respect too.
These lessons extend well beyond childhood.

We want our children to grow into adults who can confidently say no without feeling guilty, pressured or responsible for keeping everyone else happy and into adults who can hear someone else’s no without feeling entitled to change their mind. Boundaries work both ways.

This is not about raising compliant children who never question authority. It is about raising children who can advocate for themselves, challenge unfairness, understand consent and respect the autonomy of others. We can hold boundaries while still listening, acknowledging feelings and remaining connected.

Our children need to know that their voice matters, their boundaries matter and so do everyone else’s.

04/11/2026

One of the hardest parts of parenting (and supporting children and teenagers) is watching them struggle. When they fall out with a friend we want to intervene. When they forget something we want to rescue them. When they experience disappointment we want to make it better. When they encounter a problem we want to find a solution. And often we do. Not because we are doing anything wrong but because we care. We want to protect them from the uncomfortable parts of growing up.

What happens though when we become the people who consistently solve their problems?

Children and teenagers need opportunities to practise navigating the challenges of everyday life. They need to experience manageable frustration, make decisions, try things that don’t work, negotiate disagreements, advocate for themselves and discover that they can work through difficult situations. This is how confidence, problem solving, independence and self efficacy develop. It does not mean leaving children to figure everything out alone. It does not mean withholding support or expecting skills they have not yet developed. It means shifting from doing it FOR them to working it OUT WITH them.

Sometimes that looks like asking:
What do you think you could do?
What are some ways you could approach this?What might happen if you tried that?
Would you like me to help you think through your options?

And sometimes it means resisting the urge to jump in even when we know exactly what we would do.

Our job isn’t to make sure our children never encounter problems. It is to help them develop the confidence, skills and capacity to navigate them. Because we will not always be there to fix things for them AND they deserve to know that they can do hard things too.

01/11/2026

A few days in Canberra attending the Occupational Therapy Australia Mental Health Forum with opportunities to connect with others in the field, explore new perspectives and engage in conversations that challenge and extend our thinking. Continuing to learn, question, reflect and evolve is an important part of my clinical practice. I deeply value curiosity, professional growth and remaining open to new ways of thinking. And as a special treat before flying home an incredible opportunity to get creative and try my hand at glassblowing!

29/10/2026

Sometimes the things we are most frustrated with about ourselves are the very things that once helped us cope. Perhaps perfectionism helped you feel safe when getting things wrong felt costly. Perhaps people pleasing helped you maintain connection and avoid conflict. Perhaps control helped you find some predictability when life felt uncertain. Perhaps avoidance offered relief when something felt too overwhelming to face. These patterns do not necessarily develop without reason. They can take shape within our relationships, experiences and environments becoming ways of navigating situations that feel difficult, uncertain or threatening AND sometimes they work at least for a while. However what helps us cope in one context can begin to cost us in another. Understanding this isn’t about romanticising these patterns, excusing their impact or deciding that we should keep them. It is about approaching ourselves with enough curiosity to understand what might sit beneath them because it is difficult to change something when all we can see is what’s wrong with it. You can acknowledge that something once helped you cope and still decide that you need something different now. Perhaps then before asking yourself how to stop doing something you could ask:

What might this have been helping me with?

And what might I need today that I didn’t have then?

27/10/2026

The perfect mother doesn’t exist but the pressure to be her is very real.

Somewhere along the way many of us absorbed the idea that being a good mother means being endlessly patient, selfless, emotionally available and grateful. We should cherish every moment. Put our children first. Maintain our relationships. Look after our health. Keep the house running. Continue working. Stay connected to our friends. And somehow still have something left for ourselves.

When we struggle to meet these expectations we don’t necessarily question the expectations themselves. We question ourselves. Why am I finding this so hard? Why can’t I be more patient? Why do I need a break from the people I love most? We turn perfectly human responses to relentless demands into evidence that we are falling short.

But motherhood is a profound transition. It can change our relationships, identity, priorities, bodies, capacity and sense of self AND we are expected to navigate all of this while continuing to meet the needs of others. Of course it can feel hard.

You can love your children beyond measure and still miss parts of your old life. You can be a skilled, emotionally aware professional and still struggle to regulate yourself at home. You can be a good mother and have days when you don’t particularly enjoy motherhood. You can need support without having failed. Perhaps the work is NOT learning how to become the perfect mother. Perhaps it IS questioning why we believe we need to be her in the first place.

I’d love to know what expectation of motherhood have you felt the most pressure to live up to?

30/09/2026

This is a photo of me [Tamara] without makeup.
It made me think about how strange it is that this can feel noteworthy because this is just a face, my face.

The same face that goes to work, talks to people, laughs with my kids, has hard days, has good days and gets on with life. Somehow we have created this idea that a woman’s face needs to be done before it is ready to be seen. Makeup can be fun. It can be creative. It can be something I genuinely enjoy AND I don’t want to confuse something I choose with something I need.

I think there’s something pretty powerful about being able to look at your own face and not immediately ask “What should I change?” Maybe sometimes we can just look and let the face be a face.

29/09/2026

Cait from Laugh Lines Project | 1000 Women Makeup Free put up a post empowering flight attendants to go makeup free for their shifts and one of the comments she has posted has really got me thinking. The comment said ‘part of the uniform is to look professional, not on a bloody holiday’.

I actually think there’s so much to unpack in that statement. Because a woman’s face does not become more competent because she’s wearing foundation. She doesn’t become more capable because she’s wearing mascara and she doesn’t become more professional because she’s wearing lipstick.

She’s the same person underneath all of that.

Cait’s Laugh Lines Project is really inviting us to look at that.
Not just at women’s faces but at the expectations we’ve placed on those faces.

Address

U7 135 Victoria Street
Bunbury, WA
6230

Website

http://www.untangledtt.com/

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