top of page
IMG_0895.jpg

Amanda 
McFarlane 

Psychotherapist
 

Untangling the Mind

Understand your patterns.

Untangle your story.

Reconnect with yourself.

Therapy for people who are tired of surviving and ready to start understanding themselves.

Book your first session with me today.

IMG_3691 2.HEIC
IMG_6485.HEIC
IMG_0964.jpg

Why am I like this?


Maybe you've asked yourself this question more times than you can count. 

Why do I overthink everything?

Why do I always put everyone else first?

Why do I struggle to slow down without feeling guilty?

Why do I keep repeating the same patterns in my relationships?

Why does life feel so exhausting when, from the outside, it looks like I have everything together?
 

These aren't questions of weakness, they're questions of understanding.

Because beneath every pattern is a story.
 

And beneath every story is a person who learnt, often without realising it, how to adapt to the world around them.
 

At Untangling the Mind, I believe many of the behaviours we criticise in ourselves today were once intelligent ways of staying safe.
 

People-pleasing. Hyper-independence. Perfectionism. Overthinking.

Always being the strong one.
 

These aren't character flaws, they're adaptions; they helped you survive.

Therapy isn't about getting rid of these parts of yourself.
 

It's about understanding where they came from, gently untangling the patterns that no longer serve you, and reconnecting with the person you've always been beneath them.
 

Hi, I'm Amanda. 
Shamelessly human first, therapist second.

 

 I believe there is a story behind every behaviour.
 

My work isn't about diagnosing people or asking, "What's wrong with you?"
 

Instead, I believe healing begins with a far more compassionate question;

"What happened that made this make sense?"
 

Because every behaviour has a purpose, every survival strategy tells a story.
 

When we begin understanding ourselves through curiosity rather than judgement, something starts to shift. The parts of ourselves we've spent years fighting suddenly begin to make sense.
 

And when something makes sense, it no longer feels like something we need to be ashamed of.

My role isn't to 'fix you'. It's to walk beside you as we gently untangle the experiences, beliefs, and patterns that have shaped the way you move through the world -- so you can reconnect with yourself with greater clarity, self-compassion, and choice. 


 

The Untangling Method™
 

The name Untangling the Mind came from a simple image.
 

Imagine a tangled ball of cotton.
 

At first glance, it feels impossible to unravel. You could pull harder, become frustrated, convince yourself it's beyond repair.
 

OR you could slow down, become curious, and patiently follow one thread at a time. 
 

Our inner world often works the same way. Therapy isn't about pulling harder, it's about making sense of the threads.

 

Together, we'll gently untangle the experiences, beliefs, emotions and survival strategies that no longer fit the life you want to live.
 

Because understanding creates the possibility for lasting change.

 

You might feel at home here if...
 

You are the one everyone relies on, yet secretly feel exhausted from carrying so much.

You find it easier to care for others than to receive care yourself.
You replay conversations in your mind long after they've ended.

You struggle to rest without feeling guilty or unproductive.

You appear capable on the outside but feel overwhelmed on the inside.
 

You don't necessarily want more coping strategies.

You want to understand why you feel the way you do.

And perhaps, more than anything...

You want to feel like yourself again.
 

If you're quietly nodding as you read this, you're in the right place.

 

Things I believe
 

I believe curiosity changes more than criticism ever will. 

 

I believe your behaviours make sense when we understand your story. 

I believe healings isn't about becoming someone new - it's about reconnecting with who you've always been. 

 

I believe we spend too much of our lives asking "What's wrong with me?" and not enough time asking, "what happened to me?"

 

I believe life is too precious to spend it disconnected from yourself. 

 

Life is more than survival.
 

Somewhere along the way, many of us stopped living and started surviving.
 

We became who we needed to be to feel safe.
 

Helpful.
 

Capable.
 

Independent.
 

Easy to love.
 

Those parts deserve compassion, they protected you.

But life isn't meant to be lived from survival alone. It's meant to be experienced. To laugh until your stomach hurts, to hear music that gives you goosebumps, to notice the people you love, to stand by the ocean and feel completely present, to feel deeply connected to yourself and the life you're living. 
 

Therapy isn't about becoming someone new. It's about gently uncovering the parts of yourself that survival asked you to hide. 


 

Begin your untangling. 

You don't have to wait until everything falls apart before reaching out. You don't have to 'earn' the right to be supported. You simply have to be willing to begin. If you're ready to understand yourself with greater compassion and reconnect with the life you want to live, I'd be honours to walk alongside you. 

Book your first session today. 

Sometimes the greatest change doesn't begin when we try to become someone new. It begins when we finally understand the person we've been all along.

 


Services

Follow us on Instagram

Meet Amanda 

Shamelessly human first. Therapist second.

I don't think any of us arrive in adulthood untouched by life. 

We all carry stories, experiences, relationships, moments that quietly shape the way we see ourselves and move through the world. 

Mine is no different. 

When my parents divorced, I was nine years old. Like many children navigating family change, I learnt very early how to read a room, keep the peace, and become what I thought other people needed me to be. I became fiercely independent, deeply aware of other peoples emotions, and spent much of my childhood and adolescents protecting the people around me while quietly learning to ignore my own needs.

At the time, I didn't have the language to understand what was happening. I just knew I was adapting. 

It wasn't until years later, through my own therapy and self-discovery, that everything began to make sense. The qualities I had spent years criticising weren't signs that something was wrong with me. They were intelligent ways my younger self had learnt to survive. 

That understanding changed my life. It also shaped the therapist I would become. Today, I don't see people through a lens of "whats wrong with them", I see people through the lens of what happened to them.

Because behind every pattern is an adaption. And behind every adaption is a human being doing the very best they could with what they knew at the time. 

That belief sits at the heart of everything I do. 

My approach to therapy

I don't believe therapy should feel like sitting across from someone who has all the answers. I believe it should feel like sitting beside someone who is deeply curious about your story. 

Together, we will gently untangle the patterns, beliefs, and survival strategies that have shaped your life -- not to judge them or get rid of them, but to understand them. 

 

Because when something finally makes sense, shame begins to soften. And when shame softens, change becomes possible. 

 

My role isn't to tell you who you are. It's to help you discover who you've been underneath the expectations, roles, and protective patterns you've carried for so long. 

Beyond the therapy room

Outside of my work, you'll usually find me somewhere close to the ocean, watching the sunrise, walking my dog, reading a book with a coffee in hand, listening to vinyl, spending time with my loved ones, planning my next adventure, or laughing far too hard at the absurdity of being human. 

I'm endlessly fascinated by people, by music that tells a story, by places that stretch our perspective, by the small moments we often rush past without noticing -- the smell of rain on warm pavement, the kindness of strangers, conversations that unexpectedly becoming meaningful. 

I don't do small talk particularly well. I'd much rather know what makes you feel alive, what keeps you awake at night, the places you've always wanted to visit, or the song that has quietly narrated different seasons of your life.

Because I believe those conversations tell us far more about who we are. 


Why I do this work

People often assume therapy is about helping someone become a different version of themselves.

I don't see it that way. I believe therapy is about helping people come home to themselves. To rediscover the parts that have been buried beneath years of survival. The curious part, the playful part, the courageous part, the part that has always been there waiting to be noticed. 

If, after spending time here, you feel even a little more understood than you did before your arrived, then this work has already begun. I'd be honours to walk alongside you as we continue untangling your story together. 

IMG_0960.jpg
IMG_0856.jpg
Contact

Contact Me

Getting started can be overwhelming, and I commend you on taking your first steps in your healing journey.


Don't know where to start? Send me an enquiry below and I will get back to you. Otherwise feel free to send me an email, a text, or give me a call. 

Phone: 0451172625
Email: untanglingthemind@outlook.com


Untangling the mind does not provide a crisis service, in the case of an emergency you may like to contact: 

 

Emergency Services 000
 

Lifeline 13 11 14 (24 hrs/ 7 days a week)
 

Beyond Blue 1300 224 636 (24hrs/7 days a week)
 

Blue Knot Foundation Helpline 1300 657 380 (Mon-Sun 9am-5pm EST)
 

Butterfly Foundation Helpline 1800 334 673 (8am-midnight/ 7 days a week)
 

Headspace 1800 650 890 (9am-1am/ 7 days a week)
 

MensLine Australia 1300 789 978 (24 hrs/ 7 days a week)
 

Griefline 1300 845 745 
 

Domestic Violence Line 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
 

Kids Helpline 1800 551 800 (24 hrs/ 7 days a week)
 

Qlife 1800 184 527 (3pm-12am/ 7 days week EST)

Thanks for submitting!

bottom of page