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Meet Tamara Young

Each month we spotlight an ACA member in the ACA Monthly Bulletin, our monthly newsletter. The Member Spotlight is designed to showcase the work of our members to you! We hope their stories inspire or spark interest. Let’s share our experiences within our counselling community.

What motivated you to pursue a career in counselling/psychotherapy?

I am a proud Gamilaraay and Bigambul Aboriginal woman with Irish heritage and the Founder of Wonky Lines Counselling. With a background shaped by lived experience of Intergenerational Trauma and Systems Trauma, I am extremely passionate about reframing stories from struggle to strength. When I was experiencing burn out, I knew what it was like to be part of spaces that created and perpetuated these harms, and this drove me to want to create safe places instead. Spaces where stories could be told with a light shining on strengths, so people could act on their own lived knowledge and move forward on their own healing journey.

Completing the Narrative Approaches for Aboriginal People training through Nunkuwarrin Yunti (RTO) in South Australia, on Kaurna Country, gave me a framework and modality that truly aligned with culture, the power of storytelling, and the importance of connection to country and community. Now, I feel honoured to walk alongside people as they begin shaping the future chapters of their lives.

What specific areas do you primarily work within? Please tell us what a typica day or week for you would look like.

I work with all people from all cultures or I sometimes say all humans with heartbeats, however, primarily my work is with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people, families, and communities. Oftentimes this work is in spaces where trauma and disconnection or weak connection to the Social And Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB). The SEWB Framework is a holistic, culturally grounded model developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that recognises health as the balance of connections across body, mind, emotions, family, kinship, community, culture, Country, and spirituality. It's foundation comes from the National Aboriginal Health Strategy (1989) and is relevant to all people.

A ‘typical’ week is never typical for Wonky Lines Counselling. I offer one-to-one counselling, group Wonky Wellbeing Workshops, group programs for schools around Identity, and Cultural Supervision for staff working within the Not-for-Profit, Private, and Government sectors, along with bespoke training packages tailored to meet the needs of each organisation. Topics covered range from Lateral Violence to SEWB and Code Switching, to name a few.

I also support Nunkuwarrin Yunti with their continuation of the Narrative Approaches for Aboriginal People as a trainer and assessor, along with Cert IV in Stolen Generations Family Research and Case Management,  and I teach English with The Playford College Community Hub twice a week with the Muslim community. In my free time, I create podcasts, free resources, and tools that can support others in their engagement with clients and in supporting the healing journeys of individuals and communities.

Every day is new and exciting, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Can you share a recent success or achievement in your counselling work that you are proud of?

Recently I was invited to present a keynote/workshop to approximately 200 Aboriginal government staff at the Office of the Commissioner for Public Sector Employment. The message shared on the day was that “Life’s not meant to be comfortable, it’s meant to grow you.” Collectively, we overcame the challenge I had set for each table and then shared the knowledge that we gather through the University of Life and how we can best approach challenges when they come, and how we can think about challenge as opportunity. It was one of those moments where my personal story, my professional skills, and the collective stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people all came together. Seeing the engagement, the laughter, and the emotion in that room reminded me why I continue to work as a counsellor, facilitator of learning, healing, and wellbeing, which is to create spaces where healing, truth, and growth can exist simultaneously.

What is the most rewarding aspect of being a counsellor/psychotherapist for you?

For me, it’s when a person has an “ah huh” moment. When they step into unfamiliar territory that is their healing journey. They begin to see themselves as agents for change, over and above the ‘problems’ that live with them. As a believer in self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this is when a person’s story turns from just surviving or a problem-saturated story to taking a position as an active participant of change in their lives. Knowing that I get to be a witness to that is the deepest honour for me as someone who intimately understands what it feels like to live with internalised problem stories in the past.

How do you contribute to the betterment of the profession and your community?

Through Wonky Lines Counselling, I’ve built a profit-for-purpose model that provides social reinvestment back into the community. Over the past four years, I have had the honour of donating to the local LGBTQIA+ Nungay Night here on Kaurna Country, sponsoring the Indigenous Round for the Fitzroy Football Club, and providing over 20 laptops to Aboriginal entrepreneurs and community members needing technology for their business or educational journeys (to name a few). Every training, workshop, or counselling session helps fund resources, creative wellbeing programs, and subsidised support for those who may not otherwise be able to afford a session with me. I also focus on supporting others in building their businesses and am passionate about authentic truth-telling in professional spaces. Teaching in health, education, and government settings about Intergenerational Trauma, Colonisation, and Cultural Safety, so that the next generation of practitioners and leaders are better equipped, more aware, and more empowered to walk with and alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Are there any particular projects or initiatives you are currently involved in?

Right now, my work through Wonky Lines Counselling is centred on developing practical and accessible tools for people working in community service spaces. I am continuing to build Narrative Therapy worksheets for practitioners, alongside delivering training on Lateral Violence and SEWB-based wellbeing days with tailored SEWB wellbeing booklets. I am also offering hands-on creative wellbeing workshops such as Clay-mersion and Tree of Life art therapy.

What advice would you give to someone considering a career in counselling /psychotherapy? 

Do what you know feels most aligned with who you are. You do not need to know all the answers – you just need to be de-centred, present, hold space, and practice deep listening with curiosity and respect. Also, buckle up and get ready to do your own inner work. The stories others share with you will often connect to yours, and this is why reflective practice is so important. And remember: the “wonky lines” and ups and downs are exactly what being alive is all about. 

Is there a quote or philosophy that inspires your work?

It’s actually pretty funny that I can’t remember who said this to me, but I’ll never forget how deeply it shifted me and changed how I show up in the world. “People will almost always forget the words we say, but they will always remember how we make them feel.”

Open question - tell anything that was not asked in the previous questions.

I describe Wonky Lines Counselling as the thing I needed most in the world when I suffered burn out. It was born from a drawing I made when I was suffering from severe burnout, working within systems that weren’t supporting the people inside them. It all started with a small car and a cheap tablet from Cash Converters. Four years later, here I am typing this on a computer at my work desk knowing that every workshop, training, or counselling session isn’t just about individual healing, it’s about collective healing, truth-telling, and building communities on strength-based foundations to create futures grounded in dignity, connection, and of course, love.