Carol-Anne Howlett is the founder of The Red Chair Therapy. She holds a Masters of Counselling and Applied Psychotherapy, a Bachelor of Counselling and Human Change, along with further qualifications in Human Resources and Training. She has worked in Human Resources for over 25 years and is well versed in mediation, investigations, coaching and behavioural psychoeducation in the corporate arena and regularly gives talks on mental health. In 2013, Carol-Anne launched ‘The Red Chair Therapy’ which has quickly become a successful business, with rooms in both North Sydney and the Central Coast. Carol-Anne favours an eclectic approach to her work, using a range of modalities including Solution Focussed Therapy, Family Systems, CBT, DBT, ACT, Narrative, Person Centred Therapy, Gestalt to name a few, as part of her 'toolkit'. She believes that this approach lifts the restrictions of being aligned with one therapeutic technique. This ensures the best treatment for the client and the problem, reflecting the uniqueness of our personalities. Carol-Anne places great importance on transparency and the relationship between therapist and client, believing this to be the most powerful agent of change. She is passionate about her work with individuals, couples and families, working through relationship issues, trauma and mental health. She also offers a number of support groups throughout the year and delivers educational seminars in soft skills such as 'Assertiveness', 'Building Confidence' and 'Stress Management' to schools and businesses. Carol-Anne is known for her practical, down-to-earth approach which is why her clients stay with her for years. She tackles issues holistically, considering physical health also. Clients describe her as '...full of character, quirky and a sense of humor. We laugh a lot, in our sessions, and homework is great fun, it's not all doom and gloom' (Anon couple). She deals with the initial crises, after which clients realise the need to work with her on their personal development. Carol-Anne has two adult children and a wonderfully tolerant husband, all of whom came to Australia 22 years ago, from Ireland. She dotes on her two incredibly dim but loveable dogs, Leo (Maltese Shih-Zu) and Roly (Maltese X Terrier).
