Carrie Hayward

Dr Carrie Hayward is a Clinical Psychologist with over 18 years of experience helping people navigate the beautifully messy business of being human. She has worked across private practice, hospitals, and a range of mental health settings, and is a registered psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and a member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS).

After completing her Doctorate in Psychology at Deakin University in 2007, Carrie discovered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) – an approach that gave language and meaning to many of the universal struggles we experience as humans. She has undertaken extensive ACT training and remains actively involved in the international ACT community through the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science (ACBS).

More recently, Carrie completed Level 1 training in Internal Family Systems (IFS), a therapeutic model that has brought even greater depth to her work. IFS understands that we all have different “parts” within us – parts that strive, worry, criticise, avoid, protect and care – each trying, in its own way, to help us navigate life. Rather than battling these parts, IFS helps us relate to them with curiosity and compassion, allowing old wounds to heal and creating space to reconnect with our authentic Self.

In 2023, Carrie published the Being Human book series, using simple stories and metaphor to explore the shared challenges of the human condition and the inner capacities that help us meet them.

At the heart of Carrie‘s work is a simple belief: although our stories are all unique, the struggles that shape them are remarkably universal. We all wrestle with uncertainty. We all long to belong. We all find ourselves caught in habits that no longer serve us. Carrie is passionate about helping people understand these patterns with curiosity rather than judgement, to live with greater meaning and connection.