Isabel Koslowsky (she/her) is a gentle and empathetic counsellor, environmental student, visual landscape artist, and goal-setting/community access support worker on Dja Dja Wurrung Country. With over 15 years of experience as a support worker, she is deeply committed to a person-centred, collaborative, and empowering approach grounded in trust, respect, and care.

Originally from Poland, Isabel grew up in Germany after her family arrived there as refugees in the 1980s. She has also lived and worked in London and has called Australia home for the past 17 years. She feels grateful to live, work, create, and explore on the beautiful lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people.

Isabel identifies as a highly sensitive person (HSP) and is passionate about honouring sensitivity with self-compassion and curiosity. As a lifelong learner, she is particularly drawn to approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Gestalt Therapy, Existential Therapy, Liberation Focused Therapy,Mindfulness, Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy and Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT). These approaches are collaboratively explored and may be mixed, depending on person-centred needs and views.Where it feels supportive, she also integrates art-based practices, artist mentorship, and elements of the natural environment into her work. She believes counselling is most meaningful when it is a collaborative and safe space where insights and growth unfold together.

Outside of her professional life, Isabel enjoys slow, mindful rituals like making a cup of coffee, spending time in nature, and forest bathing. She volunteers for environmental causes, takes long walks with her rescue dog Rosie, and cuddles up with her cat Pippi (when permitted) to watch comedy shows. She also loves music, art, animals, trees, birdwatching, and chilly, misty days—especially when they bring snow.

Qualifications:

- Master of Counselling

- Master of Environment (still happening :)

- Bachelor of Visual Arts (Painting/Drama)

- Certificate in Meditation Teaching

- Nature stewardship certificate

- Sustainable Gardening & Introduction Horticulture

Lived and Living Experience:

- Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) – experiences of overstimulation

- Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), including “Pure O”, repetitive behaviours, avoidance, intrusive thoughts, rumination, scanning and skin picking. (Topics: Death, Harm, Somatic & Sensorimotor (Health), Taboo, Checking(Responsibility), Magical Thinking (Manifesting OCD Thoughts), Existential, Real Incident (Overthinking))

- Lived experience of displacement as a refugee and racial microaggressions as a Polish immigrant

- Burnout related to work, OCD, compassion fatigue, and creative practice, and financial stress as an artist

- Chronic pain (endometriosis) and menopausal symptoms, including insomnia