Carmel O’Brien

Carmel O’Brien is a counselling psychologist whose special clinical interest is the recovery of women andchildren from family violence.

She has worked in private practice and in community agencies, managing counselling and recovery programs,and developing services for women and children who have experienced abuse. Carmel initiated some uniquemodels of service provision including utilizing trained mentors to aid recovery, commencing a domesticviolence prevention program for girls in schools, and starting a successful choir for survivors.

Carmel has received a number of awards for her work including a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) forher contribution to mental health and social welfare.Her book “Blame Changer: Understanding Domestic Violence” was released in October 2016. Her secondbook, which looks at survivors’ experiences in the justice system, is awaiting publication