The Secret Keeper

About Me

I'm Frances Carleton, The Secret Keeper. I grew up in the UK before migrating to Australia in 1998.

I undertook my own therapeutic journey after a significant family loss, and after years of working in change management, training and mentoring in corporate environments, I decided to make the move away from overhead florescence and open plan and into my own space where I felt like me again.

Having studied art, writing and communications in the past, I undertook a Masters in Counselling and Applied Psychotherapy to enable me to focus my therapeutic work narrative therapy and artistic expression. These bring together my love of words and the telling of your story for a therapeutic outcome.

My mission is to guide and facilitate, while utilising both traditional and modern therapeutic techniques.

I’ll work with you to achieve the goals you desire so you can be the very best version of yourself.

Therapeutic Options

There are two main options for therapeutic interventions with The Secret Keeper:

Individual Therapy

Counselling and psychotherapy is a process through which clients work one-on-one in a safe, caring, and confidential environment, to explore feelings, beliefs, or behaviours for a wide variety of reasons. This could include; coping with major life challenges or childhood trauma, to dealing with depression or anxiety, to simply desiring personal growth and greater self-knowledge.

I am interested in developing a collaborative working relationship with you as I understand that every client has unique needs and personal goals for their therapeutic journey.

Areas of speciality:

• Grief and loss


• Sexual identity (LGBTIQ & BDSM)


• Trauma recovery


• Relationships

Methodologies used include narrative and psychodynamic. I also incorporate artistic expression through creative media and journalling.

I work with adults over the age of 18.

Group Therapy

Group counselling is a powerful way to develop personal growth and change. It is a way to experience understanding, support and encouragement from others facing similar issues. Participants often describe the group environment as being helpful beyond their expectations.

New groups form regularly and run for a ten week period. Each session is two hours long and focuses on one of following area of difficulties:

• Grief and loss (bereavement)


• Identity (gender and sexuality)


• Interpersonal (relationships)


• Trauma recovery

Groups vary in composition, but are no more than ten participants aged over 18 years old.

Group participants will need to attend a one-to-one session before starting with the group for readiness assessment.