Succeeding through creativity

You will feel the benefits of art therapy instantly. After you have claimed “omg, I haven’t touched pastels since I was in kinder!” you will begin to feel the emotions slowly flow out of you, through the pastel and onto the paper. By creatively un-stapling the emotions attached to your memories that are stored in your body, you reduce stress and let go of the anxious butterflies in your stomach. Panic attacks begin to dissipate and we start to create space for you to rebuild a connection to yourself and build your self-esteem. It’s a creative language and it works. Experience it to believe it.

Art therapy is used to destress, to develop your self-awareness and to find healing. It is also used as a rehabilitation technique, and for those with chronic or terminal illness. Sometimes these people simply don’t have the energy to talk, but they want closure. Creative communication becomes their gentle language.

We begin by checking in with you, and see if there is anything urgent you would like to express. If not, we offer art materials appropriate for the issues you are working on, your head space and emotional state at the time. There is art making, and if required, time to engage with the finished product. Insights are integrated and strategies outlined to encourage more positive thinking, effective behaviours and emotional rebalancing. If necessary, journaling may be encouraged between sessions.

No need to bring your art materials. We have oodles and oodles of paints, paper, craft materials and art supplies you probably never knew existed. Art supplies are on us.

There are soft comfy sofas in a peaceful, feng shui designed space where you can take a moment out of your busy schedule to sit, breathe and prepare yourself for your art therapy session. Your art therapist will come out to the front lobby to meet you and then bring you into the art therapy room.

Ah, so I hear that you think art therapy is only for the arty? Not so, my friend. It is about using the right side of the brain to create an expression of the blocks that are restricting you from moving forward. The messier the art, the clearer your heart will be.

As much as you may love to be a fly on the wall in your child’s art therapy session, you also probably know that it’s best not to. Kids may behave differently when not in eye sight of their parents, and that’s a good thing. Art therapists get to engage with the authentic side of children and allow them to express whatever is on their mind in a non-judged, confidential space where there are no expectations. The art therapist will welcome you both in the foyer, then gently guide your child to the art therapy room. During that time you can make a cuppa, buy a cuppa, take a walk, read or catch up on all those phone messages that await you. After the session, the best advice is not to ask them what they did but rather how it was? No need to see their art, question it or display it. It is their visual diary and often they may not even like what they have done. That’s ok because it is a true expression of what’s happening for them on the inside. That’s art therapy.

Yes, we have ramps throughout the centre, wide corridors and room to ride!

English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Russian, Ukrainian, Hebrew and Yiddish

As the famous Pablo Picasso once said “Art washes away from the soul, the dust of everyday life.”

When we express what’s happening inside of ourselves, we can let go of what is holding us back . This letting go simply lifts our mood. When we are authentic and honest in this process, we set ourselves up for positive interactions with others; we are more aware of who we are and the essence that inherently defines us. We simply learn to love ourselves more.