What is Art Therapy/Psychotherapy
Art Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses creative expression, reflection and relationship to support emotional wellbeing, communication and change.
In art psychotherapy, art-making may sit alongside conversation, play, sensory materials, metaphor, story, movement or quiet reflection. The focus is not on artistic skill or producing a finished artwork. You do not need to be “good at art” to benefit.
The artwork does not need to be explained perfectly or look a certain way. Instead, the creative process becomes part of the therapeutic relationship and can support expression, regulation, exploration and understanding.
Art psychotherapy reaches across many client groups, life stages and settings, including mental health, disability, aged care, addiction, forensic services, hospitals, schools and community contexts. It can be helpful for children, young people and adults who may find it difficult to put things into words, or who need a more creative, relational and body-based way of working.
At HEARTH Studios, Sam offers art psychotherapy for children, young people, adults and families, with particular experience supporting neurodevelopmental profiles, disability-related support needs, trauma, PTSD, attachment-related difficulties, complex presentations and school-related concerns.
The Psychotherapy Element
Psychotherapy offers a space to explore emotional experience, relationships, patterns, trauma, identity, meaning and change within a safe therapeutic relationship. Rather than focusing purely on immediate strategies or surface concerns, psychotherapy makes room for the whole person and the deeper experiences that may sit beneath distress, behaviour or overwhelm.
Sam trained as an Art Psychotherapist through a three-year Master’s programme in Art Therapy/Psychotherapy in the UK. This training included supervised clinical practice, personal psychotherapy, reflective practice, ethics, psychological theory, therapeutic relationship and the use of art-making within psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy training is a rigorous, multi-year process. It requires the therapist to develop clinical knowledge and therapeutic skill, alongside the emotional self-awareness and reflective capacity needed to work safely with complex psychological, relational and emotional material.
This psychotherapeutic foundation continues to shape Sam’s work. Art-making, conversation, EMDR, Interactive Drawing Therapy, DBT-informed strategies, and solution-focused techniques may be used, depending on the client's needs, while remaining grounded in a broader psychotherapeutic approach.
In art psychotherapy, the work includes the relationship among the client, the therapist, and art-making. Images, materials, metaphors, and sensory experience can help express what may be difficult to put into words alone.
Referrals, NDIS and Private Clients
HEARTH Studios accepts referrals for children, young people and adults, including NDIS participants, private clients and referrals from services supporting children, families and young people.
NDIS participants may access art psychotherapy where it aligns with their goals, support needs and funding. Sessions may support emotional regulation, communication, social connection, daily functioning, participation, relationships, trauma recovery and functional capacity.
Depending on the participant’s plan and needs, art psychotherapy may sit within relevant NDIS Capacity Building supports. This may include therapeutic supports, early childhood supports, or other appropriate line items for which art psychotherapy is reasonable and necessary and connected to the participant’s disability-related goals.
HEARTH Studios can also accept referrals from child and family services, VACCA, The Orange Door, hospitals, schools, and other community or support services.
Private referrals are also welcome. Families, adults, carers, schools, or professionals may contact HEARTH Studios directly to discuss whether art psychotherapy is the right fit.
Please feel free to contact HEARTH Studios to check availability, discuss referral options, or find out more.
Memories and trauma are stored in a different part of the brain than verbal language, suggesting that talk therapy on its own may not be as beneficial for people who have experienced trauma as when it’s combined with art therapy.
(Emily Davenport, MA)