Harnessing the power of creativity to transform how we think, feel and express mental health & wellbeing.
BOOKINGS OPEN
IN-PERSON & ONLINE ART THERAPY
BOOKINGS OPEN IN-PERSON & ONLINE ART THERAPY
Who we are
Beyond Valleys Art Therapy is a small but mighty art therapy practice on a mission to share, inspire and heal through the power of creative expression that connects us all.
We reside in the township of Healesville but work across geographical boundaries, creating safe spaces for expression and healing in the Yarra Valley and beyond.
Our story begins with a simple vision: to deconstruct dominant approaches to thinking and living mental health in Australia, where medical-model theories and verbal communication take centre stage in the therapeutic encounter, holding power over us and our lived experiences.
Our practice responds to conventional talk therapy’s ineffectiveness for many, the costs of misdiagnosing across the life span, and the urgency of healing humanity in more-than-verbal ways. Art cultivates restorative, power-with relationships and pathways to growth that are inclusive, non-pathologising and truly transformative.
Our services
There’s something for everyone.
Our Masters-qualified Creative Arts Therapist provides individual art therapy to late teens and adults, including private clients and clients funded under the NDIS and Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS).
Not quite ready or looking for therapy? Step into a space of creative freedom through our immersive group workshops open to the general public, no art skills needed.
If you’re looking to support workplace mental health and wellbeing, our industry-tailored workshops utilise innovative approaches from creative arts therapy to effectively support teams in managing stress, navigating conflict, and leave feeling inspired.
We also welcome collaborative partnerships with schools, universities, hospitals and social enterprises in our hands-on delivery of tailored outreach programs. These programs work creatively with communities to encourage connection, expression, and meaningful conversation around your choice of topic or theme.
Registered Arts Therapist
NDIS & FAS Funded Support
1:1 In-Person & Online
Community Outreach
Our philosophy
At Beyond Valleys Art Therapy, we believe that creativity is within each of us and not bound by skill. We acknowledge our inherent need to create as a fundamental part of being human, flowing through our histories over generations, cultures and eons. We believe art takes what is raw, painful and in pieces, and transforms it into something precious, sublime and whole.
What is art therapy?
An Evidence-Informed Practice
Manage Stress and Mental Health
Improve Connections and Relationships
Build Resilience and Self-Confidence
Neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, psychology and other science disciplines have established a strong and rigorous evidence base for the creative arts therapies, with the World Health Organisation providing international recognition for the major role of the arts in health and wellbeing.
Art therapy is a trauma-informed therapy that weaves creative processes with best-practice counselling and psychotherapy. It draws on various art forms (e.g., visual arts, poetry, music, dance and drama) within the safety of a therapeutic relationship with a Masters-trained Creative Arts Therapist, to facilitate insights and healing of experiences that words alone cannot reach or hold.
Materials offer an expressive language far more precise than the verbal, with which to authentically understand and connect with what hurts, and equally with what heals. By giving form to our innermost thoughts and experiences, art allows the unseen parts of ourselves to be seen, making the abstract tangible and demystifying the unknown.
Art therapy focuses on the creative process rather than the final artworks themselves, welcoming joy, curiosity, calm, connection and flow – even in the midst of chaos and feeling stuck. This gentle mode of healing attends not only to our distress and discomfort, but opens us onto an expansive field of relational possibilities where we can discover our strengths, find our spark, and say yes to what truly matters.