About us
The journey of how we came to be and what drives our passion for creative arts therapy.
Image: View of Mount Riddell from our home in Healesville, VIC, taken on January 3, 2025.
Behind the name
At Beyond Valleys, our name carries significant meaning, reflecting our purpose, aspirations and commitment to empowering others.
Metaphorically, a valley can represent a low point in life, a period of challenge where we may have felt lonely, afraid, unsure, or fragile. Geographically, a valley is where water flows, where soil is fertile and rich in minerals, and where food grows aplenty to sustain the diverse life forms that call it home. Symbolically, valleys are places of respite that nourish us with their cooler temperatures and sense of tranquility. They invite us to pause, renew our strength, and assemble whatever it is we need before continuing on.
When we meet in the valley, we offer you our undivided presence and companionship to navigate the landscape with greater confidence and uncover the many hidden wisdoms in its ecology. We will forage for new sources of nutrients, and gather what is needed to rest and regain strength. For journeys never end in the valley, they always go beyond.
Our approach
We approach our work with empathy and are led by our humanity. People are at the heart of who we are, forever inspiring us with their stories, courage and endless creativity. Relationship building takes precedence in all that we do.
Our approach is guided by the process of making, rather than its outcome or aesthetics, as the enabler of lasting growth and change. We trust in the power of self-expression to take us to places we have never been, and to reveal what is not yet known. We believe working with a range of mediums and modalities – such as visual arts, music, drama and dance – moves us into a potent dialogue of possibilities, meanings and new beginnings.
Our work is values-driven, with our core values being:
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We listen, not just with an open mind, but an open heart. This helps us to remain attuned to the possibilities of our clients’ lived experiencing and what they might need. Our attuned presence deepens our capacity to respond intuitively and insightfully in ways that uniquely speak to each client, and each present moment.
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We seek to empower our clients by working together to creatively nurture their sense of resilience, agency and inner strength. We facilitate art-making opportunities that balance the safety of structure with the spontaneity of freedom, supporting clients to make choices and find their authentic voices.
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We show up with tenderness, care, and in the spirit of togetherness. We bring our humanity to this work and our sensitivity in responding to experiences of hurt, pain and suffering.
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We are committed to walking the talk, making decisions and taking action from a place of honesty and sincerity. We go all in to support others, and know to only make promises we can keep.
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Quick explanations and fast strategies seem to hold promise, but they often provide band-aid fixes that mask the real root of the problem. As believers in sustainable wellbeing, we do not use expert theories or formulaic models to explain away the felt experiences of our clients.
Instead, we draw upon a lived experiencing approach that is collaborative and truly client centred. We support clients in creating a framework of understanding that considers the unique context and rich stories of their lived experiences, allowing for a more tailored and sustainable approach to wellbeing. We believe that strategies are more effective when they are personally crafted, rather than instructed as general, one-size-fits-all approaches.
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No artistic ability or creative experience is necessary to participate in our services. Anyone can benefit from art therapy, and we continuously strive to create safe, inclusive and non-judgemental experiences where all can feel welcome and valued. We stand in firm solidarity with First Nations, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, neurodiverse, and other marginalised communities.
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We are committed to continuous learning and professional development to meet the evolving needs of our clients. We stay up-to-date with the latest research, techniques and best practices in the field, attend training opportunities, and seek ongoing professional supervision. We also engage in our own regular, reflexive arts practice as part of our duty of care to clients, dedicating personal time outside of every session to ground, reflect and integrate our learnings.
Meet our founder
I’m Amanda Ng, a Masters-qualified Creative Arts Therapist registered with ANZACATA, and this is my story.
Beyond Valleys is the culmination of my decade-long search for a meaningful career that would stitch together my passions for the arts and supporting others. Prior to embarking on this path, I was a ceramic artist running the pottery studio, Everyday Clay, with an Honours degree in Psychology under my belt. I had also trained in both research and applied mental health roles, honing my skills across various fields including wellbeing science, forensic health, disability and crisis support, and NDIS service provision.
However, it was throughout my early career in mental health that I became increasingly disheartened by the lack of supports for clients who lost faith in mainstream healthcare, who found that words were never enough to convey the depth and complexity of their own lived experiences, and for whom conventional talk therapies were simply not working. Responding to the call to support clients in other ways, I began introducing clay and art in sessions, garnering positive feedback from clients and care teams, and witnessing tangible progress that profoundly exceeded what they were looking for. The momentum that this created eventually led me to pursue a Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice (MIECAT).
Meanwhile, my pottery studio was growing at a rapid rate and I was starting to work with councils, universities and corporations to provide mental health support through the co-design of ceramic art programs. I found that working for myself afforded me the freedom to combine my artistic passion, knowledge base of wellbeing science, and practical frontline experiences, in ways that could be integrated into larger systems, without being limited by the usual constraints that come from working within those systems.
When I completed my degree, I proudly launched my creative arts therapy practice, Beyond Valleys. I currently hold professional registration as a board-certified Creative Arts Therapist with ANZACATA (Reg. 77324552), and feel incredibly lucky to belong to a field that continually inspires me and the people I work with, every day.
On this website, I have included many of my own personal artworks in the hope that they stir your curiosity (as they do mine) to learn more about what the arts can offer you in your life journey. Alongside Beyond Valleys, I still manage my pottery studio, infusing therapeutic insights into my teaching and artistic practice to cultivate mindful, embodied presence to the ceramic process.
