“When we work together using the arts and our imaginations, the amazing, surprising and unexpected become possible.”
– Dr Carla van Laar.
Master of Creative Arts Therapy.
Doctor of Therapeutic Arts Practice
Clinical Registrant PACFA
PACFA Accreditted Supervisor
Dr Carla van Laar · Artist · Creative and Experiential Therapist · Supervisor · Educator
Welcome to a place where creativity and life are in constant flow.
Here:
art is a way of knowing,
crafting is a language of care,
and creative practices are a bridge between the personal and the collective.
And, of course, we are very social.
I am an artist and therapeutic arts practitioner – a creative and experiential therapist.
I’m also a registered clinical counsellor, accredited supervisor, and educator.
Art, and creative process, is at the heart of all my activities and services.
I work with people — individuals, groups, and communities — through art, reflection, and creative process.
Together we explore how imagination, story, and embodied presence can renew our ways of seeing and being.
As a practicing artist, I have a wealth of first-hand understanding about the ways in which art is a way of knowing, of being in the world, of connecting with ourselves and others, of honouring and celebrating, of healing and enhancing life, and how art is a way of co-creating the world that we share and live in together.
Challenges can be explored artistically, art based practice can inform process and inquiry, and art can provide evidence of lived experiencing.
This philosophy is embodied in all of my work.
Inverloch Creative Therapies
My studio by the sea is a place for in-person Creative and Experiential Therapy — for those who wish to pause, create, and engage deeply with life through the arts. Sessions are grounded in presence, respect, and curiosity. Art-making is one of the ways we listen to what is living within and around us.
Supervision and Professional Development for Therapists
Supervision with me is a creative reflective partnership — a space to pause, make meaning, and stay connected to the life of your work. I bring more than thirty years of experience as a Facilitator, Creative Arts Therapist, Clinical Counsellor, Educator, and Researcher. My approach integrates narrative, embodied, and art-based ways of knowing, supporting practitioners to sustain their ethical, creative, and professional vitality.
Creative Mental Health Events
Creative Mental Health is a growing ecosystem of gatherings, spaces and learning experiences where creativity, relationship and community care meet. Across online and in-person events, therapists, artists, educators and community members come together to explore how creative practice supports wellbeing as an essential, vital way of living and working.
Art · Writing · Resources
My website is also a home for artworks, reflections, and resources that explore the creative process as a way of knowing and healing. You’ll find essays, articles, and glimpses of ongoing projects — all part of the evolving conversation between art, life, and care.
Work with Me
Whether you come seeking therapy, supervision, collaboration, or inspiration, I welcome you as a fellow traveller in the creative life. Let’s explore how art and imagination can open new ways forward.
Supervision is of paramount importance in my practice as a creative arts therapist. It gives me an outside perspective of my therapeutic encounters, allows me to process my experiences and offers me the highest level of self-care. I find that Carla’s holistic approach to supervision offers all of this and more and I experience each session with her as both a guiding light and a soft place to land.
Brodie Caporn, Creative Arts Therapist
Carla van Laar
5
2019-05-13T11:19:56+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/brodie-caporn-creative-arts-therapist/
Supervision is essential for good practice. It's about accountability to yourself and the families you work with. My experience of supervision with Carla has been nurturing with just the right amount of challenge that has allowed me to further my therapeutic skills. She has a way of unfolding the issue alongside you, and uses her experience and skills to question, explore options, and gather a deeper understanding of topics bought to the table.
Avrille Burrows, Mental Health Social Worker and Art Therapist
Carla van Laar
5
2019-05-13T11:22:03+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/avrille-burrows-mental-health-social-worker-and-art-therapist/
I highly recommend Carla van Laar for practitioners seeking supervision in counselling, art therapy and the helping professions. She is compassionate, down to earth, relatable, creative, has a strong drive towards ethics and integrity and inspires these qualities in others. I find her encouraging, supportive, a good listener and wise counsel. She has helped me to be a better counsellor, facilitator and support worker than I would have been without her guidance, help and insight.
Tom Hope, Holistic Counsellor
Carla van Laar
5
2019-05-13T11:20:28+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/tom-hope-holistic-counsellor/
My supervision sessions with Carla were priceless. I found in her a supportive supervisor with whom I felt held, safe and heard. Carla helped me address my concerns and find a way forward in moments of difficulty and also offered open guidance whenever I felt stuck. I found her large experience as a practitioner invaluable and after our sessions I would always feel reassured and a little bit wiser. Thank-you Carla for being a key player in my development as a therapeutic arts practitioner!
Marta, Therapeutic Arts Practitioner
Carla van Laar
5
2019-05-13T11:21:33+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/marta-therapeutic-arts-practitioner/
Carla is very accomplished as an artist and art therapist. She has great passion and love of creative expression and has a wonderful way of sharing her enthusiasm and joy. She has helped me to expand my own creative process, be more expressive, focused and yet more playful with paint. Highly recommend her professional and personal development workshops and classes.
- Elisha Lawry, Psychologist
Carla van Laar
2019-07-04T12:28:41+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/elisha-lawry-psychologist-in-private-practice/
"Carla has a way of enriching a person's self through the art of compassion, creativity and imagination. She has a genuine, caring nature about her and can bring out the best in people.”
~ Natasha, Art Therapy student.
Carla van Laar
2019-06-13T19:00:31+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/natasha-art-therapy-student/
“I have known Carla in a variety of capacities and most recently as my supervisor. I began supervision at a time when I was finding it particularly challenging to manage some organisational changes including more detailed case notes for clients with a history of complex trauma. I feel so much more confident with the documentation requirements and found supervision with Carla to not only be an immense support throughout the transition but also an invaluable space for personal and professional development. Carla is extremely skilled and experienced and has a compassionate and direct approach. I highly recommend Carla as a clinical supervisor for those practitioners who wish to better support themselves and their clients.”
~Anjali Sengupta, Dance/Movement Therapist.
Carla van Laar
2019-06-13T18:59:22+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/anjali-sengupta-dance-movement-therapist/
Carla is a thoughtful and compassionately direct supervisor whose perspective is backed by years of experience. I'd strongly recommended her for supervision for art therapists and counsellors alike.
Max Milne, Artist & Art Therapist
Carla van Laar
5
2019-05-13T11:16:33+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/max-milne-artist-art-therapist/
“Professional supervision with Carla has been integral to my counselling practice. Carla provides a warm and encouraging environment that allows me to feel comfortable exploring and expanding the edges of my understanding and capabilities. Sharing in Carla's deep knowledge of theory and wealth of practical experience has shaped my own practice significantly. However, most fundamental has been the exquisite humanity Carla embodies in relation to this work. In her provision of this, Carla is unique indeed.”
- Murray, Holistic Counsellor.
Carla van Laar
2019-06-13T18:59:54+10:00
https://carlavanlaar.com/testimonials/murray-holistic-counsellor/
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Carla van Laar
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