CALL TO ACTION: RURAL MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES Next time your service is advertising a position, add “suitably qualified Creative Arts Therapist” to the list of allied health professionals that can apply to the role. We can help fill gaps in … Read More
#ACTivateAT
HEALING THE TRAUMATISED SPIRIT THROUGH CREATIVE EXPERIENCE – Michael Burge OAM, Keynote Presenter at the 2022 Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat
“Experiential methods with the power of spontaneity and creativity, such as psychodrama, can help the traumatized client develop better relationships with the self, rediscover lost roles and reconnect with humanity’ – Michael Burge OAM … The 2022 Creative Mental … Read More
KIM BILLINGTON – “Stories of Transformation” at the 2022 Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat
Narratively inspired author of “A Counsellor’s Companion” and “Counselling Conversations”, Kim Billington, joins the 2022 Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat to share an experiential folk tale work shop. … … STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION: DREAMING OFF INTO … Read More
CREATIVE MENTAL HEALTH – FILM LAUNCH
“2021 Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat” is a twelve minute documentary filmed on location in Boon Wurrung Country, South Eastern Victoria, at the event of the same name. This short film features footage and interviews … Read More
Victorian State Government agrees to fund Arts Therapy in schools – success for the ACTivate Arts Therapy campaign.
Following the announcement of the new State budget on 20th May, Acting Premier James Merlino announced on breakfast radio that the State Government will be creating a new $200,000 fund to support extra mental health initiatives in schools. He stated … Read More
Arts Therapists Recognised by Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System
Our voices are part of a chorus who want greater choice for people in managing their own mental health care, and greater inclusion for Arts Therapists as highly skilled and valued members of Victoria’s Mental Health Workforce. Tuesday the 2nd … Read More
Here’s the Evidence: Employing Arts Therapists in Schools is Good for Student Mental Health.
Prepared by Dr Carla van Laar and Dr Lisa Mosely for the ACTivate Arts Therapy Campaign Evidence for the efficacy of Arts Therapy in mental health and wellbeing. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed the effectiveness of the arts … Read More
PROGRAM: 2021 Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat
14th – 17th May 2021 We pay our deep respects to the First Peoples of Boon Wurrung Country where we will meet. Inverloch RACV Resort, 70 Cape Patterson Inverloch Rd, Inverloch, Victoria. … Our Commitment to Sustainability We are mindful … Read More
Dr Alisoun Neville: “Look again” – how can we see in new ways, with our words?
“I remember standing on a street corner with the black painter Beauford Delaney down in the Village waiting for the light to change, and he pointed down and said, “Look.” I looked and all I saw was the water. And … Read More
Natalie Poole: Ebb and Flow- the rhythms of activation and settling
Natalie Poole is a midwife of the dance floor. Sometimes you need a little help to birth your vital, expressive, and creative self. Natalie Poole, sometimes known as “Twirling Wolf”, is a seemingly bottomless well of energy for dance, dance … Read More
Join Jiancong (Eric) Zhang in “Unfolding Art Therapy”
As an artist, Eric fell in love with paper folding (origami) as a form of artistic reflection. Influenced by his earliest experiences of learning origami from his mother, the medium is closely connected to this mother-child relationship. He believes that … Read More
Emma van Daal (nee Hodges) – Contemplating the radical potential of the therapeutic space.
“The individual is…not prior to their environment but codetermined with it, constituted within and through the patterned interaction of affects and movements and changes of bodies in relationships” Duschinsky et al., 2015 Emma van Daal joins us as a presenter … Read More
Svetlana Bykovec: Nature and Replenishing the “Well”
“How does your relationship to Earth inform your creative/professional work?” Svetlana Bykovec Svetlana Bykovec AThR joins us as a facilitator at the 2021 Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat. She shares: “I am lead Art Therapist for Creative … Read More
Trish Thompson: The Co-Creative Process of Writing Together – Shining a Light on the Relationship between Client and Therapist
“Practice wisdom points to the relationship between the therapist and client as the main driver of change, but we don’t often hear the voice of the client and their experience of the therapeutic relationship” Trish Thompson Esteemed psychotherapist Trish Thompson … Read More
Chris Petrie AThR brings you UPBEAT BUCKET DRUMMING
“Therapeutic value is gained when people gather to share creative experiences. When people are witnessed, encouraged and feel open to be themselves, they feel the upbeat benefits of therapeutic group drumming”. Chris Petrie What do you get when you mix … Read More
Professor Dan Harris: Creative Mental Health Special Guest Presenter
The Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat is honoured to welcome Professor Dan Harris as a Special Guest Presenter. In December 2020, Dan posted this ground breaking news: “So today I got promoted to full professor. I’m my … Read More
Dr. Amanda Musicka-Williams: “Imitate, Innovate, Become” How Dramatherapy supports positive self- image and communal belonging
“Imitate, Innovate, Become“ Dr Amanda Musicka-Williams brings her expertise in drama and well-being to the Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat in the “Imitate, Innovate, Become” workshop. In this workshop participants will experience the role method of dramatherapy … Read More
Tara Harriden AThR: Culturally Sensitive Practice – Art Based Supervision with Support Workers in Remote Indigenous Communities, a PhD Research Project.
“I believe in the power of research as a social change-maker – I hope that my research will affect some change in the lives of Remote Area Aboriginal people living with psychosocial disabilities as well as on health/social policy” Tara Harriden … Read More
Melissa Nelson-Campbell’s lived experience as a woman of colour propelled her to make meaning through working human rights. Now, she empowers multicultural school communities through the transformative potentials of art making.
“As a woman of colour, artist, and art therapist, I am driven to support people from diverse backgrounds yearning to find their voice and be heard.” Melissa Nelson-Campbell Melissa Nelson-Campbell, owner and founder of Draw Inspiration is open about her life … Read More
Dr Carla van Laar. “Standing Strong in our Professional Identity” – Art based and collaborative approaches in individual planning and responding as humanising alternatives to assessments and interventions.
In our recent article, The Balancing Act: Performing Stories of our Practice within Systems of the State, Dr Alisoun Neville and I wrote: “We invite arts therapists to reflect on the values performed by the documents we produce, and to … Read More
Anjali Sengupta – Allow your own Unique Medicine to Emerge through Dance.
Move and be moved in these two dance for wellness workshops with experienced dance/movement therapist and Bollywood for well-being guru, the ever inspiring Anjali Sengupta. … Embodied Self Care- Medicine Drum & Dance “This session is about giving yourself your … Read More
Michelle Morgan: Spirituality and Mental Health
What offers us hope, or helps us to make meaning? What values guide us, particularly in times of challenge? What are our anchors and roots in the shadowy depths and wild turbulence, and what paths do we take to access … Read More
Creative Mental Health Forum and Self Care Retreat – REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
We pay our deep respects to the First Peoples of Boon Wurrung Country where we will meet. CREATIVE MENTAL HEALTH FORUM AND SELF CARE RETREAT Friday 14th – Monday 17th May 2021 Inverloch RACV Resort, Bass Coast, Victoria Your host, … Read More
Lee Agius “The Artful Warrior”: Yoga for Self Care at the 2021 Creative Mental Health Forum and Retreat in Inverloch
“incorporate slow mindful movement with your breath that sends a message back to your body which completely supports your nervous system to relax…” … Read More
6 Months of Activism – Highlights of the ACTivate Arts Therapy Campaign
The ACTivate Arts Therapy campaign began when numbers of experienced and well qualified Arts Therapists were told they could not apply for the new ‘Mental Health Practitioner in Schools’ positions because their profession is not listed in the 2014 Victorian … Read More
ACTivate Arts Therapy community PICNIC Sunday 6th December 12.30 – 2.30pm Princes Park, North Carlton
You are invited! Please join members of the ACTivate Arts Therapy community for a friendly casual catch up and debrief, celebrate, get some perspective on 2020 with an art-full picnic. Where: By the pond at the Northern end of Princes … Read More
Save the Date! “Creative Mental Health” Forum and Self Care Retreat May 2021
We pay our deep respects to the First Peoples of Boon Wurrung Country where we will meet. Friday 14th – Monday 17th May 2021 Inverloch RACV Resort, Bass Coast, Victoria Experience for yourself how: Creative practices support mental health Contemporary … Read More
ACTivate Arts Therapy Campaign – Community Gathering – JOIN US!
Wednesday, 4 November 2020 at 5.30pm Melbourne time TO JOIN: EMAIL ME carlavanlaar@gmail.com I will send you a ZOOM invitation Please join me and the other lead campaigners Alisoun Neville and Alana Stewart this coming Wednesday. I will give a … Read More