Art Therapy

hi there — I’m Anna! Welcome to this website, I’m grateful that you are here.

This page talks a bit about who I am in my role as art therapist and what it might be like working with me therapeutically, the things I care about and value.

I often find it hard to sift through and read chunky text on websites, and so have written this page with dot points, pictures and subheadings to break up the text in the hope that it’s easy to read through and you can begin to get a sense of who I am. It’s hard to reduce all the things I value and care about to one page, so I have picked what feels relevant to begin with.

Thank you for taking the time to be here, and I look forward to potentially meeting you!


Note: as I’m still working on and creating this website slowly, if this page or information isn’t accessible please feel welcome to reach out and we can explore other ways for you to access this information.

You can reach me via email at: anna@rainbowmuse.com.au

 FAQs

  • Art Therapy uses creative processes to facilitate the exploration of feelings, self-awareness, insight and reflection, unpack curiousities, use ways other than words to process and express, take creative risks, improve confidence, connect with imagination, curiousity and play. There are no rules to what an art therapy session can look like - it will be shaped by how you’re feeling on the day, what materials we have access to and what you need.

  • It’s hard for me to answer that because I can’t predict the future, and also because I can’t read your mind! BUT from what current clients tell me, art therapy offers a flexibility that they didn’t get in talk therapy or other therapeutic modalities. For some, the creative possibilities of a session offer more ways for their brains and bodies to express and discover and know.

    The therapeutic relationship itself is really important as well, not just the therapeutic modality (art therapy). So it’s also important that you feel comfortable and safe with me - hopefully exploring the page you can learn about my values and who I am. This will evolve over time as we get to know each other, but it’s an important aspect to the therapeutic work that working with me feels like a good fit.

  • Feelings

    Grief and loss

    Post-diagnosis processing e.g. late ASD/ADHD diagnosis, chronic illness diagnosis/exploration, post-stroke/ABI

    Changes to relationships

    Complex trauma, PTSD

    Curiousity about other ways of being in the world

    Exploring identities

    Feeling disconnected to body and wanting to reconnect, nervous system regulation and somatic experiencing

    Existential crisis

    Neurodivergent processing and seeking neuro-affirming therapy

    A place to be and imagine

    A place to create

  • Sessions can go from 60 - 90 minutes depending on what you need. Some people need more time to settle into creative process and enjoy longer sessions, while for others 60 minutes is enough time.

  • I offer telehealth (Zoom) sessions and also in-person sessions at Ferntree Gully Rainbow Rooms.

    I work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and work on AEST time.

  • That’s up to you! It really depends on what brings you here and what you need at this point in your life. Some clients I see for short periods (e.g. over few months), while others it’s longer therapeutic work over 1-2 years. It depends on your needs at the time, and how they change and how the therapeutic relationship shifts and changes.

Values

things I care about

feeling safe

mutual respect

self-agency, autonomy, consent

accessibility and meeting our needs

communication!!

showing up as we are (authenticity)

creativity, multi-modality

curiosity, play, imagination

environmental sustainability (e.g. working with the creative materials available to us, recycling, repurposing, reimagining)

co-creating spaces of possibility

Image break between the words before you keep reading … film landscapes from Port Fairy (above) and Oaxaca (right)

for transparency

Areas of Experience

Multi-modal expression, creativity

Communication access

Neurodivergence (ASD, ADHD, giftedness, ABI, stroke, complex trauma)

LGBTQIA+

Chronic illness (EDS, POTS, Endometriosis, PMDD)

Working with the system and community around a child or young person

Slow pace of working (by capitalist standards)

Qualitative research, listening and documenting stories

Stroke research and care, processing grief and changes in relationships post-stroke or ABI

Mental health access for people with aphasia

Asking questions, being curious

Finding patterns in processes

What informs my practice

Creativity, creative process, imagination, curiousity

Anti-racist, anti-oppressive, decolonial perspectives

Trauma-informed approaches

Culturally sensitive approaches

Not knowing and being open to learning

Neurodiversity model

Neuroqueer theory

Disability justice frameworks

Feminist theory

Lived/living experience of neurodivergence and chronic illness

Relationships to water and land, specifically Wurundjeri land in Naarm

Hope and possibility and softness

Professional studies in speech pathology, health sciences, child and adolescent mental health and art therapy