Art Therapy andPlay

Joanna Healey offers a safe and supportive space for individuals to explore their emotions, thoughts, and experiences through creative expression. With a client-centered approach, helping individuals tap into their inner creativity to promote self-discovery, healing, and personal growth. By incorporating art-making into the therapeutic process, clients can gain a deeper understanding of themselves and find new ways to cope with life's challenges.

Art therapy provides a safe and supportive space for individuals to embrace healing and empowerment. Through the creative process, clients can explore their emotions, experiences, and inner strengths. By expressing themselves visually, they can gain insight, release tension, and discover new ways of coping with challenges. This journey of self-discovery and personal growth can lead to increased confidence, resilience, and a deeper connection to oneself. Art therapy offers a unique avenue for individuals to tap into their innate creativity and harness it as a powerful tool for healing and transformation.

Art Therapy offers a unique and creative outlet for children to express themselves through art. Our therapeutic approach fosters emotional growth and self-discovery in a safe and supportive environment. Give your child the gift of self-expression and healing though art therapy sessions. Meaning making in art helps to retell their story safely through art and symbols. Uses art base interactive activities to facilitate the exploration of feelings and to improve self-awaress.

“Jo’s natural ability to connect with children is beyond anything I have experienced before. Her professionalism and fun approach definitely brought out the best out in my child. I cannot thank her enough! My child’s confidence has grown beyond anything I could have expected and my child loves to show us what they make with Jo. Thank you” AW

Art therapy is not about being a skilled artist or producing beautiful artwork. It is a form of therapy that utilizes the process of creating art to explore emotions, improve self-awareness, and enhance mental well-being. The focus is on the act of creating and expressing oneself rather than the final product. Individuals do not need to have any artistic talent or experience to benefit from art therapy. Joanna taylors the session to meet the need of the individual. It is a supportive and non-judgmental space to harness the therapeutic benefits of art-making regardless of their skill level.

If you're looking for a unique and effective way to improve your mental health and well-being, consider investing in art therapy with Joanna Healey. Your journey to self-discovery and healing starts here.

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Specialising in:

Trauma - feel safe, integrate memories and working with symptoms of trauma

Anxiety - increases understanding and develop coping skills to help

Attachment - increasing connection and repair relationships

Depression - overcoming symptoms of depression

Recent Trauma - safety, and understand trauma symptoms

Self Esteem - building confidence and increasing self worth

Domestic Violence - increasing safety and healing

Sexual Assault - psycho-education and trauma informed therapy

Anxiety and stress at work - reduce stress and increase coping skills skills

Team Building - creative fun ways to increase strong relationships

Professional Training - learn create ways to enhance your practice

Groups Work - community focus to healing and growth

Working with children and young people - help them to reach their full potential

Adult survivors of trauma - healing and reclaiming lost childhood

Incursions - pom pom animals, mask making, group art works and rock art

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Individual Art Therapy

Art therapy offers a creative approach to counselling, helping children, young people and adults express thoughts and emotions. It is a safe non threatening way to explore trauma, improve self esteem, increase a sense of self, reduce anxiety and depression.

Art Therapy and Play Therapy are great therapeutic modalities for children, it helps them to make sense of their world around them and to process life experiences without reliving them. Children use art and play as a natural form of communication. Art Therapy and play therapy work well with young children, as it creates a safe non threatening environment. The creative process allows for self expression and explores pre verbal and non verbal emotions. Art therapy is a process which helps children heal from the trauma as well as encourages integration of past and present and self exploration. 

Art therapy is also used for adults to deepens the empathy and healing by offering new perspectives to look at a reoccurring issues. Art therapy helps to process the implicit memories and the non verbal impacts. Art therapy aims to improve the symptoms of trauma for children as well as adults such as-

  • Hypervigilance, mistrust

  • Depression

  • Anxiety, panic attacks

  • Trouble sleeping (too much or too little)

  • Loss of appetite or overeating

  • Unexplained irritability

  • nightmares and night terrors

  • flashbacks and intrusive thoughts

  • Emotional outburst such as anger

  • Withdrawn from others

  • Difficulties to settle and regulating emotions

  • Trouble concentrating at work or at school

  • Trouble focusing in conversations

  • Difficulties in social situations

  • Feeling disconnected

  • Loss of Interest

  • Loss of a sense of hopelessness

  • Shame

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Group Art Therapy offer a collective community focused to recovery, healing and growth.

Learning and healing through peer connections and support. Members feel less alone with their problems and unite through a shared healing goal. This is strengthen through sharing emotions and and thought about the same issues. Overcoming challenges together. Group dynamics helps to develop stronger communication skills and increase self awareness. Group dynamics help to bring an opportunity to share thought and feeling related to similar healing themes.

  • Self Esteem Groups

  • Trauma Recovery Groups

  • Living with Anxiety

  • Groups for teenagers

  • Journaling Groups

  • Grounding and mindfulness groups

Group Art Therapy

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Fun tailor made art workshop to help build and strengthen connection. From puppet workshops to creating your own pom pom animal. Enhance theatrical fun at fetes and festival with mask or create a festive hats.

  • Fun and creative art activities with peer

  • Creative Art Parties

  • Art workshops for Festivals and Events

  • Community Celebrations -collaborative art projects

  • Puppet workshops - great for schools, parties, after school care

  • Mask Making workshop -

  • Creative Box - painting and decorating boxes

  • Fairy Gardens - building fairy garden

  • taylor made workshop to compliment any event

  • Corporate Team Building - enache creative thinking and strengthen relationships

  • Succulent Pant Workshops - focused on strengthening communication and team sprit

Creative Art Workshops and Events

Sand Tray Therapy

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Sand tray therapy is a form of expressive therapy that encourages clients to construct a miniature world within a container filled with sand and an assortment of objects. This therapeutic method offers a non-verbal approach for individuals to delve into their innermost thoughts, emotions, and tensions. By organizing and interacting with the sand and objects, clients can externalize their internal struggles and gain valuable insights into their feelings and connections with others. The sand tray acts as a secure environment where clients can address past traumas, amplify self-awareness, and refine their ability to communicate effectively. Through the imaginative and symbolic realm of sand tray therapy, individuals are able to tap into deeper layers of their psyche, initiating a process of healing and personal development.

In sand tray therapy, minisymbols created in the sand can be powerful tools for expression and exploration. These symbols may represent various aspects of an individual's inner world, emotions, experiences, or relationships. As clients manipulate the sand and create symbolic scenes, they can gain insights into their thoughts and feelings in a nonverbal way. Therapists trained in sand tray therapy help clients interpret and understand the symbols they create, fostering self-awareness and promoting healing.

The use of sand trays help clients express their story safely through the use of symbols. It can be a great way to gain perspective and heal through play. Fun and safe. It is person centered therapy which focuses on the child or adult creating in control of their aspiration and is focus on them. This helps to create a safety an security within the relationship with the therapist and the environment. Children readily embrace sand tray therapy and look forward to attending therapy.

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Registered Art Therapist with ANZACATA

MA Art Therapy, Grad.Dip Expressive, Therapy, BA Visual Art

Joanna has over 17 years working with children, young people, adults and families experience within public health, community settings and private settings.

Joanna has been working in private practice since 2019. Joanna has a natural ability to connect with children. Joanna able to engage with children who find it hard to connect with people. Helping them to build social skill and to communicate effectively with their families.

Her passion is helping people process and integrate past traumas with their present life. In the hope they can live with purpose, fulfillment and to feel safe. She has helped many children, young people and their families on their healing journey. Connecting with people and helping them express themselves through art therapy and sand tray therapy

“I find my work very rewarding. My passion is working with children. Early intervention helps provide immediate benefits during the developing years, as well increases the child's abilities to integrate in future social environments including school, community and home life and eventually employment. Early intervention also saves money in the long run and prevents future health complications.”

Joanna Healey

Art Therapy

with Joanna Healey.

Benefits of Art Therapy

  • offers a safe process for emotional healing

  • enhances personal development

  • Reduces trauma symptoms such as flash back and nightmares

  • help to foster and aids verbal communication

  • increases Self esteem and self confidence

  • provides a mode of Self expression

  • helps to look at feeling and actions

  • provides a space and time

  • increase awareness of your own emotion and others emotions

  • increases the window of tolerance - increasing emotional regulation

  • offers a safe secure environment

  • Processes trauma

  • gives client control over the healing journey

  • impact on brain waves patterns and emotions, the nervous system and can raise serotonin levels

  • reduces stress and negative emotion

  • creating an experience a kin to meditation

  • confidential space based on therapeutic rapport

  • improves communication skills and concentration

  • explore and understand strong emotions such as anger

  • Alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety

  • Improves Problem-Solving Skills

  • Strengthening relationships

  • Regulating behaviours and advancing social skills