Seeing Beyond the Image: An Introduction to Creative Arts Therapy

Date & Time:
Friday 5th September – 10.00am until 12.30pm  OR
Saturday 1st November  – 2.00pm until 4.30pm

The studio will be open from 9.45am.
Please be ready to start your workshop at the start time so that you don’t miss any important information.

Please Note: If you are late to your session, you may be asked to wait until a suitable pause in tuition when your tutor will come and get you and catch you up so you do not interrupt the flow of the class.

Venue:
Whimsical Creatives
Rear 183 Maroondah Hwy, Healesville VIC 3777
(Entry via Church Street/River Street Carpark)

Tutor:
Amanda Ng
Amanda is a masters-qualified arts therapist (registered with ANZACATA – Reg. 77324552), holds an honours degree in psychology and is the  founder of Beyond Valleys Art Therapy in Healesville.

Amanda’s practice Beyond Valleys is the culmination of a decade-long search for a meaningful career that would stitch together her passions for the arts and supporting others. Prior to embarking on this path, Amanda was a ceramic artist running the pottery studio, Everyday Clay, with an Honours degree in Psychology under her belt. She had also trained in both research and applied mental health roles, honing her skills across various fields including wellbeing science, forensic health, disability and crisis support, and NDIS service provision.
It was throughout Amanda’s early career in mental health that she 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, she 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 Amanda to pursue a Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice (MIECAT).

We are so pleased to welcome Amanda to Whimsical Creatives in 2025.

Skill Level:
There are no skills required for these sessions.
Students need to be 15+ to attend.

Cost:
$65 all inclusive.

– A session led by a qualified art therapist
– All art materials and consumables
– Morning or Afternoon tea (please let us know of any intolerances or allergies and we’ll do our best to accommodate you)
– Tea/coffee

EFTPOS & Credit Card Facilities Available.

If you would like to book a position for this class, you can do so online (preferred, so we all have a copy of the transaction) or call Dani on 0412 662 179. Once you have booked in, you will receive a manual ‘Confirmation of Booking’ email approximately a week before the workshop which will include a booking reminder plus all the information you need for this workshop (you may need to check your spam or promotions folder as sometimes they end up in there!).

Extra Information Regarding COVID/Illness:
We ask that you remember that we are a home based business run by someone with chronic illnesses. Many of our visitors are also immune compromised. Please do not visit the studio if you are unwell in any way. Thank you for your understanding.

Why Do a Workshop with Us?
Here’s what makes us different from other creative spaces.

•  All our Tutors are experienced in teaching and have many years of experience working with their respective mediums/in their field of expertise – for most of our tutors this is over 15 years experience.
• Our workshop sizes are small with usually no more than 12 students.
• We provide a friendly, inviting space and cater for many challenges you may face  (health issues, food intolerances, anxiety, etc.). Many of our students (and some of our tutors) suffer from chronic illness and have special needs. If you have any concerns, please feel free to reach out to Dani who will do her best to help you out;
• We use only high quality materials/products in our workshops and myself and our Tutors are familiar with how these work and can give you accurate information/answers to your questions;
• Students are able to browse our 1500+ products and purchase if they wish to either before, during or after their workshop;
• We offer payment plan options on most workshops as we understand that finances can be tight (please email if you’d like to take advantage of this);
• We are fully insured and there is always someone on site who has a Level 2 first aid qualification and asthma management training. All tutors who are working with children have current, valid Working with Children Checks.
• We offer ‘after workshop’ support for all our students. Students can ask questions of our tutors and refresh any information they need to after the workshop via email, phone or in our Facebook group especially for students.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to reach out.
We look forward to seeing you at the Studio very soon!