ANZACATA upcoming events

Creative Regulation: Art Psychotherapy Approaches for Neurodivergent Clients with Sarah Falkenberg Hassan (15 Aug 2026)

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 23:00:00 GMT

This 4-hour interactive CPD webinar offers an exploration of Art Therapy processes that support emotional regulation in neurodivergent clients. The session will examine how creative, sensory, and symbolic expression can support regulation, insight and expression. Participants will be guided through structured and unstructured art-based exercises, practical therapeutic aids, case discussion and be provided a reflective space to deepen clinical insight. The webinar is experiential and participatory, inviting clinicians to engage directly with art-making processes.

Please note this is a similar event to the previous event if already attended. .

Develop Understanding of Emotional Dysregulation in Neurodivergent clients
Explore Art therapy processes to support nervous system regulation, including symbolic expression
Learn to adapt Art therapy processes and ensure practice is trauma informed, and person centred
Reflect upon own processes and experiences within your own practice to broaden understanding.

CPD 4-hour certificate and hand out provided following the workshop.

PRESENTER:

Sarah Falkenberg Hassan is an Art Psychotherapist and counsellor who has been working in the Northern Territory for the past three years. She graduated as an Art Psychotherapist (Masters) in the United Kingdom in 2018 and has since gained experience across a range of settings, including Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), A Foster and Adoption agency and an Eating Disorder Unit. Sarah recently supported adults, children, and couples through the NDIS as well as private participants. She now continues to work with individuals with trauma backgrounds and those who are neurodivergent within a private hospital setting. Sarah is passionate about a person-centred approach, guided by the ethos of “meeting people where they are at,” and tailoring support to each individual’s unique needs and experiences.

When: Saturday 15 August 2026
Time: 9.00am–1.00pm AEST
11.00am NZST,
7.00am AWST/HKT/SGT
Presenters location, 8.30am Darwin
Duration/CPD: 4 hours (with break)
Where: Zoom
Cost: $90 (+ GST for Australian members)
Open to: All members (except subscription only)
Min/Max: 10/30 participants
Recorded session: No (privacy reasons)

Cancellation Policy
When you register and pay to attend one of our events, you are holding a space on our calendar that is no longer available to other members. In order to be respectful of your fellow members and the presenter, please email Michelle as soon as you know you will not be able to attend the event. We keep our events as affordable as possible and need to pay presenters the fee they request. While we understand sometimes urgent matters come up, if registrants cancel at the last minute, we struggle to pay presenters. A full refund will be given if the cancellation occurs more than 24 hours before the event. If the cancellation occurs less than 24 hours before the event, 50% of your registration fee will be refunded only to defray our costs.

Advancing Growth and Recognition of Art Therapy: Lessons from Singapore with Dr. Christine Phang (25 Aug 2026)

Tue, 25 Aug 2026 04:00:00 GMT

How does art therapy grow in a country? And what can the individual art therapist do to contribute to this growth?

This webinar addresses these questions through the results of a doctoral study on art therapy in Singapore. The findings of this study revealed how art therapy in Singapore functions through multiple levels of systems, ranging from the microsystem surrounding the individual to the chronosystem of time.

These systems shape the profession of art therapy and, consequently, the experience of the individual art therapist. At the same time, each art therapist has the ability to impact the systems surrounding them.

Attendees will be provided with an ecological systems framework that is culturally responsive and that can support them in understanding the functioning of art therapy in their country. This framework will also provide a structure for attendees to consider actionable ways to advance art therapy in their specific contexts.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Attendees will be able to:

Recall the five nested environmental systems and explain how they relate to the development of art therapy.
Identify at least three ways they can take action to advance the field of art therapy in their own geographical context.
Name at least two benefits and two complexities of regulating art therapy on a governmental level.

PRESENTER BIO

Dr. Christine Phang (she/her) is a Singaporean artist and art therapist. She is a Registered Art Therapist with the Art Therapy Credentials Board in the United States. Dr. Phang completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Art Therapy and her Master's in Marriage and Family Therapy with a focus in Art Therapy at the Dominican University of California. She serves as an editor with the International Journal of Art Therapy and a peer reviewer for the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association.

When: Tuesday 25 August 2026
Time: 2.00pm–3.00pm AEST
12noon–1pm AWST/SGT/HKT
4.00pm–5.00pm NZST
Duration/CPD: 1hr
Where: Zoom
Cost: $20 (+GST for Aust. members)
Open to: All members
Recorded session: Yes

Cancellation Policy:
When you register and pay to attend one of our events, you are holding a space on our calendar that is no longer available to other members. In order to be respectful of your fellow members and the presenter, please email us as soon as you know you will not be able to attend the event. We keep our events as affordable as possible and need to pay presenters the fee they request. While we understand sometimes urgent matters come up, if registrants cancel at the last minute, we struggle to pay presenters. A full refund will be given if the cancellation occurs more than 24 hours before the event. If the cancellation occurs less than 24 hours before the event, 50% of your registration fee will be refunded only to defray our costs.

cATch up with James, Pete and Sara - the leadership team at ANZACATA (26 Aug 2026)

Wed, 26 Aug 2026 02:00:00 GMT

This hour-long drop-in session with the leadership team at ANZACATA occurs the last Wednesday of the month and all members are welcome to join. There is no agenda, no commitment, just pop in anytime you like for a chat with James Beckford Saunders (CEO), Peter Muntz (Membership and Communications lead) and Sara Kirsner (Policy and Regulations Lead) and with other ANZACATA members.

When: Wednesday 26 August 2026
Time: 1pm-2pm AEST
11am-12pm AWST
12.30pm-1.30pm ACST
3pm-4pm NZST
Duration/CPD: 1 hour
Where: ZOOM
Cost: Free
Open to: All members
Recorded session: No (privacy reasons)

Creative Writing as Therapeutic Resource: Two-part workshop series with Sally Swain (28 Aug 2026)

Fri, 28 Aug 2026 00:30:00 GMT

How can I tell what I think till I see what I say? (often attributed to E. M. Forster). Whether it's a time of fracture or of flow in your work world, let's access the joy, depth and insight of authentic creative writing.

Let's tap into writing's riches to strengthen and evolve professional identity and practice. The act of writing need not be hum or drum. It can be playful, grounding, life-giving. It can facilitate embodied, integrated understanding and problem-solving.

In this two-part experiential workshop, Sally will gently guide you through a series of writing practices that can serve any of the following functions:

supporting your professional creative self-care and sustenance
assisting you internally in your work with clients e.g. writing to prepare, affirm intentions, attune to the other, manage self-doubt, critically reflect, clarify areas for further investigation
providing tools to adapt and offer directly to clients e.g. for self-regulation, creative expression, self-knowledge or empowerment.

The writing practices include creative list-making, free writing with a guiding phrase, sensory object wisdom and postcard poetry portrait.

Practitioners at any level of membership or experience are welcome.

Numbers are limited, to foster safety, connection and community-building.

Participants can expect to:

Enliven your relationship with writing as an embodied vehicle of exploration, expression and creative self-reflection
Augment your practitioner creative self-care and self-regulation toolkit
Utilise creative reflective writing to strengthen your arts therapist identity and professional practice
Gather experiential writing tools to use directly with clients, in conjunction with arts therapy processes
Validate shared and diverse experience in a group of connected peers.

PRESENTER:

Sally Swain (AThR, ANZACATA-approved supervisor) has been running her Art and Soul Creativity Coaching practice for more than 30 years. This includes Write for Wellbeing workshops in contexts such as Carer Gateway and Blue Knot Foundation. Embodied creativity is at the core of all she offers. Her internationally bestselling books include Great Housewives of Art. Her initiatives supporting arts therapists include Art Heart Action bushfire recovery program, ANZACATA-sponsored Creative Sustenance in Troubled Times series, Draw (your art) and Pour (your tea) for Arts Therapists monthly online gatherings and Arty Hearty Therapist e-newsletter artandsoul.cc.

When: Friday 28 August 2026 (Part 1) and Friday 4 September 2026 (Part 2)
Time: 10.30am to 1.00pm AEST
(8.30 am HKT/SGT/AWST, 10.30 am AEST/QLD, 12.30 pm NZST)
Duration/CPD: 2 x 2.5 hrs
Where: Zoom
Cost: $150 (+GST for Aust. Members)
Open to: All members except subscription only
Min/Max: 6-8 participants
Recorded session: No (privacy reasons)

Arts-based supervision skills training with Tilly Dawson (Sept/Oct) (25 Sep 2026)

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 02:00:00 GMT

This training will contain theory, experiential learning, and opportunities for supervision practice, and can be used as either an arts-therapy based PD opportunity, or towards registration as an approved supervisor with ANZACATA.

It is best suited to experienced professional members, as it assumes a working clinical knowledge and experience in arts therapy.

The training will cover:

Definitions of supervision
A variety of models and approaches to supervision
Arts-based integration
Clinical practice
Ethics and Contracts

The course will be 40 hours over 5 sessions (including 15 hours of experiential practice) in keeping with ANZACATA policy requirements of Approved Supervisors. Participants will be expected to engage in supervision practice with other participants between the online sessions in order to complete the required number of hours to register as an ANZACATA supervisor.

Please note only Professional Members can be on the ANZACATA Approved Supervisor listing and completion of this training course does not constitute an application to become an ANZACATA Approved Supervisor.

PRESENTER BIO

Tilly Dawson (she/her) is a professional member, practicing art therapist, and ANZACATA-approved supervisor. Tilly specialises in clinical art therapy within healthcare and oncology settings. She is a passionate clinician with experience in providing individual and group sessions for patients and their families across the lifespan. Throughout her career, Tilly has supervised numerous students and has work as a casual Academic at La Trobe University within the Master of Art Therapy program. Her areas of interest and application in art therapy include medical art therapy, palliative care, trauma-informed practices, and supervision.

When: 25^th, 26^th, 27^th September and 10^th, 11^th October 2026
Time: 12–5 pm AEST (2–7 pm NZST, 10 am–3 pm AWST/HKT/SGT)
Duration/CPD: 40 hours over 5 sessions
Where: Zoom
Cost: $500 (+GST for Aust. members)
Open to: Experienced Professional Members
Min/Max: 8/16 participants
Recorded session: No (Privacy Reasons)

Neurodiversity Affirming Arts Therapy Practice with Autistic Clients with Miriam Saines (30 Oct 2026)

Thu, 29 Oct 2026 23:00:00 GMT

A Professional Development Workshop for Arts Therapists facilitated by Miriam Saines, Registered Professional Arts Therapist (AThR) and Autistic Self-Advocate.

This professional development workshop is designed for arts therapists seeking to deepen their understanding of autism and develop neurodiversity affirming therapeutic practices. Led by an Autistic arts therapist with lived experience and professional expertise, this workshop offers a unique opportunity to gain insights into creating more effective, respectful, and empowering therapeutic relationships with Autistic clients.

The workshop challenges traditional deficit-based approaches and introduces participants to neurodiversity-affirming practices that honour Autistic ways of being, communicating, and experiencing the world. Practical strategies, artmaking examples, and experiential activities will provide participants with actionable tools to enhance their clinical practice.

This event is appropriate for ALL ANZACATA members. However, it is aimed particularly to new graduates and members who have little understanding, knowledge and experience of neurodiversity affirming practice and autistic identity.

Please note this workshop is delivered in 2 parts on consecutive Saturdays.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Describe autism from a neurodiversity-affirming perspective, using affirming language, and identify how this differs from pathologizing approaches.
Address the intersectionality of autism and create sensory-informed and trauma-informed arts therapy spaces for therapeutic engagement.
Expand their understanding of 'art' to encompass diverse sensory and social expressions relevant to Autistic clients.
Support authentic emotion regulation without imposing neurotypical expectations.
Incorporate special interests as therapeutic strengths rather than viewing them as distractions.
Foster self-advocacy skills in Autistic clients of all ages

PRESENTER BIO

Miriam (she/her/they/them) is a late-identified AuDHD (autistic and ADHD) arts therapist, professionally registered with ANZACATA. She graduated with her Master of Arts Therapy from Western Sydney University in 2013 and practises on Awabakal Country at Newcastle Music and Arts Therapy. Miriam's lived experience, as an AuDHD person and parent, has significantly shaped her arts therapy practice, which is grounded in neurodiversity-affirming principles, and has led to her strong interest in Autistic culture and advocacy.

Miriam works predominantly with neurodivergent clients who identify as Autistic, ADHD, AuDHD, PDA, as well as those with diverse disabilities, and mental health issues across all ages and backgrounds. Her arts therapy practice combines professional expertise with authentic understanding, offering creative strategies that honour rather than change neurodivergent ways of being. newcastlemusictherapy.com.au.

When: Friday 30 October (Part 1) and Saturday 31 October 2026 (Part 2)
Time: 10am–1.30pm AEDT
(12pm NZT, 7am AWDT/HKT/SGT)
including a 30-minute break
Duration/CPD: 6 hrs
Where: Zoom
Cost: $90 (+GST for Aust. members)
Open to: All members
Max: 20 participants
Recorded session: No (Privacy Reasons)

Cancellation Policy
When you register and pay to attend one of our events, you are holding a space on our calendar that is no longer available to other members. In order to be respectful of your fellow members and the presenter, please email us as soon as you know you will not be able to attend the event. We keep our events as affordable as possible and need to pay presenters the fee they request. While we understand sometimes urgent matters come up, if registrants cancel at the last minute, we struggle to pay presenters. A full refund will be given if the cancellation occurs more than 24 hours before the event. If the cancellation occurs less than 24 hours before the event, 50% of your registration fee will be refunded only to defray our costs.

Arts-based supervision skills training with Tilly Dawson (Oct/Nov) (30 Oct 2026)

Fri, 30 Oct 2026 01:00:00 GMT

It is best suited to experienced professional members, as it assumes a working clinical knowledge and experience in arts therapy.

The training will cover:

Definitions of supervision
A variety of models and approaches to supervision
Arts-based integration
Clinical practice
Ethics and Contracts

PRESENTER BIO

When: 30, 31 October and 1, 14, 15 November 2026
Time: 12–5 pm AEDT (11am – 4 pm QLD, 2–7 pm NZDT, 9 am–2 pm AWST/HKT/SGT)
Duration/CPD: 40 hours
Where: Zoom
Cost: $500 (+GST for Aust. members)
Open to: Experienced Professional Members
Min/Max: 8/16 participants
Recorded session: No (Privacy Reasons)