Drawing Within Art Therapy & Counselling Service Ballarat

Hi I’m Marie Bajada, a registered, professional Creative Arts Therapist with ANZACATA, practising as a mental health practitioner. My work is underpinned by my Master's level university training in Art therapy, education studies, neuroscience and many years of experience.

Therapeutic creative arts- It's sensual, physical, emotional and spiritual. I support you to draw within to a place you feel safe and secure, deep in your centre.

I enjoy working with children, young people and adults across their life span. My services are available Australia wide online, or face to face in the Ballarat, Grampians region and Moorabool shire of western Victoria.

There are many wonderful benefits of using Creative Arts to help you express, explore and unpack difficult experiences or life issues and gain new insights, meaning and healing for yourself. Creativity is in all of us and allowing it to have a voice, may help you find your voice in other areas of your life.

You do not need to be artistic to participate and cannot make a mistake in this work. I will companion you along the way, as you experiment and play with modalities of your choice.

Collaboratively we will carefully select art materials and processes in sequential steps to assist you to move towards your mental health and life goals. I will offer you many different art modalities as a means of exploring your story. These include:

• Visual arts
• 3D Sculpture
• Textiles
• Performing Arts
• Music
• Movement
• Digital media
• Sandplay  and its symbols
• Image cards
• Any other creative art form you may love

ANZACATA is the peak professional body for Art therapists in Australia, NZ and Asia. Please watch their video below explaining what Creative Arts therapy is and the work of Art Therapists.

Something about me

I am a story teller and a keeper of stories. Everyone has a story but not everyone has a chance to tell it or express it. My work is to use art making and talking to shine a light on other's stories and bring them safely out of the past, into the present and future. 

I enjoy listening and witnessing my client's stories, like chapters in a book, the story emerges and slowly unfolds, moment by moment.

I love how the magic of using different art materials ignites a memory or a sensation buried deep, and out will pour another snippet of this precious life story before me.

I'm comfortable with beginnings of life and endings, and everything in between.

I remember a wise Art therapy lecturer asking some wide-eyed student art therapists, at the end of their course- What was the most important part of a session? They bandied around many suggestions but couldn't find the answer. "The relationship," the wise one replied "and being present". This is something I intentionally work towards each session.

My qualifications are:

• Masters in Therapeutic Creative Arts Practice
• Post Graduate Diploma- Experiential Creative Arts Practice
• Post graduate Certificate- Community Services- Case management and Assessment
• B. Ed primary
• Diploma Transpersonal Art Therapy
• Certificate of Professional Clinical Supervision- ACA recognised Supervisor training
• Certificate in Healing Trauma with Guided Drawing-Institute for Sensorimotor Art Therapy
• Certificate Sandplay Therapy
• Certificate Anthroposophical Arts (Steiner)
• Tree of life-Narrative Therapy training
• MBSR-Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Course

Memberships I belong to:

• Professional member AThR with ANZACATA- Australian, New Zealand and Asian Creative Arts Therapies Association-Click to view my ANZACATA profile
• Level 4 ACA member Australian Counselling Association- Click here to view my ACA profile ,where I have attained the following: 
  
  • Graduated from an ACA accredited/ approved Master of Counselling or equivalent-(Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice) @ AQF level 9
  • Completed a minimum 4 years post qualification supervised counselling practice
  • Completed a minimum 1000 supervised client contact hours
  • Completed a minimum of 100 hours of professional supervision 
  • In order to meet ACA and ANZACATA's annual registration process, I continue to meet my annual requirements of OPD-(Ongoing Professional development), CPD-( Continuing Professional Development) & 10 hours of supervision
• ACA College of Supervisors
• Registered member ARCAP -Australian Register of Counsellors & Psychotherapists

Esential Child Safe/ Health and Police Checks: 

• Current Working With Children Check & National Police Check
• NDIS Worker’s Screening Check- current

Networks I connect with:

• Arts Atlas-Click here to view my Arts Atlas profile
• ACA regional Chapter groups 
• MHPN- Mental Health Professional Network group
• Loss and Grief Practitioners Association
• MBSR - Ballarat Mindfulness Peer Support group

NDIS

As a registered, professional Art Therapist with ANZACATA, I am available to offer Art Therapy as Therapeutic Supports to NDIS participants, who are Plan-managed or Self-managed using the following NDIS item details:

• Registration Number-0128,      Registration name- Therapeutic Supports
• Support category number-15, Support Category name-Improved Daily living skills
• Support Item Number-15_056_0128_1_3
• Support Item name-Assessment/recommendation, Therapy and or training (inc AT) other therapy                                                                                                     

Please contact your local NDIS LAC (Local Area Coordinator), NDIS Support Coordinator for more details or contact me directly.

Inspiration 

I'm inspired by Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann AM, an Aboriginal activist, educator and artist of the Ngan'gtiyemerri language group situated around the Daly river in Northen Territory. She is the first indigenous teacher to work in the Northern Territory and promotes Dadirri- Inner deep listening and quiet still awareness. Click here to read and watch the video of Miriam Rose talking about Dadirri and be inspired.

Acknowledgement of Country

Drawing Within welcomes all communities and works in harmony with Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people, as the traditional owners and custodians of the lands, skies and waterways, where we provide services to the Wadawurrung, DjaDja Wurrung, Djab Wurrung and Jadwadjali peoples.

We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and acknowledge their continuing culture and contribution to the life of this city and south western region of Victoria. Click her to view their Aboriginal flags

We are committed to providing safe therapeutic spaces to First Nations's people to connect to their culture, countries and communities, as well as celebrating the LGBTIQ community and fostering diversity and all abilities. Click here to view the new LGBTIQ flag

Contact me on:

• 0409 954 703
• email drawingwithin@yahoo.com.au

I would love to hear from you.♥