Play & Creative Therapy Bundaberg

09/01/2026

08/01/2026

🌿 𝐀 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭
𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘳𝘰-𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥-𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘥. 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱.

If you’ve ever left a parent session feeling weighed down by more strategies, advice that didn’t work for your family, and pressure to “do it right”… this space is for you.

Neuroinclusive Co. is launching a 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲 for caregivers of Autistic, ADHD, PDA, or otherwise neurodivergent children and teens who are seeking something deeper, gentler, and more aligned.

This is a supportive space.
You’ll leave with greater clarity, reassurance, and a deeper understanding of what’s going on for both you and your child.

What makes this space different is 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱.

This isn’t a space for fixing children or correcting parents.
It’s not behaviour management or compliance training.
And it’s not about forcing children to fit into systems that weren’t built for them.

Instead, this space supports parents to:
• make sense of behaviour through a neuro-affirming lens
• understand nervous system needs beneath the surface
• respond with confidence, compassion, and clarity
• hold boundaries without shame or power struggles
• feel less alone and more resourced

Support here doesn’t come in the form of “do this, don’t do that.”
It comes through shared understanding, gentle guidance, and grounded conversation that actually fits real ND family life.

🌱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁
• Neurodivergence is honoured, not treated as a challenge to manage
• Behaviour is explored through nervous system safety, not correction
• Parents are supported as whole humans, not coached into compliance
• Lived experience sits alongside professional understanding
• Curiosity replaces judgement
• Connection replaces control

There are no gold-star parenting answers here.
Just thoughtful conversation, shared insight, and relief in being genuinely seen.

🌿 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿
Parents and caregivers who:
• feel uneasy with traditional parenting advice
• are tired of being told what should work
• want support that aligns with their values
• are ready to move away from behaviour-focused narratives
• want to understand their child without losing themselves

This group is facilitated by a neurodivergent practitioner, grounded in lived experience, relational neuroscience, and deeply neuro-affirming practice.

✨ Intentionally small group
Maximum 8 adults to protect emotional safety and meaningful connection.

𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲:
$15 per individual
$25 per parenting pair

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻:
Monthly | Mondays | Choice of Morning or Early evening Sessions

𝗨𝗽𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀:
2 Feb • 2 Mar • 6 Apr • 4 May • 1 Jun • 6 Jul

🌱 𝗟𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲
👉 Register to secure your spot or join the waitlist
https://shorturl.at/fsQ0d

NDIS:
This support may be claimable through NDIS, depending on your plan and individual circumstances. Please check with your plan manager or support coordinator.

NEUROiNCLUSIVE Co.

08/01/2026

07/01/2026

Many people know us for our work with children… but we support adults too.

Both Kara and Jo are experienced counsellors, and this year we’ve intentionally opened some space within our days for adult-focused counselling.

We offer a calm, respectful space for emotional support, burnout, life transitions, parenting, and the perinatal season.

A safe place to be. 🌿

07/01/2026

At long last, I finally had a quiet window to return to my sandtray set up today. It’s been sitting half-finished for months, waiting patiently while clinical work took priority.

I’ve ordered new shelves that will fit my abundance of minatures, and I’m slowly setting up a refreshed sandtray space, ready for the year ahead.

The blue and green trays aren’t decorative. They truly reflect a central belief in sandtray therapy and reflect universal symbols that appear across cultures, myths, dreams, and nature.

🩵 Blue represents water, sky, depth, and the unconscious. It allows access to deeper emotional material, supporting the expression of inner worlds without words. Blue can evoke calm and containment, even while holding intense experiences.

💚 Green represents earth, land, growth, nature, and grounded reality. It supports regulation, grounding, and relational safety, helping clients feel anchored as they explore their inner experience. This is often especially supportive for children and neurodivergent clients who seek a stronger sense of safety and physical grounding before symbolic depth.

🌿 Green trays are often preferred when the therapeutic intention is containment, nervous system settling, and relational safety rather than deeper symbolic exploration.

🌀 Together, they also allow clients to move fluidly between inner and outer worlds.

This matters clinically because…

🍃 Colour shapes how safe a client feels
🍃 It influences whether material emerges slowly or symbolically
🍃 It supports trauma-informed, neuro-affirming practice by reducing verbal demand
🍃 Healing happens when the psyche is given space, safety, and symbolic freedom, not direction.

They may look like basic tools, but they hold deep work. ✨

Kara 🤍

06/01/2026

Emotional safety is built when feelings are allowed to exist without being rushed, silenced, or reshaped. 🍃

06/01/2026

Get Involved - Brave Brothers supports men's health, su***de awareness and domestic abuse campaigns.

31/12/2025

✨ A little look back (and a gentle peek forward) at Play & Creative Therapy Bundaberg

This year had a lot of texture.
Learning, shifting, building, pausing, growing. Some things happened out loud, AND a lot happened quietly behind the scenes.

Here are a few moments we’re smiling about as we head into what’s next 💛

🌱 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸
Kara spent time learning and deepening through attending the Ladybugs Conference in-person, the Neurodiversity Therapy Conference, Dr John Demartini’s Values in Action, and Synergetic Play Therapy Institute training with the incredible Lisa Dion and also Sarah from Queensland Institute of Play Therapy. Kara also began part-time University studies in Disability and Developmental Education, an area very close to her heart and deeply connected to why this work matters.

Jo also had a big year of growth and learning. After welcoming a baby earlier this year (who is truly cute as a button) she joined us in June and it already feels like we’ve been working together for years. Our values and approaches align so beautifully.

This year Jo completed an Art Therapy Practitioner course, designed and delivered a Youth Art Therapy program with a local school, began her Clinical Training in Play Therapy with QIPT, and continued with her own University studies. Watching this growth unfold has been such a joy. ✨

All of this learning feeds back into how we show up with children and families every day.

👥 𝗔 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝘁𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳
Like any growing practice, our team shifted and settled this year. We also welcomed Jess into the practice to take on the admin load and very quickly realised how much steadiness and breathing room she brings behind the scenes. Turns out, that kind of support makes a HUGE difference! I didn't know how much I needed her until she arrived. 💛

🏡 𝗔 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱
We moved and renovated with intention, creating a space that feels calmer, softer, and more supportive of nervous systems. A place where kids can arrive as they are and families can exhale a little more. It was a BIG job, but we got there in the end 🙏✨

🎓 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴
This year Kara delivered her first Cothú program after becoming a Certified Trainer with AUsome Training. While she had to make the call to pause while renovations and practice development took centre stage, plans are in motion for another 2026 relaunch.

ANCHORED also took shape this year, growing in the background and preparing for release in 2026. ANCHORED is Kara's signature neurodiversity-affirming program being created for parents, caregivers, and educators who want to support children and teens without losing themselves in the process.

Kara also began shaping Neuroinclusive Co.. this year and will be integrating this area into the practice for the team to develop in 2026.

NEUROiNCLUSIVE Co. is becoming our education and training arm, focused on creating genuinely neurodiversity-affirming spaces beyond the therapy room. It’s about supporting schools, educators, organisations, and communities to move away from surface-level inclusion and towards practices that actually work for neurodivergent people.

A lot of listening, learning, and designing has been happening behind the scenes, and this will be a big part of how we step further into the community in the year ahead.

More on that soon.

📖 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻
The AuDHD brain keeps on moving with creative ventures and Kara also started writing a book this year, exploring life as a neurodivergent family, the different ways we experience the world, and how we learned to support one another. It’s unfolding at its own pace.

🧸 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹
This year we shared space in over 1,000 therapy sessions. Thats a lot of play. A lot of listening. A lot of small, meaningful moments that don’t show up in photos but matter deeply.

Creativity truly shows up when neurodivergent minds are allowed to play!

🤍 As we head into next year, we’re feeling incredibly grateful, grounded, and excited for the year ahead!

Behind the scenes, we’ve been designing opportunities to meet our community a little more and we’re really looking forward to bringing these your way next year.

Thank you so much for being part of this space, whether you’ve been with us for years in person, following along on our page, or you’re just finding us now 🌿

We’re so glad you’re here and wish each and every one of you a magical New Year ahead ✨

Woah that was a big post! It really has been a HUGE year, so if you got to the end of this post, please comment below - a GIF, emoji, or reflection of your own so we can share the love for your commitment.

With so much love from,
💛 Kara and the team at Play & Creative Therapy Bundaberg

27/12/2025

Parents know what works.

A new survey shows families have strong, clear ideas for how the new Thriving Kids program must be designed - with lived experience at the centre.

Thriving Kids will shift young children with developmental delay or autism (with low-moderate support needs) out of the NDIS. Families are worried. They’re calling for:

✅ Written “no-worse-off” guarantees
✅ Choice to keep trusted clinicians
✅ Supports that are neuro-affirming, not masking
✅ Services where kids live and learn
✅ Equity for rural, First Nations & diverse communities
✅ Genuine co-design from day one

As one parent said: “Shouldn’t we get a right to say what supports suit our children?”
🔗 Read the full article: https://theconversation.com/if-parents-designed-the-new-thriving-kids-program-itd-look-like-this-271182

[Image description: A white stack of papers on a red background with a red paperclip. The top sheet reads: “Read from The Conversation: If parents designed the new ‘Thriving Kids’ program, it’d look like this.” The Every Australian Counts logo appears at the bottom left.]

25/12/2025

🫶✨🎄

23/12/2025

Christmas Eve doesn’t need to look a certain way to be meaningful.

Some nervous systems need quiet.
Some need movement.
Some need predictability.
Some need space.

All of that is okay.

Tonight, we honour regulation over ritual, connection over expectation, and safety over "shoulds".

Wishing our families a very gentle Christmas Eve 🤍

From our hearts to yours,
Kara & the Play & Creative Therapy Bundaberg team 🤍🌿✨

23/12/2025

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗽𝘆

(and why they don’t look the same in every room)

Play therapy isn’t a straight line.
It’s more like a tide. It moves, retreats, deepens, circles back.

While many play therapists recognise common stages, how these stages are supported, interpreted, and responded to depends greatly on the therapist’s training, theoretical lens, and values.

Here’s an overview of how we support children in the playroom👇

𝟭. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝘁𝘆
This is the foundation. Always.

The child is learning:
🍃 Am I safe here?
🍃 Will you follow my lead?
🍃 What happens if I say no?
🍃 What happens if I feel too much?

Some therapists focus primarily on non-directive presence, allowing safety to emerge purely through attunement and consistency. Others may weave in relational neuroscience, nervous system regulation, or subtle co-regulatory supports.

Different paths. Same aim: safety before anything else.

𝟮. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴
Once safety begins to form, children explore.

This can look like:
✋Testing limits
🫵 Power and control play
🦶 Chaos, overwhelm, destruction
🫶 “Will you still stay if I do this?”

A child-centred therapist may respond by holding consistent boundaries while protecting the play. A therapist trained in more integrative or directive models may gently scaffold or name relational patterns as they emerge.

The play isn’t random. It’s data. It’s communication.

𝟯. 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻
This is where the child’s inner world often shows itself.

Themes may emerge around:
👀 Safety vs danger
👀 Attachment and separation
👀 Control, helplessness, rescue
👀 Shame, fear, anger, grief

Some trainings emphasise tracking and reflecting meaning without interpretation. Others include play themes, metaphors, and clinical meaning-making as part of the therapeutic process.

What matters is that meaning is held respectfully, not imposed.

𝟰. 𝗘𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Here, play often becomes deeper and more focused.

You may see:
🌱 Repetitive play resolving
🌱 Emotional tolerance increasing
🌱 New narratives forming
🌱 Flexibility where there was once rigidity

Therapists trained in trauma-informed or attachment-based models may actively support emotional integration and repair.
Others continue to trust the child’s innate capacity to integrate through play alone.

The pace is always set by the child.

𝟱. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 & 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
Play begins to change.

💛 Themes soften or resolve
💛 The child may talk more, or need less play
💛 Regulation and relational confidence increase
💛 Separation and endings come into view

Some therapists name this explicitly with the child. Others allow it to unfold quietly through the play relationship.

Endings are handled with great care. They truly matter.

𝗔 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿

Two play therapists can sit on the same floor, with the same toys, and work very differently.

That doesn’t mean one is wrong.

It means:
✨ Training matters
✨ Philosophy matters
✨ How we view children matters
✨ And the relationship itself matters

Play therapy is deeply relational.
Progress doesn’t come from the toys, the room, or the model alone. It grows from the felt sense of connection between a child and their therapist.

And that connection is supported by skill.

It means the therapist understands child development, play processes, and the nervous system.

They know when to follow, when to hold, and when to gently guide.

They can recognise play themes, emotional cues, and moments that need protection rather than intervention.

Relationship and training are not opposites. They work together.

A safe connection is built not just on warmth, but on knowing what you’re doing, and knowing when not to do too much.

If you’re considering support for your child and want to understand what that relationship could look like, please reach out.

💬 Send us a DM or reach out via our website www.playcreative.com.au

🤍 Questions are always welcome. Choosing support should feel safe, informed, and unrushed.