The Greenhouse Therapies

25/08/2025

INTERNATIONAL CHILDHOOD TRAUMA CONFERENCE 2025 (NAARM)

- A place to discuss topics related to children and the challenges they face in feeling safe, heard and understood through trauma informed practices and approaches -

1. Alyce with Deb Dana () with her contributions around rhythms of regulation and use of Polyvagal Theory. Personal take away was re-storying through movement and titrating worries from ‘regulated’ sympathetic states into ventral state.
2. Morning sunrises from my room. I am often known as a “night owl” and so with the winter darkness prolonging morning light a bit longer, being able to see sunrise without an alarm (or children) to rouse me, felt like a small gift.
3. A symposium on therapeutic out-of-home care- panel included: Dan Hughes, Jon Baylin, Kelly Royds (Executive Director, Knowledge Mobilisation & Practice - ), Kim Golding, Lynne McPherson (Chair, Out Of Home Care, Research - Southern Cross University), Kylie Day (Indigenous Knowledge Lecturer - Southern Cross University), carers and young people with experience of OOHC. Take away for me was the power of having consistent support in therapeutic care models and hearing positive experiences from young people whose care arrangement is safe and suitable.
4. Walking into for the first time and getting registration done. Finding the resource area and grateful for extra luggage I got 📚🙊
5. Informal conversation hour with Janise Mitchell from and . My anticipation for the week ahead went full throttle!! I attended Cathy’s “Neurodiversity Affirming Practices and Expressive Arts” keynote and the room was packed with eagerness to learn, Be S.A.G.E, move and be in synchrony together.
6. A “found-parts” playground in Southbank which I adore! Seeing healthy risk taking and reusing materials to create play in the middle of the city 🙌
7. Exploration of contextual aspects of DDP interventions in the advanced masterclass with Jon Baylin, Dan Hughes and Kim Golding. Appreciating the review and consideration around cultural contexts and differences Kim brought to the conversation.

(FURTHER REFLECTIONS IN THE COMMENTS 🫶🏼🙌💡🌀)

24/08/2025

MUSIC, RHYTHM AND SOUND

Music can help us reset. Music, rhythm, and sound aren’t just entertainment—they’re tools to guide your brain into a regulated, focused, connected and/or flow state. 🌊🎶

Sound and rhythm can quiet the noise of anxiety and help your brain fully engage in the present moment. Sound can be healing.

highlights that sound as an arts-based healing practice can be used to re-experience oneself, resensitise the body to healthy embodied experiences of enlivenment and reconnect people in prosocial and relational experiences (pg. 63 Trauma and Expressive Arts Therapy).

“Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears – it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients, music is even more – it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity.” Oliver Sacks

Sound can find places in our sensory systems where words cannot. It can be a powerful way to express, to tell story, to call/respond, to use imagination and to connect back to ourselves.

19/08/2025

SUPPORTING LOCAL BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY

We got an opportunity to spend some time in the chambers with and to celebrate ICC’s recommitment to supporting small businesses in Ipswich/Tulmur. Discussions around community benefit, service access, employment, innovation and development, grant applications, strengthened economic value and local business identity were had.

We are excited to continue to build connections and partnerships with some great people in this area who have a genuine interest to offer local products and services to our community!

07/08/2025

OUT OF THE OFFICE

We are currently on leave to fill our “creative cup” by participating in the festival which will be happening over the next three days.

We are excited to meet other artists, designers and creatives who have worked on projects that push boundaries, use sustainable and repurposed material as well as celebrate expression and storytelling in a variety of ways!!

Looking forward to being back in The Greenhouse 🌿 next week.

01/08/2025

WHAT’S IN YOUR HANDS BUSY BEE? 🐝

Art Therapy processes don’t often need extravagant resources to support mindful moments or mastering techniques. Stitch by stitch, this little creation incorporates left over fairy light wire and pillow batting to create structure to crochet a little friend. Working kinesthetically and with pattern/repetition can help calm the mind, soothe anxious feelings and find a way of spinning life’s chaos into something beautiful 🧶✨

Our brains love patterns and soft sensory input can be soothing and nurturing to the nervous system.

Once you get into it, you can get hooked!

01/07/2025

AUSTRALIA CELEBRATES PLAY - 1st JULY 🎉

Since 2010- many play therapists from around Australia highlight the importance and value of play therapy for children, for families and for communities. Play is demonstrated in many different ways and therapeutic play often allows the processing of emotions and experiences within a trusting, safe and supportive therapeutic relationship.

Jess and I are so grateful for this profession, for the work we get to do and the clients who trust in the process and power of play!

19/06/2025

Sunny Hearts your reflection is what it is all about!
Thank you Jennifer Howard MP for visiting. New experiences were had, childhood origin stories discussed and hope shared for the wellbeing of Ipswich, it's people and the systems around them.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to meet Alyce from The Greenhouse Therapies and Jess from Sunny Hearts Therapy and take a tour of the beautiful Greenhouse Therapies space in the Nicholas Street Precinct.
They provide art therapy, play therapy and movement therapy, offering a creative approach to mental wellness and helping clients facilitate creative expression. It was lovely to see the beautiful space at The Greenhouse Therapies and hear about the work they’re doing within our community.

17/06/2025

NDIS review and pricing guides have been updated for 2025-2026!

- ART THERAPY IS STILL A THERAPEUTIC SUPPORT 🎉🎨🎭🎥🖼️✂️📝

Thank you to all those who advocated, signed petitions, submitted research and reminded the decision makers in this review that participants benefit from having creative therapies in their capacity building supports!

Your voice, your choice and your control matter and make a difference.

What does this mean? Capacity building supports can be funded and used in participants plans using the following items codes:

🖍️ 15_610_0128_1_3 for Art Therapy 9 years and over and Early Childhood Intervention Support under 9 years.

🧸15_005_0118_1_3 for Early Childhood Intervention Support by an Other Early Childhood professional (Play Therapy can be delivered under this code for children under 9 years).
https://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-arrangements

Over 7 months ago, we began advocating that these services (and those of our Music Therapy colleagues) would remain and be valued in the NDIS.

👎🏼 Now other allied health supports- Psychology, Physiotherapy and Podiatry have had quite a change in the recent review and are petitioning for support for the work they do (some needing to change their service delivery drastically or close their practices).

🚗 Outreach and travel services have also been reviewed and this has also had an impact on what supports can be offered to participants who are limited to home-based support or live rurally.

If you want to join us in supporting holistic allied health service options for NDIS participants and supporting their voice and control, please consider signing this petition link https://chng.it/HXxnpVsWwG or speak with your MPs.
We will continue to lift the voices of those who use these systems not because it’s a “nice” thing to have, but because they are essential for wellbeing and quality of life for people with disabilities.

11/06/2025

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PLAY- 11 JUNE 🎉

Play is one of the best ways children (and adults) learn about themselves as well as navigate relationships with others.

Working with different perspectives, communication styles, problem solving and emotion regulation can occur naturally during play. These can often be unconscious and authentic moments that equip children to build stronger relationships, increase their personal capacity, feel accepted and channel their own unique resilience to build self-trust in an increasingly complex world.

Today we celebrate PLAY and the different ways people choose to incorporate it into their lives as well as advocating for it in areas where it would be beneficial! Choose play EVERY DAY

27/05/2025

BRIDGING NOW TO NEXT - NRW 2025

The Greenhouse Therapies takes the time as an Australian business to learn about the shared histories, cultures, stories and resilience of our First Nation Peoples and its role in working towards a more united and respectful nation.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands we work on - the Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul people and their efforts in educating and connecting us with the waters, country and truth-telling of this area.

May we actively contribute to the voices that speak hope and reconciliation into the future of Australia and a commitment towards walking together as one.



📸
👩🏾‍🦱👶🏾 local First Nations family

07/04/2025

FIRST WEEK DOWN & WE ARE BACK FOR WEEK TWO!

How wonderful it was to spend some time last week sharing this space with our clients and some very special people who have been part of the journey to help this dream become a reality!

You know when you have some encouragers and cheerleaders in your corner when they come out mid-week to celebrate these milestones with you 😭🫶🏼🌿

An extra little thank you to:
💚
💚
💚 and the construction trades!
💚
💚
💚
💚
for helping us create such a warm and inviting space!

We are so excited to have our community launch this Saturday 12 April starting at 10am! We would love to share this day with those who are interested in coming down and having a look at what we do!

16/03/2025

🌈🌿 NEURODIVERSITY CELEBRATION WEEK 🌈🌿

For the dreamers
For the pioneers
For the adventurers
For the changemakers
For the trailblazers
For the innovators

For different minds of all kinds, we celebrate you this week. Different - not less!