Art Tearapy

15/07/2025

🌀 Why Arts-Based Supervision Matters
(And why we need more of it in helping professions)

In a world that often demands output over integration, supervision can either become a tick-box exercise — or a transformative space for reflection, growth, and resilience.

As a therapist, facilitator, and founder of Art Tearapy, I offer arts-based supervision grounded in the belief that:

🎨 Creative processes reveal what words cannot.
Art, image, movement, and metaphor allow us to access the layers of our practice — the unsaid, the intuitive, the emotional. It’s not about artistic skill, but permission to explore from a deeper place.

🫀 Who we are is how we hold space.
Supervision is not just about our clients. It’s about us — our identities, boundaries, blind spots, inner critics, values, and gifts. Arts-based approaches help us reconnect to our why, clarify our how, and stay in integrity.

🌱 Sustainable practice requires tending, not just doing.
Burnout is real. So is vicarious trauma. Supervision must offer more than case management — it must offer containment, co-regulation, creativity, and care. Especially for those working in marginalised communities or carrying lived experience.

🧶 Supervision is where threads get woven back together.
Sometimes we forget how much we’re holding — stories, systems, sorrow. Arts-based supervision offers a way to make sense of it all. To see the bigger picture again. To honour the work. To stay whole.

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If you’re a therapist, healer, educator, or change-maker longing for a more embodied, creative, and reflective way to be supported — I’d love to work with you.

Let’s move beyond performance and into presence.
Let’s make space for your voice, your values, and your vision.

With care,
Su Mei Tan (she/her)
🖌 Art Therapist | 🧘 Yoga Therapist | 🌿 Clinical Supervisor
www.arttearapy.com

02/07/2025

The Revolution Continues—In Me

My lineage is one of fire.

My grandfather stood as Malaysia’s first opposition leader—bold enough to speak truth to power, even when it cost him safety and belonging. My father once held the post of Deputy Minister of Land, shaping policies that touched land, livelihood, and legacy. On my mother’s side, my great-grandfather helped lead the revolutionary propaganda for Sun Yat Sen—a visionary who dreamed of a new China.

I carry their courage in my bones.
Their convictions beat in my heart.
Their struggles shaped the ground I now walk.

And yet, I’ve chosen another way.

Not one of titles or political office, but of stillness. Of deep listening. Of healing through creativity, ceremony, and care.

I am still involved in politics—just not in the way that draws cameras or votes. I engage in community, I speak up for justice, I shape spaces where marginalised voices can rise. But I do not seek to be the public candidate. I choose the quieter work: the kind that shifts culture from the inside out.

While my ancestors fought for liberation on the streets and in parliament, I help others find freedom within—through art, movement, and presence.

For a long time, I wrestled with guilt. Was I turning away from the path laid out for me?
But I now understand—I am continuing the legacy, not by repeating it, but by reimagining it.

My act of courage is to rest.
My offering is to hold space.
My revolution is tenderness.
And my sacrifice is for my family.
To raise them in wholeness.
To give them a life rooted in peace, not performance.

To break the ancestral cycle of striving and sacrifice is not abandonment.
It is devotion in a new form.

I am not less for choosing presence over power.
I am more, because I choose to be whole.

16/05/2025

When Is It Art? When Is It Therapy? And What’s the Difference?

Not all art is art therapy — and not all therapy that includes art is run by a qualified art therapist. Let’s break it down:

1. Art
Art is creative expression — painting, drawing, making — for its own sake. It can be joyful, political, healing, or purely aesthetic. Everyone can make art. No rules, no qualifications needed.

2. Art as Therapy
Art can feel therapeutic. Making art in a safe space can help with self-expression, grounding, and emotional release. Many community programs use art this way, often facilitated by artists, teachers, or peer workers. While valuable, it’s not the same as formal art therapy.

3. Art Therapy
Art Therapy is a mental health profession. It combines psychotherapeutic approaches with art-making, led by a qualified Art Therapist trained in psychology, trauma-informed care, and ethical practice. In Australia, a qualified art therapist:
• Holds a Master’s in Art Therapy from an accredited institution
• Is registered with ANZACATA, or PACFA our peak professional bodies
• Has supervised clinical experience
• Engages in ongoing professional development

Art therapy isn’t just about making art — it’s about the therapeutic process through the art, and what happens in the relationship between the client, the image, and the therapist.

Why does this matter?
Because people’s emotions, trauma, and mental health deserve care and safety. It’s important to honour the distinctions, while also celebrating the healing power of creativity in all its forms.

In summary:
• Art = creative expression
• Art as Therapy = art that’s healing, but not formal therapy
• Art Therapy = clinical, evidence-based practice by a trained professional

Let’s honour all of it — but call it what it is.

15/05/2025

Working Within a Broken System

Let’s be honest: these systems—welfare, health, education, justice, mental health, NDIS—were never built with all of us in mind.

Many were designed to control, to categorise, to manage ‘risk,’ not to centre care or community. They reflect the values of those in power at the time they were built—and for many of us, that meant being excluded, dehumanised, or made invisible.

So yes, the system is broken.
But also—it is functioning exactly as it was designed to.

Still, some of us have no choice but to work within it.
To get the support.
To reach the people.
To survive.

It’s a privilege in itself to be untouched by these systems—to stand outside and critique them from a distance. But many of us are deep inside, translating our values into bureaucratic language, navigating red tape to carve out moments of genuine care.

We’re not here to fix it all.
We’re here to make room.
Room for stories that don’t fit neatly into funding boxes.
Room for healing that isn’t clinical.
Room for dignity, for agency, for softness.

To all of you doing this work while holding your own lived experience—thank you.
You are walking a tightrope with heart.

We are not here to save the system.
We are here to remember why we chose to care in the first place.

12/05/2025

A new chapter for Art Tearapy:
Su Mei is now Volunteering at the
I’m honoured to begin offering art therapy on Mondays as a volunteer at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC).

So many who arrive here carry untold stories—of resilience, loss, courage, and hope. Through creative expression, I hope to offer a gentle space where art can speak when words fall short.

Art therapy can be a powerful way to reclaim agency, process trauma, and reconnect with self and community.

To walk alongside those who have been displaced, and to witness the strength of their spirit through art, is both humbling and deeply meaningful.

If you’ve ever wondered what healing can look like outside traditional therapy rooms, come look into the quiet language of colour, texture, and imagination.

I’m so grateful to be part of the ASRC community and to contribute in this small way.

09/05/2025

The Subtle Art of Letting Go vs.
The Trap of Procrastination

There’s a fine line between letting go and procrastinating — and for many of us, especially those who live in a cycle of urgency, perfectionism, or survival mode, it can feel almost impossible to tell the difference.

Letting go is an act of trust.
Procrastination is often an act of fear.

Letting go says: I’ve done what I can. Now I rest and allow space for what wants to emerge.
Procrastination says: I can’t start until it’s perfect. What if I fail? What if I’m not ready?

Letting go is intentional. It invites spaciousness, receptivity, and restoration.
Procrastination clings to avoidance. It keeps us in a loop of discomfort without release.

But here’s the catch:
they can look the same on the outside.
Both might involve not doing the thing right now.
But only one nourishes the nervous system.
Only one frees us.
Only one helps us return to our full selves.

Sometimes, the only way to tell is to pause and ask:
Am I postponing because I’m afraid, or am I pausing because I trust myself enough to rest?

In our practice — whether it’s art, therapy, activism, or simply being human — learning to feel that difference is the beginning of real freedom.

08/05/2025

05/05/2025

I recently had the honour of facilitating another series of Creative Arts Therapy workshops at SEPI in Kuala Lumpur — a deeply meaningful time of holding space for reflection, expression, and healing.

Through Calming the Inner Chaos (yoga, journaling, and mandala), A Hero’s Journey (collage), and In Two Minds (bilateral drawing and processing), we explored the inner landscapes of each participant — meeting grief, identity, and transformation with creative courage and gentleness.

Each workshop offered something unique: the stillness of breath and mandalas, the imaginative power of storytelling through collage, and the raw clarity of drawing with both hands. Together, we honoured the complexity of being human.

A heartfelt thank you to SEPI for the invitation, and to each participant who showed up with openness and honesty. Your presence made the space sacred.

As I fly back, I look forward to future collabs, if you are an organisation or individual in Melbourne or Kuala Lumpur, do reach out if you want a sip of our creative healing energy.

11/04/2025

Reintroducing Su Mei & Art Tearapy
Where Healing, Culture, and Creativity Converge

Hello again, lovely community. It’s been a journey—and it still is.
For those who are new here, my name is Su Mei Tan (she/her), and I’m the founder of Art Tearapy, a creative healing social enterprise rooted in Footscray, Hawthorn (Naarm/Melbourne) and Kuala Lumpur.

With a background in architecture, art therapy, yoga therapy, and trauma-informed practice, I’ve spent years weaving together spaces that honour the body, the story, and the spirit—especially for those who feel they don’t quite belong in just one place. As a third culture kid, a daughter of the diaspora, and a community therapist, my work is deeply personal and profoundly collective.

Art Tearapy was born out of a dream:
To create safe(r) spaces where first and second-generation migrants, refugees, and First Nations people can express, rest, and transform.
To honour our grief and joy, our rituals and resistance, through art, tea, movement, storytelling, and community care.
To be not just a practice—but a living, breathing sanctuary.

Over the years, we’ve danced with elders, painted with youth, held space for grief, and co-created visions of healing with our community. Whether it’s sipping tea with a stranger, painting stories onto ribbon, or sharing silence in a circle—our work is about weaving connection and collective resilience.

If you’ve just discovered us, welcome. If you’ve walked with us for a while, thank you.
We’re so grateful you’re here.

Let’s keep creating, healing, and dreaming together.

With heart,
Su Mei & Team Tearapy

29/03/2025

Reflection on the Art of Belonging Workshop

In The Art of Belonging workshop, we explored the intricate threads that make up our sense of place in the world. Belonging is not a destination—it’s a continual unfolding shaped by the land we inhabit, the cultures we carry, the ancestors who live through us, and the communities we find ourselves in now.

Our environment—the textures, sounds, smells, and stories of the spaces we occupy—can hold us gently or leave us feeling untethered. The cultures and lineages we descend from can be both a source of pride and a complex terrain to navigate, especially when we’re far from our ancestral homelands. In remembering our loved ones who have passed, we often find ourselves straddling two worlds: the one we live in now and the one they once filled. Their absence lingers in the spaces between us and can shape how we seek belonging in others.

This workshop created space for the tender and often unspoken truth that many of us are still grieving—grieving not only people, but also places we’ve left, identities we’ve shed, and homes we’ve had to rebuild from scratch. We began to witness how our personal grief intersects with the collective—how in sharing our pain, memory, and longing, a new community can form. One that does not demand us to be “healed” or “whole” before we can be seen, but instead, welcomes the unfinished, the in-process, the becoming.

Growing new roots is not always easy. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it brings joy. Sometimes it’s both at once. Healing, as we felt together, is rarely linear. And perhaps the most radical thing we can do is to allow ourselves to sit in the in-between—the both/and—the space where we belong everywhere and nowhere at once. Or, as the wordplay reminds us: now here.

To belong does not mean to fit perfectly. It means being met with compassion where we are, as we are. This workshop was a reminder that even in our dislocation, fragmentation, and longing, there is still beauty. There is still connection. And there is still room to grow, together.

Thank you to all those who came to share this space and experience with us. It was a special one.

27/03/2025

For the in-betweeners, border-crossers,
and third culture souls.
If you’ve ever belonged everywhere and nowhere all at once — this is for you.

The Art of Belonging is a Creative Tea and Meditative Experience designed for those who live in the spaces between cultures, languages, and lands. Whether you’re a migrant, a third culture kid, or someone still finding home within, this gathering offers a gentle space to reflect, create, and connect.

We’ll begin with a slow tea ritual to ground ourselves in presence. Through mindful artmaking and intimate conversation, we’ll explore themes of identity, displacement, memory, and belonging — and how we carry these stories in our bodies and spirits.

What’s included:
• Tea story telling
• A guided meditation
• Creative expression through visual art
• Space to share your story in a supportive group
• All materials and tea provided

No experience necessary — just bring your open heart and layered history.

Together, we’ll honour the beauty of becoming — across borders, cultures, and time.

The Art of Belonging –
A Creative Tea & Meditative Experience
Saturday 29 March | 10am–12pm |
Artful Yoga Gallery, St Kilda

Bookings essential | Link in Bio