Newcastle Music & Art Therapy

02/03/2026

🎶 Check out our Director, Registered Music Therapist Susan Ashley-Brown, in action at Summit Abilities! 🎶

Susan played, danced and sang with their school holiday group - and to be honest, we can't tell who was having more fun!

Thank you to Summit Abilities for hosting, and to all of the group members for sharing their musical talents with us!

🎸🎹🪘

We run groups for all ages and all abilities, from early childhood through to aged care. No two groups are alike - even our in-house programs are individually tailored to the needs of each group.

You can choose to have a music therapy group like this one, or an art therapy group - or combine both art therapy and music therapy into one group for the best of both worlds!

Get in touch today to find out more - call 0490 361 628 or email info@newcastlemusictherapy.com.au

25/02/2026

SPOTLIGHT ON: Group Music Therapy and Art Therapy sessions!

We offer group art therapy and group music therapy programs for disability providers, schools or organisations looking for creative group initiatives. You can even get the best of both worlds with a combined music therapy and art therapy group!

☀️ Seasons of Change 🍂 is our aged care program, facilitated by our Registered Art Therapists. It's framed around J. William Worden’s “Four Tasks of Grieving”, and runs across the four seasons - Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. We can also add a music therapy component, facilitated by one of our Registered Music Therapists.

🎒 Creative Kindys 🏫 is our school readiness program, which combines music therapy and art therapy to help kids get ready for "big school". We tailor our program to suit both the needs of your kindys and your organisation or childcare centre.

✏️Scribble & Hum 🎶 is a combined music therapy and art therapy program aimed at kids 5 and under and their parents/carers. Creativity, mess and self-expression are key elements! Our activities are aimed at creating and nurturing positive parent/carer-child relationships.

💭 We can also design a custom program that fits your group perfectly. You can chat with our therapists about what your needs and preferences are, and we will tailor a program for you!

If you're interested in a group for your organisation, email us on info@newcastlemusictherapy.com.au or call 0490 361 628.

25/02/2026

In the creative therapies space, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups:
the music therapists, who instigate the earworms;
and the art therapists, who get the earworms stuck in their heads.

These are their earworms.

(Full disclosure - the art therapists often contribute their own earworms to the fray, and at least one admin is a dirty rotten earworm generator…)

VIDEO DESCRIPTION 📹
A black screen, with the above caption appearing as if by typewriter. The Law & Order “dun dun” noise plays, followed by 9 “earworms” - Spice Girls “Leader of the Gang”, Dusty Springfield “I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself”, the THX sound, Kenny Loggins “Danger Zone”, Rent cast “Seasons of Love”, the Wassup commercial, Eiffel 65 “Blue”, Romper Room “Bend and Stretch”, Rosé and Bruno Mars “APT.”

17/02/2026

Behind the scenes in a music therapy session!

What does a music therapy session look like? And what's actually happening to improve health outcomes?

Let's look through the microscope with clinician Rebecca Eager RMT NMT.

At AMTA's 50th anniversary event, Rebecca took us inside some of her real-life music therapy sessions. She talked us through some of the specialised techniques that registered music therapists use to help their patients with self-regulation, movement, communication and more.

And now you're invited to view this terrific presentation that uses everyday language and real-life case studies to show some of the ways music therapy changes lives.

Thanks to Rebecca for sharing your work and expertise, and to your patients for sharing their stories.

📹 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt3CYBDkZ94


📷 Rebecca Eager holding her guitar and smiling at the camera. Text: "What does a music therapy session look like? Behind the scenes with Rebecca Eager NMT RMT." AMTA's 50th anniversary logo.

16/02/2026

This is your sign to give music therapy and art therapy a try this year…
🎨🪧🎶

22/01/2026

Did you know that we’re now on TikTok?

Since we’re new to this, we got help from the experts - Gen Z. This is the marketing script that they wrote for us…

Follow us for more *checks notes* sigma content 😎

VIDEO DESCRIPTION 📹
Three Newcastle Music & Art Therapy staff members - in order of appearance, Natalie, Katishe and Susan - take turns delivering the marketing copy from different rooms in the therapy clinic.

20/01/2026

‼️ REMINDER ‼️

Public consultation about the evidence base for Art Therapy and Music Therapy in NDIS closes at 11:59pm tonight, 20 January 2026.

If you have not filled out the survey yet, you can find it here: https://healthau.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d5zvRk8FCz5bnng

People who responded to the survey on Music Therapy between 25/11/2025 and 17/12/2025 may not have been shown questions due to a technical error. You can fill out the survey again using the link above, or email disabilityevidence@health.gov.au for a link to the missing questions.

If you made a submission to the previous review by Dr Duckett, you can email your submission to disabilityevidence@health.gov.au before the cut off at 11.59pm tonight.

If you need more information, you can call our admin on 0490 361 628 or email info@newcastlemusictherapy.com.au

The site lists consultations that are run by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. On this site you can find, share or take part in consultations.

13/01/2026

AMTA has published a fact sheet about the state of music therapy funding under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Written with participants and their carers, plan managers, support coordinators and the general public in mind, we hope it clarifies the rules for accessing music therapy under the NDIS.

Here's the most important part:
- Music therapy is still an approved therapeutic support under the NDIS.
- Music therapy remains a funded therapy support under Capacity Building.

Check it out: https://www.austmta.org.au/news-item/21809/music-therapy-under-the-ndis-still-an-approved-therapeutic-support

📷 A registered music therapist and NDIS participant enjoy a music therapy session together.

12/01/2026

The lights are on, the doors are open, and we’re back in the clinic!

Start 2026 with music therapy and art therapy - visit www.newcastlemusictherapy.com.au to find out more!

VIDEO DESCRIPTION 📹
A montage of five videos shot from the interiors of our music and art rooms. In each shot, our admin Natalie opens the door to the room and switches on the light. Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers plays in the background. See more videos on TikTok.

08/01/2026

🎨🎶 Welcome back! 🎶🎨

We’ve had lots of rest and recuperation over the Christmas break, and we are ready to hit the ground running!

From Monday 12th January 2026, our clinic is open at our usual hours - if you can’t make your usual appointment time and day, please let us know!

Oh, and we may have hopped on to the TikTok train…follow us !

VIDEO DESCRIPTION 📹
White text reads “Therapy in - 3 - 2 - 1”. A montage of videos of our music and art rooms plays, showing the rooms themselves and also the instruments and art supplies in them. “Theme from A Summer Place” plays throughout the video; there is no vocal or speaking. The video ends with the Newcastle Music & Art Therapy logo - a blue tom drum with multicoloured paint splashing up from the skin as if it has just been dropped.

02/12/2025

🎶 Why choose Music Therapy? 🎶

Music Therapy is NOT a music lesson! We individually tailor your session so that you can use music to work on your goals in a supportive, therapeutic environment. It's not about learning an instrument; it's about building your everyday life skills and expressing yourself through the musical process.

We currently have spots available for individual Music Therapy here at our Warners Bay clinic. All you need to do is fill out our referral form here: https://bit.ly/NMAT_MTReferral

IMAGE DESCRIPTION 🖼️
An infographic that says "10 ways Music Therapy can support you" in the bottom right corner, with 10 coloured bells under the "10". There are 10 black outline boxes that each have an image and word inside.
The first row says "Communicate and interact with others" above a microphone, "Get motivated to move" above a yellow tambourine, and "Help you function in your daily life through practicing skills" above a colourful xylophone.
The second row says "Use music to help you feel better" above a purple tongue drum, "Understand, express and regulate emotions" above a djembe drum, and "Creative self expression" above a green ukulele.
The third row says "Access shared music experiences with others" above a collection of percussion instruments, "Express thoughts and feelings through songwriting" above a smartphone, notation paper and headphones, and "Improve thinking skills" above a compact MIDI keyboard.
The fourth row says "Self confidence through musical achievements" above a blue tom drum and drumsticks.

01/12/2025

🎨 Why choose Art Therapy? 🎨

Art Therapy is about more than talking and painting. In your individually tailored session you can work on building everyday life skills, express yourself, and work on your goals in a supportive, therapeutic environment.

We currently have spots available for individual Art Therapy here at our Warners Bay clinic. All you need to do is fill out our referral form here: https://bit.ly/NMAT_ATReferral

IMAGE DESCRIPTION 🖼️
An infographic that says "10 ways Art Therapy can support you" in the bottom right corner, with paint covered hands showing 10 fingers behind the title. There are 10 black outline boxes that each have an image and word inside.
The top row says "Communication" with an image of a head silhouette with scrunched up paper flowing out of it, "Self advocacy and choice" with an image of papier mache, and "Fine motor skills" with an image of knitting needles and pink wool.
The second row says "Executive function skills" with colourful buttons underneath, "Social connection" with an image of an art diary showing a collage, and "Sensory processing" with an image showing two jars of slime.
The third row says "Challenging perfectionism" with an image of charcoal underneath, "Emotional regulation" with a green paint splat beneath, and "Creative self expression" with an image of a clay figure.
The fourth row says "Distress tolerance" with an image of colourful plasticine.