12/08/2025
Create safety through art. Learn how “safe place” art-making helps young people heal, regulate, and express themselves creatively.
Why this Workshop?
This experiential workshop explores how “safe place” art-making can support children and young people living with trauma, neurodivergence, and emotional regulation challenges. Drawing on metaphor, attachment theory, and creative practice, participants will experience the process first-hand, using drawing, collage, or 3D materials to explore symbolic safety. The session offers practical adaptation ideas for different ages and needs, with reflections from clinical practice and an evolving collaborative mural project. Ideal for therapists, educators, and support professionals in creative, trauma-informed, or neuroaffirming settings.
Who is Makaela Nolan?
Art Therapist (PACFA)
Makaela Nolan is a registered art therapist (PACFA) at Akindaco, Adelaide, working primarily with children and adolescents experiencing complex trauma, neurodivergence, and developmental challenges. With a background in nursing, disability support, and rural healthcare, she brings a trauma-informed, creative approach to helping young people feel safe, seen, and empowered. Informed by her own lived experience, Makaela believes in art therapy’s power to transform trauma into empathy, growth, and hope.
This workshop also provides two hours of recognised CPD with PACFA, ANZACATA and ACA with a certificate of attendance available upon request when you attend.
