Child Therapy in Lismore and Northern Rivers

Finding creative ways to work through difficult emotions or address challenging events without needing to find words, is a natural fit for children.

Art Therapy and Expressive Therapies can be transformative

It’s especially helpful for children who are experiencing high anxiety or frequent anger, as well as those who are dealing with grief, loss, or other adverse life experiences.

At Heart’s Light Studio a range of expressive tools, toys and techniques are on offer to cater for individual needs and preferences. This ensures that every child can select what they need, and using their hands and imagination, find their own individual path towards improving their mental and emotional wellbeing.

Types of Therapies I use

  • Clay Field Therapy®

    Clay Field Therapy is a here and now experience, based on the sensation of touch. Children will not make any art work to take home. With a large shallow box of smooth clay, a bowl of warm water and a sponge, the focus is on Haptic Perception - the language of the hands. Find out more.

  • Play and Expressive Therapies

    Play and Expressive Therapies can be transformative for children who are experiencing high anxiety or anger, as well as those who are dealing with grief and loss, or other adverse life experiences. Find out more.

  • Parent-Child Art Therapy

    A dyadic session provides an opportunity for parent and child to engage together in creative play, either as one family with the therapist, or within a group setting where each family pair participates in the same given art or craft activity. Find out more.

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What parents say

  • "Thank you again Pip for being you, and for all the care and support you have shown my son. I believe you have really supported him to be more confident, to talk about his feelings and to implement the calming strategies. It has also helped him to know others understand."

  • "My child loved working with you and grew so much more confident from your sessions."

  • "Pip is really good at understanding where the parents are coming from and has been an amazing support."

  • "My daughter has built confidence and learned strategies to assist with difficult situations. She has really benefited from the trust and comfort Pip has provided in a safe and happy environment. "

  • "It was great to be able to talk, to express my concerns and be able to help my child … I thought that Pip was great with my daughter and myself. Seeing (my daughter) The best thing was start to calm after the first session and be able to talk to me about her feelings."

  • "My Daughter had very high anxiety and was holding on to pain from a parental separation. Pip worked with her on this by creating safe places and worry dolls, and then was able to get her to start opening up through clay therapy."

Child therapy sessions with Pip are perfect for children who:

 

  • Have learning challenges, attention deficit or hyperactivity diagnoses

  • Have witnessed or been exposed to emotional or physical trauma

  • Have experienced school bullying or school refusal

  • Are experiencing grief and loss

  • Are on the Autism Spectrum

 
 

My approach

My approach to working with children is one of acceptance and non-judgemental respect for who they are and how they are, when they arrive.

It is a client centred, strengths based and trauma-informed approach, and it is 100% relational. There is consistent evidence to suggest that the success of any therapeutic treatment is strongly linked to the quality of the therapeutic alliance.

I combine this relational approach with my training in Sensorimotor Art Therapy and Attachment Focused Expressive Therapies.

When working with children I have observed many times, and come to trust, the way a child in the therapy room will be instinctively drawn to whatever it is they need - the activities that will best help them deal with their issues or work through challenges to arrive at creative solutions.

This is intuitive, and we do not need to draw any conscious attention to a parallel between their play or their story and their everyday lives. The shift happens internally for the child.

A selection of materials are always on offer, but I am not strictly directive. With my respect for their inner knowing, most children’s sessions are child-led. They may to choose to work with clay, sand or symbols, use their imagination to create games and stories with soft toys and puppets, or work on creative art and craft projects of their own design. Some children will need to try each activity for a short while before engaging in something more deeply.

Supporting adults and children to connect with their own healing abilities, the deep inner wisdom of the body, and the inborn drive all humans have towards healing and health is a privilege.

Helping clients move towards the beneficial and lasting changes that these therapies can produce, is the focus and the purpose of Heart’s Light Therapies.

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What children say

  • "Playing in the clay and the water was the best bit. You never see that much clay!"

  • "It was good we could go outside to collect flowers and leaves when we made the safe place for a duck"

  • "Pip is great if your child is struggling with big emotions"

  • "Pip is the best!"

Book your consultation

Book a family parent-child session or discuss the possibility of Pip facilitating a parent child group with your service.

Book your consultation

Frequently asked questions

  • My 2025 session fee is $120.

    This covers up to one hour for both adults and children.

    For adults - first Clay Field Session, allow 90 minutes - fee is $150.

  • During our initial consultation wy to e will discuss your concerns or issues, and work out whether Heart’s Light will be a good fit for you. If so, we then outline a plan for therapy, including which therapeutic modalities are likely to be most useful in working towards your goals, an approximate number of sessions, and whether these will be weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

  • Sessions at Heart’s Light Studio provide a safe, welcoming space where you or your child can engage in sensory-based therapeutic practices like Clay Field Therapy and Guided Drawing, or select from the other creative and expressive therapies on offer.

    After the first session of introduction to the studio, intake and assessment, each session will be designed to o address the issues and goals you identify, working with the tools or modalities that suit you best.

  • With parent-child dyadic work the adult is involved in every session.

    Outside of this, parents/carers are often included in the first 1 or 2 sessions as the child becomes familiar with Pip and the studio set-up.

    In following sessions while Pip works individually with your child, it is still important that adults stay on site. You are welcome to relax on the comfortable covered-verandah waiting area upstairs.

  • Child sessions will take anywhere from 40 to 60 minutes.

  • Initial Clay Field sessions - allow 90 minutes

    Ongoing Clay Field and all other sessions - 60 minutes

  • This will vary from client to client depending on the issues being addressed, the goals of therapy and available funding.

  • This is an approach to art therapy that is body focused and trauma informed. It is not image based and does not require clients to tell their trauma stories. Rather, the motor movements made by the hands in the clay or in guided drawing, and the sensory feedback received, create a feedback loop which can help settle the nervous system and create new neurological pathways.

  • Up until December 2024, the answer to this questions was Yes, if your NDIS plan includes therapeutic support, and you are plan managed or self managed, your sessions may be covered, under “Other” Therapies.

    We are currently waiting to see if Creative Therapies will remain as a funded item under NDIS.

  • Yes, if invited, Heart’s Light can arrange to deliver individual or group sessions on site.

  • Not yet, but Pip is currently looking into further study in order to qualify for this.

  • No, I am a non-clinical early intervention therapist. For mental health or neuro-divergent diagnoses you will need to consult a pediatrician, a child psychiatrist or specialised psychologist.