MIECAT

07/10/2026

Tuning Into The Voice of the Child

Join Evon Fallon, a MIECAT alum and passionate child-focused Accredited Mental Health Social Worker (AMHSW) and Specialist Family Violence Practitioner & Advocate with 20+ years experience in child / youth mental health and family / sexual violence spaces for this 3-part professional development course that can be booked individually or as a series.

Together we will explore creative, relational and trauma-informed practices with children, young people and their safe adults. We’ll cosnider creative, sensory, play and arts-based engagements that can support children and young people to feel seen and heard, while considering the important roles of relationship, co-regulation and safe adults around them.

This series will ask and explore:
What do you know?
What do you need to know-to assess safety?
Evidence based identification of family violence, safe and sensitive exploration of difficult questions (Safe & Together, MARAM aligned - Vic)
Exploring creative, relational, sensory processes that support young people to feel seen, tell their story Identifying your resources that nourish you, help protect from vicarious trauma & keep your work feeling safe & sustainable

Grounded in evidence based frameworks for trauma informed and child focused work, Evon will share creative practice based strategies that you can integrate into your work.

This series is designed to meet the needs of a range of practitioners interested in working safely & reflectively with children, young people and carers / parent(s) who have experienced grief or traumas, such as family violence. It will suit those starting out or wanting to build their skills, confidence or develop a deeper understanding of the foundational perspectives that create safety in this work: developmental (including neuro affirming), relational, trauma informed and intersectional lenses - and how these can be woven together with creative approaches.

Book into one, two, or all three sessions: 22 October · 12 November · 10 December.

Thse sessions will be recorded and made available to those that pre-register. Certificate of Attendance will be issued.

07/10/2026

Coming to know through movement. Thanks to MIECAT student Alia McBride for sharing this exploration. Part of Unit 3: Engaging with Materials.

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Discover the transformative practice of Creative Arts Therapy. Apply to study your Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice at MIECAT.

Flexible study options. New Immersive full-time study mode available.

Online info session Oct 14, 6pm AEDT.
Register via link in bio.

https://7b47ey.share-ap1.hsforms.com/2wkoqFJXoTWa6JID3gH_PLA

Our annual intake is now open. Start your application process by booking into a 2-hour workshop. Book via link in bio.

https://calendly.com/miecat

We look forward to meeting you!

06/10/2026

This November, Sally Swain invites us into a process of Creative Reflection and Visioning. This workshop supports what it is to adapt, reflect and develop as Ceative Arts Therapists.

As our work develops, so too can the ways we understand our strengths, values and direction. Across two experiential sessions, Sally Swain invites Arts Therapists into a creative process of reflection and visioning, using artmaking to explore professional practice and your journey.
How are you going in your work?
What’s the truth of it?
What are you proud of?
Struggling with?
What would you like to enliven, refine or shed?

You are invited to gently review your recent professional journey and explore the strengths, passions, skills and values you bring to your work, while acknowledging gaps and learning edges of potentiality.

Two Sunday mornings online 1 & 8 November | 10.30am–1pm AEDT
Practitioners and students at any level of experience are welcome.

05/10/2026

Thanks to MIECAT student Ineke De Graaf for sharing this exploration. Part of Unit 3: Engaging with Materials.

Video: Ineke, ‘Can Be’.
Still: Ineke, ‘Forged’, 2026, collage of paper, wool, fabric & leaf, 440mm x 700mm.

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Discover the transformative practice of Creative Arts Therapy. Apply to study your Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice at MIECAT.

Flexible study options. New Immersive full-time study mode available.

Online info session Oct 14, 6pm AEDT.
Register via link in bio.

https://7b47ey.share-ap1.hsforms.com/2wkoqFJXoTWa6JID3gH_PLA

Our annual intake is now open. Start your application process by booking into a 2-hour workshop. Book via link in bio.

https://calendly.com/miecat

We look forward to meeting you!

04/10/2026

UPCOMING PUBLIC PROGRAM:

Drawing on more than forty years of experience across counselling, arts therapy, family violence prevention, and somatic practice, this experiential workshop facilitated by Chris Storm introduces My Safety Buddy: a practical and creative framework for supporting clients to develop a felt sense of safety, connection, and resource.

Grounded in Sensorimotor Art Therapy and informed by Somatic Experiencing, Polyvagal Theory, play therapy, and expressive arts practices, this session offers practitioners practical ways of recognising and responding to trauma responses while reducing the risk of re-traumatisation. Together, participants will explore how safety can be fostered emotionally, relationally, culturally, and physically, while deepening their understanding of embodied ways of working, empowerment, and trauma-informed practice.

Learning outcomes
Participants will:
• Develop an understanding of trauma-informed practice and why safety is foundational to effective therapeutic work.
• Deepen their understanding of common trauma responses in behaviour, communication, and engagement.
• Experience practical, embodied strategies for cultivating emotional, relational, cultural, and physical safety with clients.
• Explore the My Safety Buddy framework as a resource for supporting regulation, connection, and recovery.
• Reflect on their own experiences and insights through creative and relational inquiry.

https://ap1.hubs.ly/H01q4df0



Can't Attend Live?
This session will be recorded and made available to registered participants for four weeks after each workshop. Recordings are provided exclusively to those who have pre-purchased a ticket.

03/10/2026

UPCOMING MASTERCLASS:

What might emerge when we don't begin with words?

In The Free and Protected Space, experienced therapist, educator and supervisor Cheryl Taylor introduces Sandplay and symbol work through an entire day of experiential learning.

Sandplay offers a way of giving form to inner experience through sand, objects and symbols allowing something to be seen, encountered and explored that may be difficult to articulate verbally.

Working with sand and a collection of miniature objects, participants will experience how image, metaphor and symbol can open different pathways into meaning, self-understanding and therapeutic process.

A gentle, hands-on introduction for counsellors, psychotherapists, creative arts and expressive therapists, school wellbeing staff and allied practitioners curious about working beyond words.

What to expect:
• An overview of the core principles of Sandplay, including Dora Kalff's “free and protected space”
• A clear understanding of the difference between Sandplay and sandtray / symbol work
• A morning experience of directed sandtray work
• An afternoon experience of undirected Sandplay
• Time to reflect on and discuss both experiences as a group
• Guidance on the facilitator's role, ethical considerations, and where to learn more

https://ap1.hubs.ly/H01q01V0

See more of Cheryl’s practice at https://ap1.hubs.ly/H01q01W0

02/10/2026

Thinking about becoming a Creative Arts Therapist?

Join us for a free information session and discover the Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice at MIECAT.

You'll hear about:
The structure of the Masters and the subjects you'll study

Our Immersive, Extended and Combined study options and timetables

Experiential and arts-based learning at MIECAT

Entry requirements, applications and admissions

There'll also be plenty of time to ask questions and speak with our team.

Applications for our February 2027 annual intake are now open.

Wednesday 14 October | 6.00pm AEDT | Online

01/10/2026

MIECAT Stories 26 has been released, featuring compelling work by our community…

MIECAT’s Dr Kim Swan (pictured) presents at ECArTE European Arts Therapies Conference in Croatia

Critical Autoethnography Conference

The Healing Arts and Indigenous Entanglements - New chapters

Altalena Suspended

If MIECAT Stories didn’t make it to your inbox, check your junk, or find the link in our bio. You can subscribe there too.

https://mailchi.mp/miecat/miecat-stories-26

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Images courtesy of Kim Swan

01/10/2026

What does it mean to really tune into the voice of the child? Children do not always communicate what has happened, what they need, or how they are feeling through words alone.

Their voice might also be encountered through play, image, movement, sensory experience, story, relationship or in what remains difficult to express.

In Tuning into the Voice of the Child, Evon Fallon invites practitioners to explore how developmental, relational, trauma-informed, neuro-affirming and intersectional perspectives can help us listen more carefully to children and young people within the context of their lives.
We’ll consider the systems and relationships surrounding the child, how we work alongside safe parents and carers, and how creative and playful processes can open different possibilities for expression, connection and recovery.

A 3-part online professional learning series for practitioners wanting to deepen the safety, responsiveness and creativity of their work with children and young people. Book into one or all three sessions.

SERIES OVERVIEW:
3 x Thursdays online 6.30 - 8.30pm

1. Thursday October 22nd
Intake: an opportunity for curiosity, playfulness & safety first. Understanding the child in their context - tuning into their voice

2. Thursday November 12th
Engaging with multimodal Arts Therapy: listening, playing & engaging with the Voice of the Child. Exploring conditions for expression, stories, relationship & healing

3. Thursday December 10th
Reflections on Practice: caring for self while caring for others
Sustaining oneself as the practitioner (how to exist with some heart ache in practice)

Sessions will be recorded and available for four weeks to pre-registered participants.

29/09/2026

MIECAT Public Programs is delighted to welcome Chris Storm of Storm Insight for My Safety Buddy, an online professional development workshop.

Chris brings more than forty years of experience across community services, counselling, family violence intervention and prevention, arts therapy, education and supervision, alongside more than fifteen years as a faculty member of the Institute of Sensorimotor Art Therapy.

Grounded in Sensorimotor Art Therapy and informed by Somatic Experiencing, Polyvagal Theory, play therapy, and expressive arts practices, this session offers practitioners practical ways of recognising and responding to trauma responses while reducing the risk of re-traumatisation. Together, participants will explore how safety can be fostered emotionally, relationally, culturally, and physically, while deepening their understanding of embodied ways of working, empowerment, and trauma-informed practice.
Designed for practitioners who work directly with clients, this workshop combines creative process, reflection, and discussion to support the integration of trauma-informed principles into everyday practice.

Link in bio
https://ap1.hubs.ly/H01psMw0

Can't Attend Live?
This session will be recorded and made available to registered participants for four weeks after each workshop. Recordings are provided exclusively to those who have pre-purchased a ticket.

A practical and creative framework for supporting clients to develop a felt sense of safety, connection, and resource.