Tanya's Art Therapy Journey
Each month, we love to shine a light on a member of our student community. This month, we're proud to introduce Tanya, a graduate of our Art Therapy Practitioner Course, whose journey is a beautiful reminder that healing others and healing yourself are rarely separate processes.
Meet Tanya
In her own words, shared in a recent video testimonial, Tanya sums up her experience simply:
"I've just completed the Art Therapy Practitioner course with Health & Harmony, and I enjoyed this course immensely."
For Tanya, that enjoyment came from the process as much as the outcome:
"...the areas of making art and learning about how we make art, and why and how we use it in a therapeutic environment."
It's that curiosity that runs through everything she created during her studies. Tanya wasn't only interested in the finished piece on the page; she wanted to understand what art does, and how it can be turned into a tool for care.
Watch Tanya's testimonial here:
Finding a new creative language
Tanya came into the course open to experimenting, and it shows:
"I particularly liked trying our new or different mediums, which I hadn't really experimented with before...as well as learning and applying colour therapy and symbolism."
That exploration became a language of its own. Through her studies, Tanya created striking pieces layered with colour, texture, and meaning: radiant, light-filled abstracts built from swirling pastel and ink, and layered heart forms surrounded by handwritten journaling on trust, compromise, and connection. Her work doesn't just illustrate a feeling, it works through one, line by line and layer by layer.Ā
Art as a two-way process
What Tanya found along the way surprised her. She had come to the course carrying real questions about her own life:
"I chose to do the course because of some challenges I was having with decisions I'd made with work and where I live."
What she didn't expect was that the same tools she was learning to offer others would quietly begin helping her too:
"I was able to work through my own challenges in a professional personal environment, and came out the other end feeling very calm, relaxed, and happy with the decisions I've made and finding more purpose."
"I guess that was the major surprise. Not only was I learning about how to help others, but I was helping myself at the same time."
That, in many ways, is the heart of art therapy: a practice that holds space for both the practitioner and the person in front of them. For Tanya, the coursework became a place to sit with difficult decisions and slowly find her footing again, arriving at a sense of calm and clarity she hadn't had when she started.
Sharing it with others
Tanya's enthusiasm hasn't stayed contained to her own practice. She's already become an advocate for the course within the wider creative therapeutic community:
"I highly recommend the course to others. In fact, I already have."
She's found a natural home for that in spaces she's part of, both online and in person:
"I'm on a couple of Facebook groups in the art therapy space, as well as a couple of more face-to-face type activities that I do, and I find it incredibly satisfying."
It's clear that for Tanya, the learning doesn't end at the final module; it carries on into the conversations and connections she keeps building around her.
What's next for Tanya
With her Art Therapy Practitioner qualification complete, Tanya isn't stopping there. She's already looking ahead to her next chapter of study:
Clinical Art Therapy, which I start at the end of this month."
It's a natural step toward working professionally with clients, all while staying part of the Health & Harmony community. And when we asked whether we could share her story, her answer captured the same warmth she brings to everything else:
"I would highly recommend it, and I'm happy for you to feature this."
Ready to find your own creative path?
Tanya's story is a reminder that the tools we learn to support others often ends up supporting us first. If art, colour, and symbolism have always quietly called to you, this might be your sign.
New to the practice?Ā Start with our beginner's guide to Art Therapy.
Ready to study? Explore the Art Therapy Practitioner Course and request your free info pack.
Could you be our next student of the month? Email your submission to info@healthandharmony.au or click here to submit a testimonial.Ā
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