Creative Art Therapy Australia

13/02/2026

We’re proud to partner with Melba Support Services to deliver Creative Arts Therapy workshops for NDIS participants.

Small groups. Qualified therapists. Real outcomes.

These sessions are designed to connect creativity directly to your NDIS goals through dance and movement, drama, music, and visual arts - in a respectful, focused environment with no more than four participants per group.

This is not a large or busy program.

It is intentional, structured, and built to support genuine social connection and meaningful progress.

If you are ready to approach your goals differently, we would love to hear from you.

📍 Starting soon — 64 Anderson Street, Lilydale
📧 referral@cata.org.au
📞 (03) 8414 0171

11/02/2026

Cultural sensitivity in aged care is not about celebration days or surface acknowledgement.

It is about how care is delivered every day.

When residents are supported to express culture through familiar music, language, symbols, or movement, trust strengthens and distress often reduces.

Creative arts therapy offers a way to work with culture as lived experience rather than as an add on. It allows residents to remain connected to identity even as cognitive capacity changes.

This is not optional care. It is respectful care.

Read the full blog on our website.
https://cata.org.au/whats-new/cultural-sensitivity-control-and-agency-in-creative-art-therapy-for-aged-care/

09/02/2026

Dementia care often becomes focused on what can no longer be done.

What gets overlooked is what is still present.

People living with dementia continue to hold preference, memory, culture, and the need to express themselves. The pathway to that expression simply changes.

Creative arts therapy allows those pathways to remain open. Through colour, sound, movement, and image, people continue to make choices and communicate meaning.

When care systems recognise what remains rather than what is lost, the experience of dementia shifts for residents, families, and staff alike.

Read the full blog on our website.
https://cata.org.au/whats-new/a-place-for-creative-arts-in-dementia-care/

05/02/2026

Language is one of the most underestimated tools in the NDIS.

A recurring theme in our NDIS work is how strongly language influences agency.
The way goals are framed will either support a participant’s sense of control or quietly diminish it.

A simple shift from “You can’t do that without help” to “What support do you need to achieve this?” changes the entire experience of choice.

Language shapes agency.
Agency shapes action.
Action shapes measurable outcomes.

For NDIS participants, the words used in planning, therapy and everyday communication are not administrative. They are therapeutic.

👉 Read the full blog on our website.
https://cata.org.au/whats-new/the-power-of-language-building-agency-goal-and-control-for-ndis-participants/

A Not-for-Profit organization, Creative Art Therapy Australia (CATA) provides multiple platforms in Creative Art Therapies for the expression, experience and understanding of personal trauma.

02/02/2026

What does capacity building actually look like when it is working?

Since 2019, CATA’s Creative Arts Therapy programs have been quietly redefining what capacity-building looks like under the NDIS.

Across six years and more than 2,000 therapy sessions, participants achieved measurable gains in:
• Confidence and self-advocacy.
• Emotional literacy and regulation.
• Community and social participation.

Every process was designed with participant-led choice and documented against NDIS outcome metrics — ensuring full alignment with the Quality and Safeguards framework.

Whether through music, drama, movement, or art, each participant built the same core skill: agency that sustains beyond the session.

This is evidence that creative processes, when clinically governed and data-aligned, deliver durable outcomes across prevention, recovery, and complex care.

View the full piece here: https://cata.org.au/cata-impact/case-study-creative-arts-therapy-and-ndis-2019-2025/

28/01/2026

People do not engage because a system tells them to.

They engage when they feel respected and heard.

Between 2019 and 2025, CATA delivered 2,092 Creative Arts Therapy sessions to 441 NDIS participants aged 9 to 65 - across online, onsite, and outreach settings.

Each participant chose their modality - music, drama, dance and movement, or visual arts - and set their own goals. Every session was clinically governed, trauma-informed, and aligned with the NDIS outcomes framework.

The results:
• Stronger self-advocacy and decision-making.
• Improved emotional regulation and communication.
• Expanded participation in daily and community life.

This is what scalable, evidence-based practice looks like when choice and control are more than words.

Creative Arts Therapies are not supplementary supports - they are structured, accountable, and capacity-building interventions that deliver the outcomes the NDIS was designed for.

Read the full story here: https://cata.org.au/cata-impact/case-study-creative-arts-therapy-and-ndis-2019-2025/

24/01/2026

When care is done well, the outcomes speak for themselves.

In 92 weeks, our Creative Arts Therapy program delivered:

• 834 sessions across four aged care sites
• 7,549 participant engagements
• Observable reductions in agitation and improved memory recall in dementia settings
• Increased social connection, confidence, and cultural engagement across residents and staff

Behind every number is a shift: residents choosing to participate, staff reporting deeper connection, and families witnessing meaningful reconnection.

The outcomes are clear - structured, evidence-informed creative processes deliver measurable psychosocial and cognitive benefits.

Aged care doesn’t just need compliance; it needs methods that transform quality of life.

Creative Arts Therapies are not peripheral - they’re the new benchmark for whole-person, evidence-led care.

Discover the full article here: https://cata.org.au/cata-impact/aged-care-case-study-2/

21/01/2026

Real capacity-building shows up in everyday decisions.

Emily’s goal under her NDIS plan was simple but profound:

“To build confidence and strengthen self-advocacy.”

Across 39 Creative Art Therapy sessions, she achieved measurable progress:
• Developed the ability to assert boundaries without fear.
• Strengthened emotional regulation and resilience.
• Applied learned skills in daily and occupational settings.

Her own words capture the outcome best:
“I can now say ‘no’ without feeling guilty or scared. I am proud of myself.”

These aren’t abstract changes — they’re functional results that align with NDIS outcomes for Improved Daily Living and Increased Social Participation.

When therapy is structured, participant-led, and evidence-informed, capacity-building becomes visible, reportable, and sustainable.

Read the full case study here: https://cata.org.au/cata-impact/single-case-study-ndis-2023/

A Not-for-Profit organization, Creative Art Therapy Australia (CATA) provides multiple platforms in Creative Art Therapies for the expression, experience and understanding of personal trauma.

19/01/2026

What does real reform in aged care actually look like on the ground?

Between 2023 and 2025, CATA delivered a structured Creative Arts Therapy program across four aged care sites in Victoria - 834 sessions over 92 weeks.

The goal was clear: integrate trauma-informed, culturally responsive therapies into everyday care, aligned with the Aged Care Quality Standards.

The results were profound. Residents with advanced cognitive decline showed improved memory recall, calmer behaviour, and renewed participation. Families observed reconnection and pride. Staff reported reduced medication reliance and stronger relational care.

This is not an enrichment activity - it’s evidence of systemic reform in practice.

Creative Arts Therapies meet the Royal Commission’s call for trauma-sensitive, psychosocial care - turning policy into measurable transformation.

Explore the full piece here: https://cata.org.au/cata-impact/aged-care-case-study-2/

08/01/2026

The NDIS was built on principles of choice, control, and capacity.

But these words only matter when they show up in real lives.

Emily, a young NDIS participant, entered Creative Art Therapy seeking to build confidence and learn to set healthy boundaries - to say “no” without guilt or fear.

Over 39 sessions, she shaped her therapy around her needs: starting online, then choosing to attend onsite when ready. Through creative processes - role play, narrative, and symbolic expression - she learned to externalise emotion, practise assertiveness, and prioritise her wellbeing.

Today, she describes herself as “able to say no without feeling scared.”

That’s not just emotional growth - that’s functional capacity-building under Improved Daily Living.

Creative Arts Therapies deliver on the NDIS promise: measurable autonomy, built through creativity, evidence, and participant leadership.

Read the full perspective here: https://cata.org.au/cata-impact/single-case-study-ndis-2023/

05/01/2026

One quiet shift in behaviour can change everything.

Maria entered aged care struggling with depression and grief.

After eight weeks — sixteen Creative Art Therapy sessions delivered by trained therapists — her outcomes were clear and observable:
• She left her room willingly.
• She spoke openly and shared stories.
• She reconnected socially and sustained a positive mood across days.

Her own words say it best:
“This has made me very happy.”
“I am so excited for every Thursday and Friday when Creative Art Therapy is here.”

These are not anecdotes — they are data-backed behavioural changes that aged care teams observed, recorded, and sustained.

Structured Creative Arts Therapy delivers measurable outcomes in engagement, communication, and agency — proof that dignity in care is not abstract; it’s observable.

See the full case study on our website: https://cata.org.au/cata-impact/agedcare-case-study-1/

A Not-for-Profit organization, Creative Art Therapy Australia (CATA) provides multiple platforms in Creative Art Therapies for the expression, experience and understanding of personal trauma.

30/12/2025

Stepping into 2026 with the same focus we’ve always had: our community.

To our participants, families, and Elders, thank you for the conversations, the honesty, and the trust you shared with us this year.

We will continue listening.

We will continue advocating.

We will continue creating spaces where culture is honoured and people feel safe.

Thank you for letting CATA be part of your journey.

Here’s to a new year grounded in purpose, connection, and community strength.

If you need support as 2026 begins, we’re here to walk with you.