Vicky Nicholls

B. Ed, Grad Dip Child, Adolescent and Family Therapies, M. Art Therapy, AThR

I’ve been an art therapist for almost 20 years. My passion for the work is sustained by seeing art therapy help people navigate the dark struggles of life. I enjoy the diversity of private practice, where my clients range from small children and families to older adults – all at different ages and stages, and with varied life experience.

As Senior Art Therapist at Austin Health’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, I worked with children and young people experiencing difficulties with depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, and ADHD, and their families. Later, I focused more deeply on the relationship between art, attachment, and trauma through Berry Street’s Take Two program where, as a therapeutic specialist, I supported young people who had suffered neglect and abuse and were living in and out of home care. I subsequently worked with Aboriginal children at the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, gaining incredible knowledge and understanding of how fundamental culture is to healing. The experience reinforced to me how important art is – both as a cultural expression, and in healing the wounds we gather along our journey.

Teaching is another aspect of my work – which in turn nourishes and informs my clinical practice. I have lectured at La Trobe University’s Master of Art Therapy course since 2001, and facilitated many workshops in Australia and overseas on art therapy and children, trauma, and supervision. I enjoy the research that is required for teaching, and the enthusiasm of students. It’s a wonderful way to stay current.

My practice is based on a humanistic philosophy – the idea that within each of us is a capacity to unfold into our greatest potential. I believe that the way we respond to life’s difficulties makes an enormous difference to how those difficulties impact our lives; humanism looks at how we can grow from our experiences. I draw on a range of art therapy frameworks, including psychodynamics, phenomenology and, in particular, neuroscience.

Art is very much the way I express myself. With my visual arts background, I regularly practise art therapy to make sense of the world. Art enables me to stand back and observe my experiences and myself in a way that is quite difficult while I’m actually living it. It allows me to live an enriched life in a conscious way. I love facilitating this for other people.