Welcome to Solace Creative Therapies
Creativity is great for your mental health and is a powerful way to process your thoughts and emotions. Solace offers a host of fun and uplifting activities designed to help improve your quality of life!
Explore our selection of programs below...
Come to our holiday workshops!
MONDAY 15th April
Messy Art for Kids Aged 3-6 with Claudia and May
4pm - 5pm
TUESDAY 16th April
Egg Decoupage (from 10yrs +)
10am - 11.30am
Thursday 18th
Claywork with Jenny
10am - 11.30am
FRIDAY 19th April
Crazy Patchwork Coasters with Abi (12yrs+)
10am - 11.30am
MONDAY 22nd April
Brush Lettering with Jodie (12yrs+)
10am - 12pm
TUESDAY 23rd April
Still Life Drawing with May (12yrs+)
10am - 11.30am
WEDNESDAY 24th April
Felt Finger Puppets with Abi (6yrs+)
10am - 10.30am
FRIDAY 26th April
Embroidery with May (12yrs+)
10am - 11.30am
Contact Jodie on 0455 491 620 or or use the enquiry form below. Be sure to mention which session you are interested in.
Music Therapy
The incredible power of music to move us to dance, cry, laugh, love and remember is well documented. They say music developed in human beings even before speech. Music is where it all began and just as it did millennia ago, it still binds us together socially. We simply need it. We find ourselves singing in the car, the shower, with friends, at concerts, at church. We sing to our children from the day they’re born.
To take part in Music Therapy, you don’t need to ‘have a good voice’ or be able to play a musical instrument. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about feeling the music go through you, awakening that dormant part of you that you may not have accessed since childhood. It’s about making music with the people around you, calming the blood pressure and enjoying all those feel-good hormones coursing through you. It’s about being a part of something bigger than yourself. It’s about sorting through those memories that attach themselves to our favourite songs.
Eloise, our Music Therapist (Masters of Music Therapy and registered member of ATMA), offers Individual and Group Music Therapy at our Studio in Gregory Hills on Tuesdays. We have a piano, guitars, various percussion instruments and of course, our singing voices.
Oil Painting with Jodie
Jodie has studied Portraiture and Still Life oil painting the Easel and Lens Studio in Umbria (Italy), Julian Ashton Art School (Sydney) and the Hamley Studio (Hornsby) and holds weekly classes in the Solace Creative Studio in Gregory Hills.
Jodie’s lessons will cover oil painting methods in detail. You will learn how to handle oil paints, how to paint from life and from photographs, how to paint with perspective, what surfaces to paint on and how they differ, how to paint Alla Prima and how to build up layers over many weeks.
You can explore Jodie’s art and teaching at:
Oils Online with Jodie
Held every Tuesday night via zoom
7pm - 9pm
For bookings please contact Jodie using the form below and she'll be in touch with payment details and further instructions. A list of supplies can be downloaded here. These items will need to be purchased before attending class.
Carers & family sing for FREE!
Dementia Friendly Choir
Let the power of singing take you back! Join our Dementia Friendly Choir today!
Are you or a loved one living with dementia? Join Solace Creative Therapies' Dementia Friendly Choir for a fun and uplifting activity that can improve your quality of life!
At Solace Creative Therapies, we believe in the power of music and community to bring joy and comfort. That's why we've created this Dementia Friendly Choir, to provide a safe and supportive space for people living with dementia to connect with others and experience the joy of singing.
Our friendly professionals Jodie (B.Mus.Ed) & Abigail (Art Therapist and Dementia Care), will lead you through an engaging and enjoyable session that will leave you feeling uplifted and inspired. No matter your skill level, you're welcome to join us and be a part of our musical community. It’s all about the joy of singing with others, and we can't wait to see you there!
Our choir meets every Tuesday from 10am - 11.30am at the Solace Creative Studio, Suite 1013/31C Lasso Rd, Gregory Hills. The choir is also open to NDIS participants under 'Innovative Community Participation'.
Carers & family sing for FREE!
Calligraphy with Jodie
Jodie had studied Copperplate and Spencerian with two of the 10 current Calligraphy Masters. Michael Sull (America), Barbara Calzolari (in Italy). She believes in the therapeutic solace found in writing calligraphy with ink, nibs, pens, water colours, metallic paint and beautiful paper. Hours will be lost in joyful study.
Jodie will be teaching four Saturday All Day Calligraphy workshops at the Solace Creative Studio throughout the year. Keep and eye on the website for dates.
You can see Jodie’s Calligraphy at:
Instagram - cobbitty_calligraphic
Equine Therapy
Equine Therapy involves engaging in grooming, feeding, leading and spending time with horses while being guided by a mental health professional.
The Equine Psychotherapy Institute’s model (EPI’s training is PACFA accredited), is trauma informed and founded on the Gestalt approach to psychotherapy. The method focuses on creating awareness of the here and now, rather than the traditional approach of looking at historical issues. Developing awareness of what you are experiencing right now, in this moment, your feelings, emotions, and physical senses, allows you to develop the resources to recognise feelings and beliefs (often formed by some form of traumatic experience) that are not serving you well.
Knowing this enables clients to build resources within themselves to both cope and readjust. You can replace long held negative beliefs about yourself or the world around you with a healthier mindset.
Sebastiaan is our Equine Therapist. He has three horses on his property in Leppington NSW.
You can find out more about this service at
Physiotherapy
Giorgia, our physiotherapist, is currently registered in Australia, New Zealand and in the UK.
She is compassionate, professional and kind, with a strong desire to provide the highest possible level of patient care.
Giorgia has proven ability to design treatment plans to improve a client's capacity to perform physical movements and activities freely and confidently.
She will collaborate effectively with other allied health professionals and your doctor to provide exceptional care and support to all patients in order to improve their quality of life. She can come to your home or you can visit her clinic.
Fees
NDIS Therapies (Art, Music, Equine, Physio)
$193.99/hr
($245 for an NDIS Report before plan review)
NDIS Group Art Therapy
Thursdays - 1pm -2.30pm
$60/hr or $90 per 1.5 hour session
Kid’s Group Art
Fridays 3.40pm - 5.10pm
$33.50 plus GST/session
(Each 10 Week term is paid in advance. You can use your Creative Kids Voucher).
Meet our team...
Jodie
Owner/Director
Jodie McGuren has started many ’stories’ throughout her life. She studied Music Education at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and became a classroom music teacher for four years.
She then thought it was time to 'conquer the world’ and set off to England where she taught music in Hertfordshire. Making her way to Italy, she attended University in Siena to learn how to speak Italian before returning to Australia to teach singing.
Over the next five years Jodie would audition several times for Opera Australia, and after much perseverance would make it into the full time Opera Australia Chorus. Just before she took the job, Jodie featured in the ‘Opportunity Oz' Television program on the ABC and made it to the top 6. Jodie then spent eight glorious years singing on the Opera House stage. In that time she had two cheeky, beautiful daughters.
Her other love in life is painting. An amazing artist across a variety of mediums and disciplines, Jodie has spent her life honing her craft, and now takes great joy in teaching. No matter their level, she loves seeing her students' confidence grow and develop their own individual style, take them beyond what they thought themselves capable of.
Abigail
Art Therapist
Abigail is a Registered art therapist and a member of ANZACATA and the ACA, the Australian Counsellors Association. Born into a family of art lovers, Abigail understands the importance of exposure to art is early in life. Abigail has been involved in her husband’s photography business for the past 20 years and enjoys working with a large range of people from different backgrounds, traditions and beliefs.
For the past 4 years Abigail has been running school holiday workshops at local libraries focusing on the process and the well-being of the participants. Abigail is passionate about the importance of mental health and early exposure to art. creating a safe and contained space to encourage creativity and the freedom to express feelings through art making.
After completing her training as an art therapist Abigail has done further University courses to expand her knowledge about Mental Health, Age Care, Multiple Sclerosis, Brain Injury and Dementia.
Her interests include textile art, watercolours and photography.
Eloise
Music Therapist
Eloise is a graduate of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in voice and is currently completing a Master’s degree in Music Therapy.
She has worked for almost twenty years in opera, musical theatre and as a guest artist on luxury cruise lines. She is the recipient of the Dame Joan Sutherland Scholarship, the Australian Opera Auditions Committee’s ‘Sheila Prior Memorial Study Grant’, the ’Grace Johnston Operatic Aria Award’ and the ‘Horace Keats Song Award’. Other scholarships include grants from the Sports & Youth Tourism Foundation, Opera and Arts Support Group and Opus 50 Trust.
For fifteen years Eloise has taught talented young singers in both classical and contemporary styles for auditions, concerts and examinations, and others because they simply enjoy singing for themselves. She holds long standing voice tutoring positions in several well established Sydney private schools, and also offers piano tuition. Lessons with Eloise are tailored to bring out the best in each student.
Sebastiaan
Equine Therapist
Sebastiaan moved from Europe to Australia in 2002 and has since made it his home. For many years he made his living as a professional singer. But in 2020 (with COVID causing the music industry into complete lockdown), he decided to retrain in the field of EAL.
Asked why he made the change, his response was that while the move might seem odd, his greatest joy in performing music in front of a live audience, was the emotion his music would bring out in the audience. Music has the ability to heal. And so, having an affinity with horses and people, and a desire to be a healing influence on others, the transition felt natural.
During his extensive training with the EPI, he experienced first hand the power of the work and was convinced that this was what he was made to do. Sebastiaan has a calm, warm manner about him and approaches each individual session with every client as a unique opportunity to work with whatever shows up on the day.
No art
experience
needed!
Art Therapy
Art therapy is recommended for people of all ages experiencing trauma, changes in life, loss, illness or disabilities that are causing distress to the individual, their family or carers.
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Person-centred approach
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Focus on the individual’s wellbeing
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Therapy is the main goal, concentrating on the process not the outcome
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Art gives you enjoyment and you learn new skills
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Encourages self expression and communication
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Safe and contained environment to interact with others, experiment and process, make a mess and have fun!
Abigail (Bachelor of Fine art and Visual Culture, Masters of Art Therapy, Diploma in Dementia Care) is our Art Therapy Team Leader. She organises a team of four Art Therapists from all around Sydney, NSW. We offer individual art therapy sessions and group sessions facilitated by a qualified art therapist and professional member of ANZACATA. Our Art Therapy is also available to NDIS Participants under (Therapeutic Supports - 0128).
We currently have 3 groups running in our Solace Creative Studio in Gregory Hills:
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Kid’s Art Therapy - Friday afternoons 3.40pm - 5.10pm (Avg age 11)
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Seniors Art Therapy - Monday Mornings 10am - 11.30am
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Adults Group Art Therapy - Thursday 1pm - 2.30pm
No art experience needed!