About me : Cherie Menzies

I have been a visual arts teacher in schools for twenty years. I have two children, now adults and raised them as a single mum in Bondi, Sydney. Now, at 60, I am living in the South Coast of NSW and on this journey sharing the benefits of Holistic Art Therapy as a practitioner.

As a child I always loved to draw, and continued throughout my life. I have personally found that art for me has been a meditative and healing place.

In 2020 I was very affected by life and work stresses, and needed to take a break from teaching in schools. Over the next few years I made changes and adapted, with some plans going well and others .. awry. Then I rediscovered the healing benefits of creativity. I made the decision to study holistic creative arts therapies with the HICAT course (Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapy practitioner) and am now re-inspired and motivated to share. I am following on from this with further holistic art therapy study, and a counselling qualification .. because I am passionate about offering well-informed and relevant holistic art therapy informed services.

I feel that for my life art and playfulness, mindfulness, meditation and gratitude are safe and attainable ways to find joy and healing. Perhaps it is simply the way art allows us to be playful, to find our inner child, and access our creative thinking part of our brain.

It is important to note that holistic art therapy is a complementary therapy with wellbeing benefits. It is an holistic counselling approach, and not a replacement for psychologist services where they have been recommended.

I like to live a simple lifestyle, in my tiny house trying to grow my own flowers and tomatoes. I am searching for my new cat muse, as my Sophie has not moved with me to the South Coast. She prefers to be an apartment cat, where she lives with my friend Helen in Sydney. I hope to add a portrait soon of my new rural cat buddy.

Qualifications:
B.Art.Ed and M.Ed (incl). I have qualifications for teaching Visual Arts and children with learning support needs.

In 2023 I completed my journey of study of Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapy (mbe.HICAT.prac), a long established course of study encompassing the full range of creative arts, including Visual Arts, Sound, Movement and Dance Therapies and Meditation. As I personally prefer the visual arts, I am currently studying Mind Body Education’s Master Practitioner of Holistic Art Therapy. And to top it off, I am about to embark on postgrad Counselling Diploma. I feel this is a good support for my long term goal as an Holistic Art Therapy practitioner.

I am a member of IICT - International Institute of Complementary Therapists

and Holistic Integrated Creative Art Therapists Association

.