QLD - HOLISTIC INTEGRATED CREATIVE ARTS THERAPY practitioner training COURSE (HICAT)-STUDY on campus

Course Structure:
Each of your classes will be divided into theory and practice sessions. A great deal of time will be spent exploring and participating in the creative arts and a wide variety of meditation styles, including movement meditation, mantra meditation, chakra meditation, guided creative visualisation, mindfulness and Zen meditation. On-campus students will have around 5 hours of homework per week (mostly art projects, some essays and meditation practice). 

Practical topics covered in this course include:

• Art Therapy (paint, watercolour pencils, charcoal & oil pastels)
• Tactile Therapy (sculpture, clay, construction, Sandplay & environmental art making)
• Music, Tribal Rhythms, Medicine Drums & Sound Therapy
• Dance & Movement Therapy
• Role Play, Storytelling, creative writing & Drama Therapy

Theory topics covered in this course include:

• The cause & effects of stress
• The mind/body connection
• Physiology of the brain
• Left brain/right brain
• Unconscious beliefs and mental patterns
• Exploring emotions
• History of art therapy
• Creative therapies & health
• Why creative art therapies are effective
• Creative art therapies as emotional healing
• Creative art therapies for recovery & rehabilitation
• Art & developing intuition
• Drawing from within
• Colour & emotions
• Sound, vibration & the bodies cells
• The creative process
• Art appreciation
• Interpretation & diagnosis
• Compassion & non-judgement
• Learning Styles
• Personality types
• Managing groups
• Supporting clients
• Working with PTSD
• Working with anxiety disorders
• Working with grief & loss
• Working with children
• Working with depression
• Working in medical settings
• Developing community arts projects
• Meditation for every day
• Meditation in action through art
• Meditation with music and movement
• Gratitude & art journaling
• Holistic counselling skills for creative arts therapists
• Networking & referring
• Ethics, safety & professionalism
• Setting up your own practice
• Creating a specialized practice
• Resources, materials & equipment
• Marketing for creative arts therapists
• Legalities, insurance and Joining associations

Course Outcomes:  

Graduates receive a qualification in Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapy and can use the letters Mbe.HICATprac. after their names.   

Graduates can also join the International Institute of Complementary Therapists, International Practitioners of Holistic Medicine and the Complementary Medical Association and get professional insurance. 

They will also be provided with a full year of free membership to the Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapists Association.   

You will graduate with the skills, knowledge and confidence required to set up your own Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapy Practice; run workshops, work with groups and see individual clients, in either general practice or specializing in specific areas of interest, if you wish. You may also be able to seek employment within some organizations who value holistic and complementary therapies. 

This is a professional, practical training course where you will explore a wide range of creative arts while learning the essentials of working as a Holistic Integrated Creative Art Therapist, in a safe, extremely supportive and fun-filled environment, with a highly experienced holistic therapist trainer.   

All information is evidence-based and will prepare you for a professional career. However, this course is also suitable for personal development.    

Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapy is the use of art, music, drama, dance/movement, poetry/creative writing, play, storytelling and sandplay within the context of therapy, counselling, rehabilitation, and holistic healing. HICAT enhances physical, mental and emotional functioning and well-being. Holistic therapists work with the whole person and assist people in becoming self-empowered through supporting them on a journey of self-exploration and personal growth, incorporating the body, mind, emotions and spirit. This course is evidence-based.   

It connects clinical research with ancient traditional wisdom; developing the mind, expanding creativity, building confidence and self-awareness, realigning the body’s cells, reconnecting with the essence of joy and awakening the spirit. If helping people rediscover their innate creativity and playfulness, while developing skills to overcome physical, mental and emotional hurdles and live happier healthier lives, is how you would like to make your living, this course is for you!  

Module 1

Theory  

Unit 0 - Introduction to HICAT  

Unit 1 -The Cause and Effect of Stress  

Unit 2 -The Mind/Body Connection 

Practical  

Art Therapy - Drawing

 
Module 2

Theory 

Unit 3 - Physiology of the brain 

Unit 4 - Left brain/right brain  

Unit 5 - Unconscious beliefs and mental patterns 

Practical  

Art Therapy - Drawing

Module 3

Theory 

Unit 6 - Exploring emotions

Unit 7 - History of art therapy 

Unit 8 - Creative therapies & health 

Practical  

Sand Play Therapy - excursion to the beach

Module 4

Theory 

Unit 9 – Music and the brain 

Unit 10 - Creative art therapies as emotional healing  

Unit 11 - Creative art therapies for recovery & rehabilitation 

Practical  

Music Therapy 

Module 5

Theory 

Unit 12 – Art and developing intuition 

Unit 13 – Drawing from within 

Unit 14 – Colour and emotions 

Practical  

Art Therapy - Painting

 "I am full of gratitude having completed the HICAT Course yesterday. As a Social Worker, Trainer and Artist myself, I now have more clarity and confidence to set up my private practice using creative therapies in my clinical practice to support and empower my ideal clients!!    

The online delivery has given me great ideas of how to offer services with clients 1:1 and to Groups via Telehealth and in person.

The evidence-based research and supporting resources with practical activities each week has helped me reassess my own beliefs and develop my abilities to know how to incorporate colour, sound, storytelling and whole-body movement into my practice, plus I now have so many other skills including business setup and ongoing strategic planning.

I have valued Sanja's facilitation style, sense of humour, professional experience, explanation of assessments and the safe space she created for personal sharing. Sanja, thank you for valuing each of us and helping us each explore our uniqueness.

If you are on the fence about enrolling in this course, ask all of the questions you need to be able to choose the course that resonates with you the most.  I went with this one and am finishing full of hope for my classmates, my future clients and myself, personally and as a Business Owner and Practitioner/Therapist.

I would be happy to answer your questions from a student perspective and I know that Sanja would welcome your enquiries about the course she is offering.

Love your life with an Open Heart."
Evelyn, 2022

"The course has been lifechanging as you have witnessed. I will never be the same and I am so extremely grateful for creating a course that has brought so much healing for me and that I in return will provide a service that will be heart centred to the greater community."

Theresa, 2022

"I spent so much of my life lost and powerless, I knew I wanted to heal but just didn’t know how! We really are powerful beings, and this is such a profound and amazing course. This is the information that changes our earthly experience."

Natasha, 2021

"What an awesome journey this has been doing the HICAT course with Sanja.  It’s difficult to start and finish a testimonial for something that has given me so much enlightenment and knowledge.  This has been life changing, instead of just being taught the theory of the course content, it is experiencing it for yourself which causes the most change.   I would do it all over again.  We have had a class of 16, which I thought would be too many, however having the eclectic individuals and perspectives has contributed greatly.  The supportive group with clear non-judgemental support has been fantastic.  What more can I say?  Give it a go, you won’t regret it."

Trudy, 2021

"I loved the HICAT course not only for its focus on creativity but the learning it offered about so many different forms of creativity that really opened my mind and heart to what I could do as a business. The content covered about running your own business was both practical and valuable.  I feel empowered to fulfil my dream of earning an income doing something I love." 

Kylie, 2020

"I just finished the Holistic Integrated Creative Arts Therapy training. It's given me the tools and inspiration to take my counselling service to the next level. It gave me the nudge and the confidence to start running a men's group again. Personally, it's given me a better understanding of my limiting beliefs/habits, and more traction to recover from them."

Andy, 2020

"I am so glad I followed my heart and passion and enrolled in the HICAT course with Sanja at the College of Conscious Living. The course provided me with valuable tools, knowledge and confidence to find work and set up my own business. If you enjoy being creative and like to help others, then I would highly recommend this course for you. I particularly liked the face-to-face intimate teaching style and flexible delivery. I was blessed to meet some amazing women in my course who I now call friends. Thank you so much for your time and dedication Sanja."

Angela, 2020

"A great course for those who desire to know more about themselves in order to assist others in their life's journey. Participants will be confident to orchestrate that through art and creative projects. You will gain all the appropriate knowledge required from the informative course material. The course modules are easy to follow and understand, and the teachers are great! I personally enjoyed meeting up every Tuesday, loved the personal interactions and the ability to share and connect with like-minded individuals."

Kerry, 2019

"This course is fabulous. I have not studied since leaving school in the seventies, I have loved every minute in the classroom and doing the homework. I thoroughly recommend the course!"

Margo, 2019