Will the NDIS fund art therapy?

How art therapy sits inside a plan

Art therapy is generally funded where it is tied to your plan goals rather than described on its own terms. In practice that means the question is not really “does the NDIS fund art therapy”, it is “does this support move you towards what your plan says you are working on”.

Commonly that includes:

• Improving communication, including for people who communicate better non-verbally
• Building social skills and confidence
• Increasing self-esteem and self-awareness
• Developing coping strategies and emotional regulation
• Working through difficult experiences and emotions
• Reducing stress and anxiety, and supporting general wellbeing

Plan management, and the one thing to check first

Self-managed and plan-managed participants can generally engage an art therapist directly. Agency-managed funding is more restricted.

If you are not sure which you are, or whether your plan has room, your plan manager or support coordinator can tell you in a single message, and it is worth asking them before you book anything. I would rather you spend five minutes checking than start something you then have to stop.

Why art therapy works when talking does not

Talk-based therapy assumes a lot: real-time verbal processing, sustained attention, comfort with eye contact, and the ability to narrate your own inner life on request. For many participants those assumptions are exactly the barrier.

Art therapy takes the demand off language. It can be done individually or in a group, it can be regulating rather than depleting, and it gives people a way to work on something real without first having to explain it. It also tends to be something participants actually want to attend, which matters more than it sounds: the support that gets used is worth more than the support that looks best on paper.

You do not need a formal diagnosis to work with me. Self-identification is enough. The NDIS has its own separate access rules, which is a different question.

Who I work with

Autistic people, ADHDers and AuDHDers, PDA profiles, twice-exceptional folks, late-identified autistic adults, people living with psychosis, people in autistic burnout, and the families and carers around them. More about who I work with.

I spent years in the Functional Recovery Team at the headspace Early Psychosis Program and built therapeutic programs for people with psychosocial disability, so this is long-standing work rather than an add-on. More about my background.

In person, or online when travel is the hard part

Sessions run in Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains, and online across Australia. Online works well for NDIS participants, since you use your own materials in a room where you already feel safe, and travel stops being the hardest part of the appointment.

Three steps, starting with your plan manager

1. Check with your plan manager or support coordinator that you have therapeutic supports funding available.
2. Book a free 15-minute consult so we can talk about your goals and whether this fits.
3. If it does, we agree a starting rhythm and go from there.