Raised on Dharug Country, and now living in Naarm (Melbourne) with her partner and three chihuahuas, Samantha has dedicated her 20+ year career to inclusive higher education and trauma-informed community-based art initiatives. Learn more about Samantha’s collaborative community art practice here.

In 2021, amidst the profound societal shifts brought about by COVID-19, Samantha sought to deepen her engagement with the therapeutic arts and completed a Masters in Therapeutic Arts Practice at the MIECAT Institute. During this time, she undertook a year-long placement at Palliative Care South East, providing art therapy for individuals and families navigating grief, loss and end of life.

Samantha’s art therapy practice is deeply shaped by her experiences working on Gija Country in the Kimberley, her personal journey of recovery, her lived experiences with infertility, grief, and loss, and her healing through the arts. She also draws on her time as a ward volunteer at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and as a Griefline phone counsellor. Together, these experiences have fostered her compassionate, relational, and co-creative approach to companioning clients on their unique paths to healing and self-discovery.