Andrea Bloom

Experience

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  Trained in Glass, can work multi-media

  Jan 1996 - now

  Artist

  Andrea is a practicing glass artist. The intensive experience of developing glass blowing skills began an interest in art as a tool of not just expression but also self development. One has to learn to work with the glass and with the elements of heat and cooling to gently encourage the medium to become an object. The constant risk of melting or smashing the work taught discipline and patience. Staring into the fire and gathering that first fresh globule of glass verges on mystical but to get it to work requires practical developed skills and calm mindful responses.Glass is an exacting teacher.Andrea has been commissioned by the UN Association Australia Peace Program: awards for their Peace program 2015; 2016 and 2017The painting 'Belly' pictured below was completed for a commission and inspired by her work with Gunawirra, with permission from Aboriginal Artist Graham Toomey. Show less

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  Independent Community Living Australia Ltd

  Jan 2002 - Jan 2004

  Rehabilitation Worker

  Supporting adults with mental health issues live in group home accommodation.The role included everything from case management to outings.

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  Private Practice

  Mar 2005 - now

  Art Therapist

  For adults and children - Andrea has successfully worked with bothIndividual or group sessionsArt in therapy makes it easier to engage in therapy because it keeps the hands occupied. Research has shown that art making helps calm the body and still the mind. It is like mindfulness but it gives you something to focus on; more than that, the art is a door to the unconscious. So it fast tracks access to issues, their cause as well as their solution. Art therapy is about the creative process so there is no need to be ‘good at art’. Art in this context is an alternative language - brilliant for children, removing the pressure to articulate their concerns and also excellent for adults especially those tricky over thinkers. Art can encapsulate layers of thoughts without tying you in knots.For children with ‘big behaviours’ or adults who long for personal growth; deep understanding and freedom.Art therapy is relieving. The creative act is part of the cure. Show less

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  Parent Infant Family Australia (Jesuit Social Services)

  Jan 2008 - Jan 2018

  Manager (since 2016)

  Co-facilitating Mother Infant therapy group at Emu Plains Correctional Service CentreSince 2009 Andrea co-facilitated a mothers' group at Emu Plains Prison. To run a therapy group within a system geared towards punishment was a rewarding challenge requiring tenacity and heart. The group was successfully established and found ways to travel with and meet the needs of the participants providing a space for developing connections and cohesion. Other work connected with PIFA has included:Aboriginal Home visiting Lecturing on PIFAs work to NSWIPConsultant professional development group participation Show less

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  Ku-ring-gai Council

  Jan 2009 - Jan 2011

  Glass Art Tutor

  Andrea taught kiln forming glass art art the Ku-ring-gai Community Art Center. She challenged students to find their own expression while allowing the medium to show them what was possible.

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  NSW Institute of Psychiatry

  Sept 2011 - Sept 2011

  Guest Lecture

  Co-facilitated a lecture with Antoinette Grey on engaging Aboriginal Mums and their Children in a Home-visiting Therapy ProgramMaking the theoretical connections through Bion and Winnicott we showed how: if a mother can be supported to move, from a belief that she is not good enough to a place of being able to connect with her inner pain, then transformation and healing can occur.

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  Gunawirra

  Jan 2013 - Nov 2014

  Independent Consultant Therapist

  Andrea worked for Gunawirra in several capacities. Art Therapy and Aboriginal Culture GroupsWorking with Graham Toomey who is an Aboriginal Artist and Shiri Hergass a clinical social worker and art therapist Andrea worked with Gunawirra to develop a tested and evaluated model to determine if children who'd experienced trauma could use art therapy for healing, communication, self-expression and personal growth.Therapy GroupShe co-facilitated a weekly mothers' group with psychotherapist Donna Jacobs. It was attended by young (16-22yrs) Aboriginal mothers. This work included everything from therapy and art to referral management to the provision of lunch on the day.Trauma Conference As well as facilitating a discussion group at the conference Andrea managed the accommodation for the many country based preschool teachers who came to attend Gunawirra's Trauma Conference. Show less

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  NSW Institute of Psychiatry

  Oct 2013 - Oct 2013

  Guest Lecturer

  A lecture about facilitation of a Psychotherapeutic Mothers Group within a PrisonAdaptability of an approach is vital particularly when working withing the context of such a potent Institution. This lecture looked at the application of an attachment framework in the context of participant confinement and explained how to read attachment patterns within this context. It also demonstrated how we developed real, meaningful and therefore healing relationships within prison.

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  Consulting&Coaching

  Jan 2015 - now

  Group Facilitation: Paradigm Shifter

  Andy has more than twenty years experience activating team energy and creativity. She has been a glassblower. That requires great communication and collaboration, working under pressure and in the presence of fire too. She’s been a mentor and therapist to all sorts of people and become highly skilled at reading subtle cues in that process. She’s generous and happy to share her insights and pathways to developing empathy and creativity so that you have these skills too.

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  Australian Association of Group Psychotherapy

  Mar 2017 - Mar 2017

  Conference Presenter: Hate and Love in Groups and Groupwork

  The presentation will stimulate layers of thinking in the group on the theme of Love and Hate in Groups from a macro (societal) level through to the intimate mother-infant relationship with the aim of promoting a group discussion that the group can co-create to meet its own preoccupations. The presentation will be primarily anecdotal, describing the kinds of experiences gained during the facilitation of a mothers/play group in a Corrective Services Facility which houses mothers together with their children (0-5 years of age). Show less

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  Kaplan Business School

  Aug 2017 - Aug 2017

  Guest Lecture in HR in MBA course

  Topic: Creating The Right Culture When The Environment Is So WrongDescription: This lecture presented case work from a group run in a prison, looking at how to foster group cohesion, mutual goals and creativity in a context that is conducive to none of these qualities. The lecture was experiential, inviting students to create and then witness how creativity reveals the group's patterns and connections.

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  Kaplan Business School

  Aug 2018 - Aug 2018

  Guest Lecture

  Topic: Workplace Mentoring and CoachingLecture description: If you are in the role of being someone's mentor it is essential that you know how to develop a relationship. Trust is a key component of any relationship as is connection. In this lecture we will explore how to connect with and inspire your protege/mentee using great relationship and communication skills. The lecture will be creative and experiential so that you will embody some of the concepts and be ready to practice them immediately. You will also access your own creativity which will reveal ways to get to know people other than the day to day workplace presentation. Creativity is also a powerhouse of resourcefulness, ideas generation and problem solving skills all of which support the development of a successful mentorship practice. We will think together about the benefits of shifting from a state of competition to one of more collaborative approaches to mentoring. It helps if you know how to activate collaboration and this will be discussed so that you do. Show less

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  Attachment and Trauma Network

  Feb 2019 - Feb 2019

  Conference Presenter @ ATN's Creating Trauma Sensitive Schools Conference 2019

  The workshop was multilayered and included:1. experiential art making while learning about how to engage kids in groups using art to process and contain trauma and trauma related behaviours. 2. how to identify vicarious trauma that may impact those working directly with kids with trauma3. psychoanalytic concepts of container/contained and good-enough relationships as tools for both self care as well as having highest capacity to positively impact students with trauma backgrounds