Makaela Nolan
Art Therapist & Counsellor
Makaela works integratively across both creative and talk-based therapy. She primarily works with children and young people aged 8 through their 20s.
While creative and expressive modalities are central to her practice, sessions are always guided by the individual needs, preferences, and readiness of each client. Makaela meets clients where they are and adjusts the pace and depth of work to support safety and regulation.
Makaela is experienced in supporting young people navigating emotional regulation difficulties, self-harm, significant life transitions, and childhood trauma. She is particularly well-suited to clients who have struggled with traditional talk therapy, while also supporting those who prefer a more conversational therapeutic style.
Above all, Makaela values authenticity, safety, creativity, trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming practice, and supporting clients to feel seen, supported, and understood.
For more information on Makaela’s background and therapeutic approach, please click below.
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Makaela was previously a Registered Nurse and has experience in intensive care, rural and Aboriginal health, palliative care, and complex disability support. This background informs her holistic, ethically grounded, and collaborative way of working.
Makaela holds a Bachelor of Arts Therapy and a Bachelor of Nursing, and is PACFA registered as a Certified Practising Counsellor and Certified Practising Registrant. She is also a registered member of PACFA’s College of Creative and Experiential Therapies (CCET) as an Art Therapist, and is currently expanding her professional development in Internal Family Systems (IFS).
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Makaela works with a broad range of expressive therapy modalities, including visual and multimedia arts, sensory and tactile processes, movement and dance, drama, and embodied approaches. These are offered as options rather than requirements, particularly supporting clients who may struggle to articulate their inner experiences through words alone.
Her therapeutic approach is person-centred, trauma-informed, and integrative, drawing on psychodynamic and psychoanalytic perspectives, humanistic and developmental frameworks, CBT-informed strategies, and creative exploration.
Clients often describe her style as gently inquisitive, playful yet grounded, empathetic and non-judgemental, with an ability to hold both lightness and complex or traumatic material. She creates sessions that are client-led, present-moment focused, and responsive to what feels most supportive in the room.