Tania Le Petit (Wagga)

Areas of interest:

  • Adolescent/ Children’s Mental Health  

  • Trauma 

  • Anxiety

  • Depression 

  • Creative Therapies

  • Grief and Loss

  • NDIS

Before starting my bio I think it’s important to acknowledge where I came from.

I respectfully acknowledge those who have come before me and those in my present and future. This includes the Wiradjuri people and the sacred lands on which I am privileged to live with my family and work. It also includes all people who have come to call Australia home.

I also respectfully acknowledge my own ancestors, the people both living and passed on who have supported me and shaped me into the person I am today. Those who have helped me see challenges as opportunities to grow, change and learn.

So a bit about me…

As a child I taught myself to draw, I loved all things creative, my dog Max and hanging out of trees! Art and creativity has been an incredible outlet and escape for me when trauma and societal pressures became too much. Both as a child and as an adult, especially after losing a close family member and my daughter Evaleen. Being creative makes me happy and helps me to cope. Even when I have been at my lowest and retreated into my mind, art coaxed me back out again.

I (she/her) was born and raised in Wagga Wagga, I went to Tolland Primary School and Mount Austin High and am proud of it. I worked and studied from the ground up in anything from hospitality, cleaning, check outs and trolley pushing, retail, lawn mowing, sandwich making, vet nursing, the list goes on. I started study with a cert III, cert IV and later completed a BA Fine Art degree (Jewellery major, drawing and design minor).

In 2013 I began studying a Masters in Social Work with a special interest in mental health, trauma, grief and loss. I have worked with children from disadvantaged backgrounds running homework clubs, reading groups and art and craft groups. I have collaborated with clients and carers in disability (a term I disagree with) assessing needs and setting goals. I have supported the same clients in their places of employment. More recently I have been working as a consumer advocate in mental health supporting people using not just my social work knowledge, but my own lived experience.

I have always wanted to offer art as therapy to people. Rest assured you don’t have to be ‘arty’ to try it. We are all talented and creative in different ways and art takes many forms; from drawing on paper, to music, making jewellery, working with play dough or clay, building things, learning a trade, cooking, martial arts, gardening, dancing, drama, story writing or telling, singing and many more.

I hope to create a space where you feel safe to explore your troubles, possibilities and what you want from life.

Hopefully we can share some stories, learn from each other, talk or not talk, draw on various tools or techniques if they seem helpful, and tailor an approach that feels right for you. My hope is for you to discover what you are already capable of. However my ultimate goal is that you will build your own capacity to the point where you don’t even need me anymore.

And when that happens hopefully you might say hey from time to time and share where your adventures have taken you.

I always love to hear a great story :)

 Available in Wagga, days and times TBC

Cristy Houghton