Anna-Michele Hantler & Lucy-Mary Mulholland are the co-founders of APTE (Arts & Play Therapy in Education), determined to bring child-focused therapy services into primary school settings, to work with those children who've experienced - abuse, neglect, attachment disorders, loss, bereavement, family breakdown, adoption, fostering, crisis, change, bullying, natural disasters or political upheaval.
The two met through the Whitecliffe Arts Therapy clinical year and discovered a shared passion and complementary skill set for working directly with children and parents. Anna-Michele has recently returned from the UK where she had established a professional service (Emotional Education through the Arts) for the children, schools and family sector. Initially trained as an early years teacher then an Integrative Arts Psychotherapist, Anna-Michele was keen to bring 35 years of experience and knowledge back to her home country Aotearoa. Lucy-Mary with a background in psychology, went onto train and practise in Arts and Dance-Movement Therapy. Her passion for school based Arts Therapy saw her winning an AMP scholarship and working in services in Chicago and Bristol. Whilst in the UK, Anna-Michele joined Lucy and together they spent time in a number of child therapy services. Now they are in an exciting phase, joined by fellow Arts Therapist Julia Hanna, they are about to launch a pilot project with a strong research component. This will look at the effectiveness of both individual and group child therapy in a primary school setting.
