About Heartwood Arts Therapy

Heartwood Arts Therapy, formerly Lacuna Arts, was formed by Rachel Heartwood in 2017. Rachel graduated with a first class Clinical Masters of Arts in Arts Therapy at Whitecliffe College of Arts, New Zealand. Over the past few years she has had the good fortune to work with nationally renowned organisations. These include Oranga Tamariki, The Cancer Society, Hawke’s Bay Regional Prison (DTU), The MASH Trust and Hohepa School. She also spent two years living at a mindfulness retreat centre in the Coromandel. Here she learnt the art of mindful living and integrated this with nature-based art-making.

Rachel has experience working with:

Physical illness/dis-ease.
Anxiety and Depression.
Life Changes (i.e. grief, divorce, body changes, identity shifts, endings and new beginnings).
Autism (ASD).
Disability (physical and/or intellectual).
Ancestral & Childhood Trauma.
Addiction.

Rachel is trauma-informed, client-centred and process-oriented. She specialises in holding a safe space for her clients to explore using intuition and body/hearts-based practices. Techniques she uses includes Eco-Arts Therapy, Forest-Bathing, Focusing-Oriented Art Therapy, Mindfulness, and Somatic therapy. Rachel believes in the potential of every being to heal, to be free from their suffering and to find their creative voice.

She is deeply inquisitive about human beings. Ever since she was a child she has followed this curiosity, using her personal experiences as a road map. Rachel embodies the creative healing process in her daily life, and brings this wisdom into her sessions. All is met with curiosity and loving acceptance for what is. This is a skill she aims to teach to her clients.

Personal Life

In her home life she enjoys time with her husband, studying mindfulness and meditation, and doing macramé. She has a passion for reconnecting to ancient ways of living and a deep love for animals and nature. It is her dream to own a piece of land and share it with a mindful community practicing permaculture.