Heartwood Health is a specialised Therapy business run at a family farm in Bannockburn. It is a peaceful place to visit and spend time with our equine and canine family members in a private and quiet country setting. We specialise in providing Equine Therapy for Children, Teens and Adults with a very skilled team of therapists. We also offer Play Therapy, Animal Assisted Play Therapy and Occupational Therapy in the specially built Heartwood House that has a large and well supplied Playroom for Child Centred Play Therapy and Occupational Therapy. It has comfortable facilities for parents/carers with a lovely waiting room and play spaces for siblings inside and outside.
Services
Play Therapy
- Connection and communication
- Concentration and learning difficulties
- Emotional regulation and self-confidence
- Indoors and outdoors
Equine Therapy
- Horse, dogs and animals in nature
- Sensory and non-verbal communication
- Help with feeling safe, playful and engaged
- Outdoor activities in nature
Occupational Therapy
- Assistence with any activity or occupation
- Support for daily life activities
- Help with independence
- Fine motor and eye-hand coordination skills
Play is the language of children. It is how they explore the world and find out about themselves. It is how they learn things like social skills, develop physical abilities and it has a vital impact on brain development. Therefore it is the ideal way to communicate with children in a fun, safe and inclusive environment.
Play therapy can assist children (and adolescents) with concerns such as emotional regulation, anxiety, social skills, self-confidence, learning difficulties, concentration, resilience, communication, self-expression and hyper- or hypo-activity.
All sessions are private and confidential as the specifically trained therapist works with your child in a way that helps the child feel safe, valued and empowered to express who they are and what they want to do. We are situated on a peaceful farm with a spacious indoor playroom and family-friendly waiting room for Parents/carers. We also have lots of outdoor play areas for nature-based play and the ability to include farm animals.
Please see the section below for more information on how Play Therapy works and what is involved when booking in your child in for some sessions.
For any children that enjoy being around animals, adding dogs and/or horses (and other farm animals) into the sessions can be a wonderful extra element of playfulness.
Our horses and dogs have been around children as part of therapeutic riding lessons for several years and are safe, friendly, curious, playful and highly
motivated by treats, hugs and love.
As part of play therapy sessions we do not offer horse riding as this is a separate program. Please refer to my other website heartwoodhorses.com.au.
Not only do many children enjoy being around animals and have fun working with them, they find them great company and might even feel safer or more relaxed with them than with an adult/therapist alone.
Even if your child is wary or frightened of animals, we can help with their concerns and enhance their ability to feel safe and grow to enjoy being with animals.
Animal Assisted Therapy can all be linked to the Social-Emotional Learning (SEL), which helps people to manage their emotions, nurturing positive relationships, making informed choices, and feeling and exhibiting empathy. It improves their mental and physical health and helps to make life more enjoyable and successful.
Some of what we work in OT includes helping children with:
Gross motor skills, such as sitting up, crawling, standing, balance, posture, walking, running, and jumping.
Self-care, including feeding, dressing, toileting, and basic hygiene. Self-regulation and calming, especially during transitions or while engaged in non-preferred activities. Social-emotional communication and engagement. Fine motor skills (handwriting, buttoning, tying, zipping, etc.). Executive functioning (paying attention/focusing, understanding/following sequences and directions, etc.) Sensory integration and processing.
Process
What to expect
Heartwood Health is an inclusive family service that tries to meet the needs of the client and the family and education systems that support them. This means that we find out as much about the clients and families information and concerns as suitable. This involves parent/carer meetings, assessments and goal setting. The number of sessions is determined by the successful outcomes of the intervention. We are confident that you will find Heartwood Health to be a safe and caring service that provides the client and their family a simple, efficient and effective experience that is full of fun and valuable use of time and funds.
Therapists
Kim Wood
Owner, Play & Eqine Therapist
My name is Kim, the owner of Heartwood Health and I’ve been running my other business Heartwood Horses for over 10 years giving lessons to children in a very kind and gentle way for the horses and the children. I have been working with children with special needs for many years and specialising in this field for over a year. I thoroughly enjoy working with these kids and loved seeing the wonderful affects and horses and even the dogs would have on these children.
Kim has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Child Play Therapy and she is a registered Play Therapist with the Australasia Pacific Play Therapy Association (APPTA) and a member of Animal Therapies Ltd (ATL).
Kim has completed Level 1 training with the International Institute of Animal Assisted Play Therapy. This training has given Kim the ability to combine two wonderful therapy tools with her love and knowledge of working with the animals and the benefits of play.
Kim has also completed a Certificate in Equine Therapy at the Centre for Equine Experiential Learning Australia (CEEL).
Kim is also a Qualified Yoga Therapist with Dru Yoga Australia.
Level 2 First Aid Accredited.
Session times
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday
9:30am to 5pm
Saturday
9:30am to 2:30pm
We are closed Sunday and Monday
Emma Vale
Equine Therapy Assistant
Emma brings her love for horses and children together in a caring and kind way to create a positive experience for both clients and their families.
Emma is studying Occupational Therapy at Deakin University. Emma is a very experienced horsewoman as well as having lots of experience working with children. Emma is super fun and friendly and she is able to support Kim working with Equine Therapy clients.
Amy O’Meara
Occupational Therapist
Amy is an experienced and AHPRA registered Occupational Therapist. She has obtained a Bachelor of Health Sciences majoring in psychology and Bachelor of Occupational Therapy through Deakin University. She has a wide range of experience working with autistic young people from her roles as a camp carer, surf therapist, and kid’s yoga therapist.
Amy has worked as a Paediatric Occupational Therapist in private practice supporting children and young people from 3 years to 14 years of age from a diverse range of backgrounds, needs and diagnoses. She has experience assisting children and families with cognitive delays, regulation difficulties (emotional & sensory), Autism, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA), attachment challenges, anxiety and depression.
Amy’s therapy style is often play based and child led, with the use of movement and nature where possible. She believes strongly that children and young people will benefit greatly from their learning if it is supported by their interests and internal motivation. Laughter is the key to happiness – but also the key to growth and development.
Amy has a particular interest in working with children and young people to develop and enhance their skills they need to undertake a range of activities within the areas of:
- Self confidence
- Positive self-identity
- Fine motor (strength, precision, coordination, dexterity, control, etc.)
- Gross motor (running, jumping, riding, kicking, throwing, catching)
- Play
- Social skills
- Sensory Processing
- Emotional Regulation
Session times
Wednesdays
Leah Barker
Occupational Therapist
Leah works part time at Heartwood Health as an Equine therapist as well as an Occupational Therapist. Leah has recently graduated as an OT and is super excited to now be able to work as a qualified Therapist. She is a Paediatric OT so she is very experienced with kids and has owned and cared for horses her whole life. She loves sharing her love for horses with everyone.
Leah has a Degree in Occupational Therapy from Deakin University and as has a Cert IV in Early Childhood. Leah loves working with children and helping to improve their confidence, and develop their life skills. Leah has ridden and owned horses all of her life she is very skilled at riding and training. She also has many years experience assisting at Heartwood Health with horse riding sessions and now equine therapy sessions.
Session Times
Saturday
9:30am to 1:30pm
Contact
Get in Touch
Kim Wood
0458 747 534
[email protected]
Address
176 English Road,
Bannockburn,
VIC 3331
