About Us

OLGA KOTNOWSKA

Olga is a registered art therapist (ANZACATA), and a practicing artist, writer and poet. She is currently in her final stages of completing further studies in Gestalt Psychotherapy at Gestalt Therapy Australia. Olga’s work is informed by the unique blend of the aforementioned studies. 

Olga is highly passionate about working from a holistic place: she prioritises attuning to each individual’s place/moment along their journey of life. From here, Olga allows the sessions to take shape, always following the particular needs, desires, curiosities, edges and goals of each individual. Olga works from a dynamic relational lens, which supports participants to increase their awareness and authentic expression, and thereby potentially expands one’s repertoire of behaviour. Olga is also informed by developmental trauma, attachment and humanistic theories.

As a therapist, Olga is particularly driven to encourage participants to delve into self-exploration by not taking art too seriously. She believes that when participants embrace a sense of play when making art, it is easier to abandon self-limiting beliefs and blocks, which can lead to a kind of confidence in one’s unique visual language, however it presents. 

The more playful one is, the easier it is to express oneself: inner and outer worlds and how the two intersect, feelings, perspectives, thoughts, as well as past, present and future visions. 

Olga has worked with a diverse group of clients, with presentations including: 

mental health, homelessness, substance abuse, addiction, disability, persons of various ages and with various neurological expressions. Olga has also worked in aged care, palliative care and adult oncology. 

JOSEPH FONTI

Joseph has been practising art therapy for over 7 years. First inspired by Ron Curran’s methodology, he is an accomplished and experienced facilitator, working with both groups and individuals alike. He is a practising artist, and completed a Bachelor of Fine Art at RMIT (Melbourne) in 2019. Alongside his current case load, he is undertaking 4 years of training in Relational Gestalt Therapy (Gestalt Therapy Australia), and holds a Diploma of Counselling. He is a registered member of the Australian Counselling Association, and has a private Counselling and Psychotherapy practice:

www.peninsulacounsellingandpsychotherapy.com.au

Joseph founded and ran one of Melbourne’s most successful life drawing classes, Continuous Line Life Drawing, from 2016 – 2020. Known for its tight knit community and ability to push participants ‘over the edge’ of what they thought their artistic limit might be, Joseph continues to take great joy in encouraging others to explore their own unique visual languages through the humble act of drawing.

Joseph is particularly interested in drawing, sculpture, found objects, and the restoration of anything with ‘good bones’. He is a collector of sturdy, well crafted objects and an avid gardener.

Having spent most of his adolescent life and all of his adult life engaged in creative pursuits, learning lessons the hard way, and slowly putting all the pieces together, Joseph has come to realise that art is the teacher, and we are all the students.