PEOPLE

With a passion for the creative arts and helping others, Su Mei started life in Malaysia and explored the world of architecture in Cardiff, U.K. which led to her co-founding a charity which brought building and design services to Uganda and Bolivia. She realised that she found deep purpose the time where she shared her passion of art with the local communities, particularly children. This led to a pursuit of a Masters in Art Therapy at La Trobe University, Melbourne and completed a Bachelors of Fine Arts Honours of Social Practice and Community Engagement at the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA), Melbourne University and currently deferred pursuing a Master in Clinical Family Therapy at the Bouverie Centre to focus on the private practice which she founded – Art Tearapy.

She has previously worked as a MST Psychiatric Family Therapist at MacKillop Family Services. She plans to use the knowledge of systemic work from Family Therapy to feed into her practice in art therapy to further benefit the clients she supports. She has had experience as an art therapist in the clinical setting at Northpark Private Hospital and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. She journeys with people who experience various forms of mental illness, intellectual, physical and various abilities. She is also a trained Yoga Alliance instructor who did her RYT 500 training at Brahmani Yoga, India and Yoga Therapy Training with the I AM Yoga, Amrit Yoga Institute. Currently she has a daily Vijnana Yoga practice. She has shared her love of yoga in many countries around the world. Her goal is to use the power of creativity to empower those in need to find tools to help themselves.

Chanudi believes in the use of art and creativity in life enrichment and positive change of individuals & communities. She is an academically trained artist, and holds a Bachelor of Design degree specialising in fashion from University of Moratuwa and a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling and Psychosocial Support from University of Colombo, in Sri Lanka. As a firm believer of reformative, rehabilitative, and therapeutic values of art, Chanudi is passionately involved in providing art psychotherapy and psychosocial support to a diverse clientele from cross-cultural backgrounds since pursuing her master’s in art therapy in 2012 from LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. As an art therapist and mental health professional Chanudi’s expertise spans across a wide array of clients and facilities.

Social activism being a lifelong passion of Chanudi’s, she has predominantly chosen to work with underprivileged minorities and marginalised populations in cross-cultural settings, thereby helping to elevate their quality of life promoting person-centred, strengths-based approaches in service delivery while adhering to her humanitarian perspective. As a mental health practitioner and researcher Chanudi’s experience includes art therapy, counselling and psychosocial interventions, case management, forensic rehabilitation, misuse of substances, neurodivergent children and adults, trauma, people living with HIV and terminal illnesses, and survivors of violence. Chanudi has presented and conducted training in experiential art and art therapy at various clinical, correctional, educational and rehabilitation settings in Sri Lanka, Singapore and Myanmar while collaborating with respective governmental bodies and many not-for-profit organisations. She also comes with extensive knowledge and experience working within the disability sector in Melbourne for the last 7 years and has recently completed a Diploma of Community Services Case Management.