Hunter Valley Children's Therapies

01/07/2026

When the Real Challenge Isn’t the Disability! Too often, we assume the hardest part of living with a disability is the diagnosis, the symptoms, or the daily physical and mental challenges.

But for many people, the greatest obstacles come from the barriers society creates — inaccessible spaces, limited opportunities, misunderstandings, and the judgments that can make someone feel unseen or excluded.

This image provided by a
Friend of ATL captures something powerful: connection without assumptions. A moment of trust, presence, and acceptance between a person and a horse. In these moments, labels fade away and individuality shines through.

ATL see every day how meaningful interactions with animals can help create spaces where people feel valued, understood, and empowered.

While we can’t remove every barrier, we can help build communities that focus on strengths, abilities, and genuine human connection.

Let’s continue working toward a world where accessibility, inclusion, and respect are not afterthoughts, but the standard.

Everyone deserves to be seen for who they are, not defined by the barriers placed in their path.

10/06/2026

🌿🐴✨ July 2026 School Holiday Group Programs ✨🐴🌿

Hunter Valley Children’s Therapies

We have a few vacancies remaining in some of our group programs for children and young people this coming school holidays.

🌸🐴 Horse Power (3 spots remaining)
For primary school-aged girls
Harnessing our horsepower to build strength, confidence, and emotional skills together
📅 13th & 14th July 2026
⏰ 9:30am – 3:00pm

🌿🐎 Trail Talk
For children between 8 and 12 years
Co-Facilitated with A Growing Understanding- Speech Pathology
📅 15th & 16th July 2026
⏰ 9:00am – 3:00pm
A two-day therapeutic program designed to build communication, interaction, and social confidence in children aged 8–12 years, learning alongside horses, cats and dogs and outside in nature.

🐎 The Wild Stallions -FULL
For boys aged 7–16 years

All programs are facilitated by experienced therapists and grounded in connection, emotional safety, and skill development.

For more information on each group and to secure your place: https://www.huntervalleychildrenstherapies.com/school... 🐴💛

09/06/2026

The countdown is on for this year's Neurodiversity Affirming Therapies Conference!

📅 9–10 July 2025
📍 Melbourne

The program is incredibly rich, featuring a diverse range of themes, topics, and expertise from leading practitioners and advocates in the field. Last year's conference was amazeballs and this year's event is shaping up to be just as inspiring.

We're especially excited that our very own founder, Nadine, will be presenting at the conference, sharing the many benefits of nature-based, equine-assisted groupwork for neurodivergent children and young people.

Fun Fact - over the past 10 years, HVCT has offered around 116 school holiday group programs, supporting about 1000 children. We are all about making group therapy fun and fostering safety, connection and community, alongside our animal friends and outside, in Nature. Nadine is looking forward to spreading the good word about how we apply our principles of Paddock Play at the conference this year.

To learn more about the conference, explore the program, meet the speakers, and book your tickets, visit:

NATCA & LOAPAC EXPO '26 Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy Conference Australia 2026 Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy Conference Australia (NATCA) & LOAPAC Expo 2026The Power of Community in Social ChangeThe Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy Conference Australia & LOAPAC Expo is back in 2026 after laun...

07/05/2026

@ The Hunter Disability Expo

05/05/2026

Sharing for those intrested.....

"With the Federal Budget due in Mid-May, Australia is facing a period of unprecedented proposed change to disability funding and access. Current announcements include the potential removal of approximately 160,000 NDIS participants, a projected $35 billion reduction in scheme costs, and modelling that suggests impacts extending across more than 200,000 jobs in the disability and care sector.

At the same time, there remains limited transparency around the full modelling of these changes and their broader impact on community systems, services, and the people who rely on them every day.

Allyship in Disability Reform: Act Before Budget 2026 is a timely and urgent gathering designed to bring together allied health professionals and community sector stakeholders to explore how we can act as effective allies in the weeks ahead.

This conversation will be led by disability community leaders, who will share lived experience perspectives, outline emerging concerns, and provide clear guidance on how professionals and organisations can support meaningful advocacy during this critical period.

Together, we will focus on:

Understanding the real-world implications of proposed NDIS reforms

The role of allied health and community providers in active allyship

How to support safe, fair, and equitable access to disability supports

Practical pathways for advocacy ahead of the Federal Budget

This is a pivotal moment for the disability community and the systems that support it. The decisions made in the coming weeks will have long-term consequences for access, workforce stability, and the sustainability of community-based care.

This event is about moving from concern to action—ensuring allied health and community voices are informed, connected, and ready to stand alongside people with disability in advocating for a fair and inclusive system".

DETAILS
Wed, 6 May, 2pm - 3pm AEST
Add to calendar
Online Event

More info and low-cost tickets:

Get ready to stand alongside people with disability in advocating for a fair and inclusive system ahead of Budget 2026

04/05/2026

🐴 We’re excited to be heading back to the Hunter Disability Expo this Friday! 🎉

Our team at HVCT can’t wait to spend the day connecting with families, professionals and community members, and sharing all about the therapeutic work we do with our beautiful horses.

Be sure to come by and say hello to Nadine, the ponies, and our wonderful friends from Valley Psychology — we’ll be set up in our usual spot outside on the grassed area near the entry.

📍 Hunter Disability Expo
🗓 8 & 9 May
⏰ 9:00am – 3:00pm
🎟 FREE Entry

We’d love to meet you, answer your questions, and have a chat about how equine-assisted and nature-based therapies can support children, teens and families.

See you there! 💚

The Hunter Disability Expo will link thousands of people with a disability with hundreds of product and service providers. Entry is Free.

04/05/2026

" Labor is trying to use disabled people as a scapegoat to balance the upcoming Budget, setting up a ‘razor gang’ to slash vital NDIS funding.

While they ignore billion-dollar blowouts for AUKUS submarines, give tax handouts to property investors, and refuse to properly tax gas corporations, Labor is putting disability supports on the chopping block.

Cutting the NDIS isn't just cruel — it's bad economics.

Evidence shows that every dollar invested in the NDIS returns $2.25 to the economy

1. Because getting the right support means more disabled people can work, increase their hours, and rely less on other supports over time.

2. The NDIS isn’t a cost to cut. Investing in disabled people strengthens the entire economy.

When Labor cuts NDIS funding, they remove critical supports and force essential care work back onto families. This responsibility falls disproportionately on women, pushing carers out of the workforce right in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.

Importantly, and most dangerously, not every disabled person has family to provide unpaid care.

We must fight back against Labor’s razor gang and protect the NDIS from cuts to ensure it holds strong for generations of disabled people to come.

That's why the Greens are fighting for an NDIS that is:

Fully funded and protected from being used as a scapegoat in the federal Budget.
* Equal and fair to access regardless of what category your disability falls into.
* Customisable on a case-by-case basis. There is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to disability.
* Putting disabled people at the centre of decision making.
* Participants must always have the right to appeal decisions made about their supports and drive any changes made to our NDIS.

Disabled people are used to fighting for their basic rights, and the Greens will back their fight every step of the way.

Together we have protected our NDIS countless times."

Join The Greens campaign to tell Labor: No NDIS Cuts here:

Labor is trying to use disabled people as a scapegoat to balance the upcoming Budget, setting up a ‘razor gang’ to slash vital NDIS funding. While they ignore billion-dollar blowouts for AUKUS submarines, give tax handouts to property investors, and refuse to properly tax gas corporations, Labor...

19/04/2026

As we prepare to welcome our clients back for their Individual sessions in Term 2, we reflect on another totally horsome school holidays, with 4 group programs all a resounding success, with so many happy little people.

One of the highlights was a visit from Rachel from
'Raising Assistance Dogs', who brought along 5 of her growing puppies to spend some time with the girls in our HorsePower group as part of their socialisation and training. Needless to say, we were very happy to help out.

Rachel shares
"Raising Assistance Dogs works in collaboration with its partners to support purpose-bred puppies from proven service dog lines through community connection and pathways into future support and assistance roles. Our Early Connection Program creates guided interactions between people and young puppies that support wellbeing, confidence and meaningful connection while also contributing to the development of future assistance dog candidates”

The level of cutness and smoochability was almost unbearable :-)
Everyone thoroughly enjoyed their time with these bundles of loveable puppy energy.

For more info: www.RaisingAssistanceDogs.com.au

26/03/2026

🌿🐴✨ April 2026 School Holiday Group Programs ✨🐴🌿
Hunter Valley Children’s Therapies

HANDFUL OF PLACES LEFT

We have a few vacancies remaining in some of our group programs for children and young people this easter school holidays.

🌿🐎 Trail Talk (3 spots left)
For children between 8 and 12 years
Co-Facilitated with A Growing Understanding- Speech Pathology
📅 9th & 10th April 2026
⏰ 9:00am – 3:00pm
A two-day therapeutic program designed to build communication, interaction, and social confidence in children aged 8–12 years, learning alongside horses, cats and dogs and outside in nature.

🌿💛 The Feeling Herd (Teens Group) - 1 spot left
For high-school aged young people
📅 15th & 16th April 2026
⏰ 9:30am – 3:00pm
An inclusive, supportive group offering teens a safe space to connect, share, explore, learn and grow. Through nature-based and animal-assisted activities, participants build emotional regulation, social confidence, and resilience.

🐎 The Wild Stallions -FULL
For boys aged 7–16 years

🌸🐴 Horse Power - FULL
For primary school-aged girls

All programs are facilitated by experienced therapists and grounded in connection, emotional safety, and skill development.

For more information on each group and to secure your place: https://www.huntervalleychildrenstherapies.com/school-holiday-programs 🐴💛

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23/03/2026

🌿🐴✨ April 2026 School Holiday Group Programs ✨🐴🌿
Hunter Valley Children’s Therapies
LAST CALL - REGISTRATIONS CLOSING

We’re excited to offer four unique, nature-based therapeutic group programs these April school holidays — each designed to support connection, confidence, and emotional growth in a safe and inclusive environment.

Here’s what’s coming up:

🐎 The Wild Stallions
For boys aged 7–16 years
📅 7th & 8th April 2026
⏰ 9:30am – 3:00pm

A nature-based, skill-building program helping boys build resilience, emotional regulation, leadership, and teamwork skills through hands-on outdoor experiences and animal connection.

Perfect for boys who thrive in active environments and benefit from structured social support.

🌿🐎 Trail Talk
For children between 8 and 12 years
Co-Facilitated with A Growing Understanding- Speech Pathology
📅 9th & 10th April 2026
⏰ 9:00am – 3:00pm
A two-day therapeutic program designed to build communication, interaction, and social confidence in children aged 8–12 years, learning alongside horses, cats and dogs and outside in nature.

🌸🐴 Horse Power
For primary school-aged girls
📅 13th & 14th April 2026
⏰ 9:30am – 3:00pm

A creative blend of art, nature, and animals in a nurturing space that supports confidence, friendship-building, emotional awareness, and resilience.

Ideal for girls who love creative expression and being outdoors.

🌿💛 The Feeling Herd (Teens Group)
For high-school aged young people
📅 15th & 16th April 2026
⏰ 9:30am – 3:00pm

An inclusive, supportive group offering teens a safe space to connect, share, explore, learn and grow. Through nature-based and animal-assisted activities, participants build emotional regulation, social confidence, and resilience.

We welcome young people of all backgrounds, experiences, bodies and identities.

All programs are facilitated by experienced therapists and grounded in connection, emotional safety, and skill development.

🌟 Limited places available
📍 Hunter Valley Children’s Therapies

For more information on each group and to secure your place: https://www.huntervalleychildrenstherapies.com/school-holiday-programs.

Let these school holidays be a time of growth, connection, and confidence-building. 🌿🐴💛

Explore outdoor, nature-focused school holiday programs in Hunter Valley that promote social skills, confidence, and connection for children and teens.