About Movement Therapeutic Support Services
ABOUT THE SERVICE
Movement Therapeutic Support Services is a practice founded by Heather Russell, providing non-clinical therapeutic support to children and young people living in out-of-home care (OOHC) across the Gold Coast region of South-East Queensland.
Heather works collaboratively with children, foster and kinship carers, Child Safety Officers, case managers, and schools to promote safety, stability, and genuine wellbeing for every child in care. All support is trauma-informed and attachment-focused, drawing on the PACE model (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity, Empathy), strengths-based practice, and a strong commitment to child voice and participation; guided by the Queensland Child Protection Act 1999 and the National Standards for Out-of-Home Care.
Support is flexible and tailored to each child, and can include comprehensive needs assessments, one-on-one therapeutic support sessions, school-based support, carer coaching, mentoring and Positive Behaviour Support planning.
WHO WE SUPPORT
Support is provided to children and young people in foster care, kinship care or residential care across the Gold Coast region of South-East Queensland.
This includes children experiencing placement instability or behavioural and emotional difficulties arising from trauma and disrupted attachment; children transitioning between placements, re-entering care, or approaching independence; foster and kinship carers who need skills-based coaching and practical support; and schools and education providers supporting trauma-affected children.
Referrals and contracting arrangements are welcomed from with the Queensland Department of Families, Seniors, Disability Services and Child Safety and with foster and kinship care support agencies across the South-East region. To find about more about how to refer, see our referrals page here.
About Heather Russell (Founder & Lead Practitioner)
Heather holds a Bachelor of Human Services & Bachelor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University.
Heather has worked in the Queensland foster care and out-of-home care sector since 2016, including six years as an Intensive Practitioner in Foster & Kinship Care with Anglicare Children & Families, alongside earlier experience as a Disability Support Worker and Team Leader. She brings a steady, trauma-informed approach to working with children who have experienced trauma and disrupted attachment, with training in developmental trauma, understanding and responding to sexualised behaviours, attachment-based family therapy, therapeutic crisis intervention and vicarious trauma.
Heather holds a Blue Card (Positive Notice), a current National Police Clearance, First Aid & CPR certification, and is covered by Professional Indemnity and Public Liability Insurance.
Heather's Approach
Trauma Informed: Every interaction is grounded in an understanding of trauma, attachment and the child's developmental history.
PACE Model: Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy — the PACE model guides every therapeutic relationship we build with children and carers.
Child-Led: The child's voice, wishes and goals anchor every support plan. Children are active participants in their own care, not objects of intervention.
Culturally Safe: Cultural identity, connection to family and community and the child's right to self-determination are embedded in every plan. Committed to the ATSICPP.
Collaborative: Working alongside children, carers, case managers, Child Safety, schools and allied health as equal partners, because no one person can hold a child's whole world.