Why VANISH matters: The healing power of connection and creativity

Adoptee Megan Fromholtz travelled all the way from Ballarat to attend our Adoptee Wellbeing Day in Albury-Wodonga. She was so moved by her experience that she wrote about it and shared her reflections with us.

As a participant in the VANISH Ballarat peer support group, I have experienced first-hand the difference these programs make in the lives of people who have lived with adoption.

It was disappointing to learn that our Ballarat group has reduced from monthly meetings to every second month due to funding limitations. These groups are far more than social gatherings—they are a lifeline.

Recently, I was fortunate to attend the Albury peer group’s creative therapy day. It came at a time when I had just received and begun reading the official documents from my earliest days of life. Like many adopted people, those records contained difficult truths and stirred profound grief, confusion and loss.

The creative therapy workshop gave me something words alone could not.

Through art, nature, writing and the gentle support of others who understood adoption, I found a way to safely begin processing emotions that had lived inside me for decades. There was no pressure to “fix” anything. Instead, creativity allowed me to express experiences that often exist beyond language.

Research increasingly recognises that trauma—particularly trauma experienced before we have words, sometimes called pre-verbal trauma—can be stored in the body as well as the mind. As psychiatrist Dr Bessel van der Kolk, author of The Body Keeps the Score, writes:

“Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health.”

Creative therapies provide one pathway towards that sense of safety. They engage the body, emotions and imagination, allowing people to process experiences that cannot always be talked through. For many adopted people, whose earliest experiences involved separation, uncertainty and loss, this can be profoundly healing.

At the Albury workshop I created a representation of a safe place inspired by a tree from my childhood and wrote compassionate words to the frightened part of myself that still fears making mistakes. For the first time in a long time, I felt a sense of gentleness towards myself. That experience did not erase my grief—but it gave me hope, connection and a way to keep moving forward.

This is why VANISH matters.

Peer support is not simply about meeting together. It is about reducing isolation, strengthening wellbeing, preventing crises and helping people build healthier, more connected lives. When combined with creative therapeutic experiences, these programs become powerful opportunities for healing.

I know funding decisions are never easy. However, I hope those making these decisions understand that behind every funded program is a person whose life may be changed because they finally feel seen, understood and supported.

My hope is that funding can be increased so groups like Ballarat can once again meet monthly and so more creative therapeutic opportunities can be offered across Victoria. Healing from adoption is not something that happens in one appointment or one conversation. It happens through safe relationships, community, and opportunities to gently reconnect with ourselves.

I am deeply grateful to VANISH, the facilitators, the peer volunteers and everyone who works to keep these programs available. I sincerely hope they continue to grow so that every adopted person seeking support has the opportunity to experience the same compassion, belonging and hope that I have found.

Megan Fromholtz
Participant, VANISH Ballarat Peer Support Group

26 July 2026

VANISH community members are currently raising funds on GiveNow to enable our support groups to continue in a limited way while we seek alternative funding. You can donate here.

If you’re interested in joining a future workshop or peer support group, please get in touch.