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Marie Calvert – home

01926 881591

Relevant Experience and Theoretical Orientation

  • Nearly 30 years experience in the field of ‘Talking Therapies’.
  • Trained initially as a Couple Counsellor with Relate. I still work with individuals and couples on a wide range of relationship issues.
  • Qualified and experienced Integrative Psychotherapist (MA in Integrative Arts Psychotherapy). I trained for 4 years in London at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE; www.artspsychotherapy.org )
  • My creative approach means that alongside ‘talking therapy’, I offer various different art forms which you may choose to use in order to explore your situation in a multi-sensory and imaginative way. The main media I use are: visual arts/paint/pastels, clay/plasticine, sand-tray, stones, buttons, simple objects, percussion/sound, Russian dolls, creative writing, drama, body awareness, movement, puppets, and imaginative visualisation. You do not need to be artistic or creative to make use of this.

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As an ‘Integrative’ Psychotherapist I have developed my own integration, weaving together aspects from key psychological theories which inform the way I work.

I see my role as one of helping the client access their own inner wisdom and truth, rather than me imposing my own ideas. I incorporate aspects from Mindfulness in the way I work, as I have found this very beneficial for improving psychological wellbeing. The particular Theoretical approaches informing me are:

  • Attachment and Object Relations - I am indebted to John Bowlby’s Attachment Theory and aspects of Object Relations Theory (particularly the work of Donald Winnicott). I find their insights into early and often unconscious childhood influences and patterns really helpful.

  • Gestalt - This experimental and holistic way of working (as pioneered by Fritz Perls) fits very well with experiential, arts-based approaches, and is a really helpful way of developing deeper awareness of oneself and the world around.

  • The Arts - my training in the arts at the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE) was extensive, and I am inspired by Carl Jung as probably the greatest pioneer of creative arts therapy, alongside more recent thinkers such as Shaun Mc Niff and Steven Levine.

  • TA (Transactional Analysis) – I find Eric Berne’s way of looking at human personality, roles and communication very useful and accessible.

'Thank you for the creative bits. I found they brought out thoughts and reflections I hadn't realised were there..'