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Marie Fitzpatrick

Senior Lecturer

School of Social Sciences

Role

Senior Lecturer in Counselling and Psychological Therapies

Career overview

Marie is an accredited Gestalt Psychotherapist (UKCP) and has a private therapy practice alongside her academic role, and has experience of working with a diverse range of adults in the voluntary sector, NHS and private practice settings.  Marie is currently a Clinical Supervisor-in-training with the Sherwood Psychotherapy Training Institute.

Marie was previously Senior Lecturer in Dance at De Montfort University (2006-2023) and has held advocacy, consultancy and chair roles with artist led and national dance organisations. She offers a distinctive skill set that draws upon embodied, creative arts practices and relational psychotherapy, which is grounded in 26 years experience of designing and delivering artistic, professional and scholarly projects across both Higher Education and community contexts.

Her extensive background in the creative arts informs her creative approaches to therapy, specialising in holistic, body-orientated approaches that can help clients understand, express and integrate their individual experiences, when talking alone cannot.

Research areas

Marie’s specialism is positioned within the area of Creative Health where engagement with arts, culture and creativity is believed to be vital for mental/health and wellbeing.

Her research explores the intersection of arts and mental health practices that have a focus on relationality and embodiment. Current research focuses on the role of embodied and relational practices with regards to the experience of individual and collective grief.

External activity

  • Living Well with Parkinson’s project funded by National Lottery Community Fund with partnerships including People Dancing, English National Ballet, NHS Trust, University Hospitals Leicester, Parkinson’s EQUIP and Parkinson’s UK (2020-2024)
  • Mental Health in Schools: Panellist for Sandpit Research Engagement Event. Mary Seacole Research Centre, De Montfort University (2019)

Publications

  • DOUGHTY, S. and FITZPATRICK, M. (2016) The identity of hybrid dance artist-academics working across academia and the professional arts sector IN: Choreographic Practices Journal. Intellect, London.
  • DOUGHTY, S. and FITZPATRICK, M. (2015) The dual identity of the hybrid dance artist-academic. Dance 4 Online Conversations, 13 March 2015. Available from: www.youtube.com/dance4presents
  • FITZPATRICK, M. (2014) The three-ness of three ones IN: Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, 6:2 London, Intellect Ltd. pp 143-157

Conference presentations:

  • FITZPATRICK, M. (2020) This Grief Thing: relational practices. Arts, Humanities, Health and Well-Being Interdisciplinary Forum, DMU (online) 13 November 2020.
  • FITZPATRICK, M. (2019) Can we talk about grief? 'Building Bridges’ in Applied Arts and Health, Education and Community Conference. Hosted by Journal of Applied Arts and Health (JAAH) Telford. 7–10 August 2019.
  • FITZPATRICK, M. (2017) What’s in it for us? The role of authenticity within 21st Century dance practices. Dance Fields conference. Roehampton University, London  April 2017.

Course(s) I teach on