Open Words

Mental health service provider, valuing lived experience.

Therapy, supervision, training and consultancy.

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What is lived experience?

Lived experience values the perspectives of people who have personally experienced something, recognising that their insights are valid, meaningful, and essential.

At Open Words, we recognise the value of lived experience at every level of mental health support. That’s why we work alongside communities to offer services for individuals, professionals, organisations and research. Read more about our services below.

Services

At Open Words UK, we offer a range of creative and evidence-based mental health services to support individuals, communities, professionals, and organisations.

Therapy

Supervision

Consultancy

Training & CPD

Welcome! I’m Marissa…

I founded Open Words with the goal of making mental health services more accessible, meaningful, and inclusive.

I am a qualified Drama and Movement Therapist, Autism Specialist Practitioner and creative arts supervisor for the helping professions. I am registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and the Vice Chair of the British Association of Dramatherapists. I am also a doctoral researcher with a passion for inclusive research involving marginalised communities to improve mental health provisions.

About Open Words

Testimonials

“Working with Marissa has been invaluable in setting up and growing our one-to-one counselling and group therapy service at MS Together. Her expertise and thoughtful approach have been key in helping us establish a high-quality, sustainable service that is already making a huge difference in our community.”

- Amy, CEO of MS Together

Marissa took time to build safety in the group before approaching more challenging topics and created space for us to talk openly about difficult and complex experiences and feelings.

- Anonymous participant of a reflective practice space

Marissa's creative lens has always brought a refreshing perspective to supervision, and I have learnt a lot. She has always encouraged me to trust my intuition, explore new angles and help me grow with confidence.

- Jay, Counsellor

I have had the privilege of working with Marissa in both a supervisory and collaborative capacity when developing and facilitating training together. I cannot recommend her enough as a supervisor, especially as she works in a collaborative manner, which has shaped my own journey as a facilitator.

- Ronnie, Dramatherapist

We commissioned Marissa as our head of Impact, Outcomes and Evaluation to put in place systems that enable us to continually ensure that we are having the desired impact as an organisation. Marissa's knowledge of anti-oppressive, Trauma-Informed practice has ensured that we have an immediately actionable, scalable, human-centred, neurodivergent-accessible, collaborative system of impact measurement that will enhance and improve our offer in the long-term.

- Kyra, Director of NeuroTribe UK CIC

Marissa was great, the workshop was informative without being an information overload. The workshop felt well paced and we were given lots of opportunities to ask questions.

- CPD participant

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