Mauri Tui Tuia - Creative Therapies NZ

10/08/2026

✨ Introducing Alex Reelick - Registered Creative Arts Therapist (Tāmaki Makaurau)

Based in Tāmaki Makaurau, Alex is a Registered Creative Arts Therapist specialising in Dance Movement Therapy. With a background in Psychology and years of experience as a dance teacher and movement specialist, she is passionate about supporting children and young people in schools and neurodiverse communities.

Alex uses movement, creative expression, play, and connection to support wellbeing, guided by a client-centred, strengths-based, and neuro-affirming approach.

We're so excited to have Alex join the Mauri Tui Tuia team and support our schools and communities. Nau mai, haere mai Alex! 💙

13/07/2026

We love the mahi we get to do with our ECE kaiako. Our recent conference day meant that ECE teams could travel from rural areas to attend a full day of creative PD thanks to MOE SELO funding - enhancing our ECE workforce and supporting our tamariki through creative inclusive practice

About 100 teachers were taught dance, art and music therapy to support calm classrooms.

03/07/2026

Introduction to Music and Movement for Calm Connection (our first online course) is live today, and open to everyone.

Built from five years of mahi alongside hundreds of early childhood centres, grounded in tuakana-teina and Te Whare Tapa Whā, and full of the small, doable things that actually shift a room on those wild days.

Three modules, 100 minutes of usable, easy to adopt approaches. Our kaupapa is to only offer things that make life easier, rather than add to your to-do list.

Launch price $129 (normally $159) with code LAUNCH2026, until 10 July.

Head to: https://maurituituia.podia.com/calm-connections-music-and-movement-tools-for-early-childhood

03/07/2026

Our first online course is live! Katie popping in to share a bit of the backstory.

Grab it now for $30 off with our one week only code: LAUNCH2026

22/06/2026

We've been quietly building something for the teachers, professionals and parents in our lives...

100+ minutes of practical, grounded tools you can use at mat time tomorrow.

Coming 1 July. Watch this space - eek! We're excited 🌱

19/06/2026

Last call for registrations 🏃‍♀️🍁 we are hosting an early childhood conference day next weekend, fully funded by Ministry of Education for any early childhood teachers/kaiako/Playcentre parents across Tai Tokerau. How good!

Event details:
Calm, Connection and Creativity
Saturday 27th June 2026
Te Kamo, Whangārei
9:30-3
Fully catered

Registrations close 9am Monday, so register now! 🧡

29/05/2026

Kia ora Te Tai Tokerau ECE whānau,

We’re really excited to be offering a fully funded professional development day for early childhood kaiako in our region.

Calm, Connection and Creativity is a one-day, conference-style experience focused on supporting the real challenges educators are holding right now: increasing social and emotional needs, wellbeing pressures, and the need for practical, effective strategies.

This isn’t just a sit-and-listen day. It’s highly experiential, with hands-on workshops in music, movement, visual arts and drama therapy, all grounded in trauma-informed, neuro-affirming practice.

When you attend, you’ll receive:
• practical tools you can use straight away
• a goodie bag with sensory resources
• lifetime access to our Calm Connection video library
• handouts and resource materials
• delicious catered lunch + coffee and tea
• the opportunity to connect with others in the sector

📅 Saturday 27 June
📍 Arise, Te Kamo, Whangārei
⏰ 9:30am–3:00pm

If you’re an ECE kaiako in Te Tai Tokerau, your place is fully funded through the Ministry of Education.

We’d love to see whole teams attend together.

👉 Secure your free spot now: https://shorturl.at/DZRhM

13/05/2026

We’re so looking forward to presenting in September! Tickets are available now for the conference in Auckland. 🧡

Jan McConnell (Registered Dance Movement Therapist, Arts Therapist and Physiotherapist) and Katie Pureti (NZ Registered Music Therapist) will be keynote speakers at the MThNZ conference in September, talking about the amazing work they are doing at Mauri Tui Tuia - interdisciplinary creative therapies in collaboration!
Early bird registrations now open: https://www.musictherapy.org.nz/whats-happening/music-therapy-new-zealand-conference-2026/

22/04/2026

We're welcoming Chloe Chow to our team!

Chloe is a Registered Creative Arts Therapist based in Whangārei, with Dance Movement Therapy as her primary approach. Her work centres movement, rhythm and body awareness as gentle pathways to support emotional regulation, self‑expression and connection.

Chloe is passionate about supporting children, rangatahi and communities through creative, body‑based approaches. Her therapeutic work often weaves together movement, art‑making, rhythm, play and mindful practices, creating warm and supportive spaces where individuals can feel seen, held, and reconnect with their own strengths.

Alongside her creative therapy training, Chloe brings a background in social work within school settings, which supports her collaborative, relationship‑centred way of working.

We’re so pleased that Chloe has joined our Whangārei team full time, and look forward to the care and depth she brings to our precious Tai Tokerau communities 💛 Haere mai, Chloe!

20/04/2026

This is the kind of feedback that makes us go quiet for a minute (in a good way). 💛

Across Whānau Flourish feedback (2024–2025):
• 95% of māmā/carers felt the programme gave them more confidence playing with their child
• 95% felt it supported their tamariki to thrive
• 95% felt more confident in their own creativity and more connected to other parents
• 97% felt more able to share creative practices with pepi and whānau

And the comments? Parents talked about using songs and tools at home for transitions, and learning things like mirroring as a new technique - simple stuff that changes the feel of the day.

That’s the kaupapa: more calm, more connection, more confidence - and a bit more joy in the everyday.

(A bit about our Whānau Flourish programme if it's new to you: it's a 10 week creativity and parenting journey, facilitated in community settings by our registered creative therapists. Tamariki and parents attend together, and there's lots of music, movement, art-making and chatting on different topics each week.)