Introduction
Haere mai and welcome to the Introduction to Music and Movement for Calm Connection course from Mauri Tui Tuia. We're so glad you're here, and hope you come away with a pocketful of useful tools that really work in your context.
A bit about us:
Mauri Tui Tuia offers empowering, tailored, and practical creative therapy sessions, workshops, courses, and ecological support. Grounded in bicultural practice as active partners to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, we are focused on sustainably building resilience and maintaining wellbeing for kaiako, tamariki, whānau, and therapy professionals.
Founded by Jan McConnell and Katie Pureti in 2021, Mauri Tui Tuia now has a team of therapists from the creative therapy professions working in the community, including in schools, early childhood centres, and for community organisations.
Underpinned by Te Tiriti, we strive to be active collaborators in mana-enhancing practice alongside our communities. Our approaches in using waiata, movement, sound, rhythm, and arts within a therapeutic context are tools that find resonance in a wide variety of cultures, while Te Ao Māori frameworks underpin our bicultural practice model.
Our practical tools are grounded in trauma-informed dance, arts and music therapy research and knowledge, and support child and adolescent development and wellbeing across diverse populations. Our creative therapy approaches lean naturally to supporting people without relying on verbal processing (ideal for young tamariki with more limited verbal skills, for neurodiverse people, or those experiencing anxiety).
The creative therapies also make it possible to engage with individuals who connect with therapists through their preferences for music, dance, and art-making. The emphasis on ‘side-by-side’ practice, rather than just a direct talk therapy approach is one that can foster relationship even for people who may have found other forms of therapy difficult to access.
About your facilitators:
Jan McConnell
MAAT, DTAA(prof), ANZACATA, PNZ
Jan McConnell, Mauri Tui Tuia Executive Director, is a Dance Movement Therapist, Arts Therapist and Physiotherapist based in Tai Tokerau, New Zealand. She works in partnership with community, Iwi and Government agencies including Ministry of Education, providing dance movement and arts therapy in multi-disciplinary settings. Involved with the development of the Dance Movement Therapy profession, she teaches, supervises and presents both nationally and internationally. Her clinical and research interests explore the collaboration between dance and arts therapy, health, education and bicultural practice to support empowered community wellbeing.
Katie Pureti
NZRMTh, MMusTher, BMus, ATCL
Katie Pureti, Mauri Tui Tuia Executive Director, is a Registered Music Therapist based in Whangārei, Tai Tokerau. Katie’s expertise is in clinical management, organisational leadership, and as a music therapist for children and adults with trauma, disabilities, and mental health needs. Her past roles have also included music teaching positions in tertiary, secondary and primary education, governance roles in the community including serving as a Council Member for Music Therapy New Zealand, and presenting at conferences, schools, and organisations across New Zealand. Katie’s particular interests are in developing ecological, accessible therapeutic support for whānau and supporting Mauri Tui Tuia’s amazing team of therapists.