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Dr. Michael DeMaria is a practicing clinical psychologist with 20 years of experience in helping guide others on their life journeys.
For the first decade of his professional life he devoted himself to working with abused children and their families. His unique and effective approach to working with well over 2000 cases of child abuse and neglect led to him being appointed to the Governor's State Legislative Task Force on child abuse and neglect and testifying as an expert in clinical psychology in over a hundred cases in criminal, civil and family court. He is a diplomat in Expressive Therapy and a Registered Play Therapist - Supervisor. As a University Professor he has been teaching and training graduate students in psychotherapy for the past 15 years. He has also trained post-graduate students in play therapy and expressive arts therapy for many years
Over the years he has been pioneering a particular approach to psychotherapy by interweaving spirituality and creativity into an effective healing process. His background in philosophy and theoretical psychology has helped him lay down the theoretical foundation for his work. He is the founder and clinical director of DeMaria & Associates offering a wide range of life span development psychotherapy.
Nothing, however, has given him more joy then interweaving his love of nature, creativity and spirituality into wilderness based healing experiences. His work with children and the expressive arts he sees now as having been an apprenticeship for his psychospiritual work with others. For the past 7 years he has trained with indigenous and contemporary teachers in the art of the Vision Quest, a wilderness based rite of passage. This work has led to the founding of ONTOS: A Center for Being, offering meditation groups, psychospiritual groups, training in psychospiritual psychotherapy and individual psychospiritual therapy and guidance. He now spends much of his time as a Vision Quest Guide and is a member of the Wilderness Guides Council and Spiritual Directors International.
His enduring passions remain his family, friends, dreaming, the wilderness, musing (preferably poetry, playing the Native American Flute, drumming) and just being.
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