About

Dr Allison Singer Founder and Clinical Director The Centre for Movement and Creative Arts in Psychotherapy

I am a Humanistic and Integrative Arts Psychotherapist with over 40 years' experience in using movement-based and creative arts approaches in arts, community, education and psychotherapeutic settings. I work with adults, children, trainees and health professionals.

I have led and been a Consultant and Guest Lecturer for Masters Degree professional Arts Psychotherapy and Arts in Health training programmes in the UK and internationally. I was a Co-Director (2009-2013), and Chair (2024-2025) of the Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy UK (ADMP UK). I am also a published Researcher and Writer and regularly present my work at national and international conferences.

I founded the Centre for Movement and Creative Arts in Psychotherapy (MAPTHY) in 2000. This was to create opportunities for individuals to access a more embodied and creative approach to psychotherapy.

Over the last 25 years MAPTHY has developed to offer Individual and Group Psychotherapy, and regular ongoing Retreats and Personal Development Groups. MAPTHY has also become an important resource centre for Psychotherapists, Health Professionals and Psychotherapy Trainees. It offers Clinical Supervision for qualified Psychotherapists and Arts in Health professionals; CPD workshops; Psychotherapy and Supervision for Trainees; and in 2014 developed the North East Arts Therapies Group (NEAT).

NEAT has become a leader in the North East in providing opportunities for networking, skills sharing and collaborations within and between the Creative Arts Psychotherapies. Central to NEAT is the popular annual two-day conference, now in its tenth year. 

Integrative approach to Psychotherapy

I passionately believe in the integration of the body, movement and creative arts within a psychotherapeutic context to provide opportunities for self-understanding and change where words are not enough.

This approach gives my clients the opportunity to bring their whole being to the psychotherapeutic process and to discover unknown and often hidden resources.

I have been privileged to have trained and worked with some of the pioneers and leaders in the fields of psychotherapy, dance and somatic movement, dance anthropology, ethnomusicology, and singing and vocal improvisation. These people have inspired and informed me. They have helped me to develop a deep understanding of the integration of the body​, movement​ and a range of creative arts within psychotherapeutic contexts; and the weaving of an anthropological perspective within this

Research

I hold a PhD in Dance Ethnography (De Montfort University, 2007). This research integrated Dance Movement Psychotherapy and Dance Anthropology to look at the use of dance, movement, story and visual imagery in psychosocial work with war affected refugee and internally displaced children and their families in a post-conflict zone. It was based on one year’s fieldwork in Serbia shortly after the end of the war in former Yugoslavia. My field of research and the approach I adopted was very innovative and I received several commendations for my work including from the United Nations in Geneva; and the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance (ICTMD).  ​

Professional Affiliations

  • United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP)

  • Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

  • The Association for Dance Movement Psychotherapy (ADMP)

  • The British Association of Dramatherapists (BADTh)

  • ​The British Wheel of Yoga (BWY)​

  • The International Council for Traditions of Music​ and Dance (ICTMD)