INFORMATION ABOUT MARI® (MANDALA ASSESSMENT RESEARCH INSTRUMENT)

MARI® Creative Resources is the educational arm that provides teaching and training programs to mental health professionals based on the MARI psychological assessment. The goal is to provide a quality training program and excellent service in the administration of teacher training and certification. MARI also promotes creativity and innovation within the organization, particularly in areas that promote practitioner satisfaction and continuing education, by providing products and services at a reasonable cost.

The MARI is rooted the research and systematic study of thousands of client-drawn mandalas.  This research was implemented and conducted by art therapist Joan Kellogg in the 1970’s. The MARI as we know it now first took form in Joan’s Master’s thesis in the 1980’s. Since its invention, the MARI has been continually researched, modified and enhanced for over roughly twenty years with input by the many different therapists who use the MARI with clients. The MARI, as it exists today, will continue to disclose itself and evolve over time.

The MARI is a comprehensive assessment system that uses symbols, known as mandalas, to reveal the inner truth and reality of the subject as it is -not what the ego filters of consciousness would want it to be- but how it really is. Carl Jung, world renowned psychiatrist, recognized the mandala as "the centre of personality, a kind of central point within the psyche, to which everything is related, by which everything is arranged and which is, itself, a source of energy."

Jung's description of the mandala is also an excellent description of the MARI. In addition to symbols, the MARI® is comprised of colors and stages of development. The relationship of these variables creates a visual 'snapshot' of the self as experienced in the present moment.

In 2005, the MARI was purchased from the Kellogg estate by MARI Resources and is now based in North Carolina.  MARI Creative Resources provides training in Level 1, which focuses on stage and symbol, Level 2, which focuses on color and Teacher training, which is offered every summer in New York. Numerous Level 1 and 2 trainings are offered around the country each year. All the levels of training are approved by NBCC and NASW for 21 hours of continuing education.

Michele (Shelley) Takei is the president of MARI Resources. Shelley has a Ph.D. in Transpersonal Psychology. She lives in Raleigh and teaches Psychology and Counseling classes in both traditional and transpersonal contexts.

If you would like to know more about MARI assessments or training, you can find out more at: www.maricreativeresources.com or e-mail: info@maricreativeresources.com.