About Mary Taylor, LCSW-R

 

Mary Taylor has a bachelor’s degree in music from Manhattan School of Music and a Master’s degree in Social Work from Adelphi University.  Post-graduate work includes training at the C. G. Jung Institute in Switzerland and Level II certification in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) from EMDRIA.  She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the State of New York.

 

Professional experience has entailed school-based day treatment programs for adolescents including outward-bound expeditions, employee assistance programs, brief treatment work, EMDR and psychotherapy for adults working through the effects of trauma, and over twenty-thousand clinical hours of psychotherapy practice.  

 

Ms. Taylor advocates the conscious use of the creative process in psychodynamic psychotherapy.  "The knowledge that comes from the appreciation of creativity from a scientific, informational and experiential viewpoint, allows for a direct application of the creative process, thus facilitating problem-resolution, creative development and the establishment of psychological well-being, fulfillment and joy."

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 The Discovery of Unidentified Creative Potential

 

The story of the highly creative person is one that found me.  Although I spent the first part of my life in the performing arts, my current understanding of creativity, and what it really means to be highly creative, emerged only after I left ballet and the violin in favor of clinical social work.  When I started to work as a psychotherapist, I began to see a pattern in the form of recurrent problems and themes, which people brought into session, now illustrated by the ‘Self-Test.’ The recognition of these themes helped me to see that many people entering therapy were actually suffering from two sets of problems –the problems for which they sought treatment and those which stemmed from having unidentified or underutilized creative aptitudes.

 

I realized that erroneous stereotypes about creative people, including the belief that ‘creative people are found mainly in the arts,’ and the failure to integrate several specific fields of study were causing many highly creative individuals to remain unidentified or under-attended to, and thereby at risk for multiple problems and difficulties which often worsened over time.  I also realized that many of these difficulties stemmed from an inability to identify, understand and manage the existence of creative aptitudes in the first place.

 

After repeatedly witnessing the ‘fallout’ which occurred in the lives of gifted and talented individuals because they did not have adequate help in identifying their creative identity, or in coping with the expectable challenges that accompany creative aptitudes, I designed my private practice to address issues specifically related to unidentified or under-utilized creative potential.  The Center for Creative Intelligence is intended to be an extension of this work.

 

About The Center for Creative Intelligence

 

The Center for Creative Intelligence has been in development since 1999, the year I began my private practice.  The experiences and observations that led to its creation go back to 1992, the year I started to work as a psychotherapist.

 

Mission

• To widen the circle of awareness worldwide about the question of unidentified and underutilized creative intelligence.

• To address misguided beliefs about creativity, which often preclude an accurate understanding of creativity and creatively-gifted people.

• To increase the likelihood that previously unidentified highly creative individuals will be recognized through their abilities.

• To assist creatively-gifted individuals to recognize, understand and utilize their aptitudes so they are able to achieve satisfaction in life and excellence in their chosen career.

• To develop dialogues with mutual interest organizations. 

Future Projects

 

Open a physical center for this work beyond an office setting, which can house multiple activities under one roof.