Melanie Taylor

Melanie Taylor (b. 1955) attended Wynstones School, a Steiner Waldorf School in Gloucestershire, being fortunate in having Rudi Lissau as a teacher. After leaving school, she completed a BA (Hons) at Canterbury College of Art in 1977 and went on to marry and have a family. After a severe illness left her permanently disabled in 1993, she trained initially as a teacher, gaining a postgraduate diploma in Professional Studies in Education at the Dyslexia Institute in Kent in 1998 and later as a therapeutic counselor, receiving an MSc in Integrative Therapeutic Counseling from the University of Greenwich in 2006. She also audited the foundation year program and first year of training in psychosynthesis psychotherapy at the Institute of Psychosynthesis, London, between 2004 and 2006.

Between 2004 and 2016, she was invited to become a faculty member and presenter on a CPD Seminar for Mental Health, ananthroposophic training sponsored by the Medical Section at the Goetheanum, designed to meet the needs of mental-health workers, social therapists, and therapeutic educators, subsequently held at Emerson College, Sussex.

Melanie went on to develop her own original programs in adult group work, especially designed for those in search of spiritualmeaning in their lives, many of whom were also living with chronic illness. These interactive groups, inspired by her studies and enriched by her understanding of Rudolf Steiner's descriptions of the Seven Life Processes, also included storytelling and creative artwork. In 2010 and 2012 respectively, she founded and directed Oasis Group Facilitation, two training programs designed to promote succession. She was co-founder and executive director of the Elysia Therapy Centre in Stourbridge from 2012 to 2021.

Melanie has three children and eight grandchildren and enjoys painting, writing and being a grandmother. She is a member of the Anthroposophical Society, of the Christian Community, and of the Camphill Community.