Marianne Clyde, LMFT

Holistic Psychotherapist

Marianne Clyde is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, author, world traveler, ordained minister and founder of the Marianne Clyde Center for Holistic Psychotherapy, scheduled to open in 2015. Currently, Marianne practices privately in Warrenton, Virginia, and specializes in Holistic Therapy. A Holistic Therapist is one who approaches the art of psychological healing by assessing and treating the client in his/her totality. In other words, Holistic Therapists look at a patient’s physical, spiritual and mental state of well-being both diagnostically and clinically. These specialized therapists seek to assist clients in establishing a dynamic and synergistic approach to their lives by achieving balance within and between the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the person.

The two books Marianne has published You Are One in a Million: The Art of Asking Questions That Produce Results, and her latest Peaceful Parenting: 10 Essential Principles integrate expertise she has amassed from the multi-cultural, multi-faceted life she has created for herself and family. She lived in Japan for nearly a decade, shares 8 children and 10 grandchildren with her spouse to whom she has been married for over 25 years, traveled the world, rendered humanitarian aid in various 3rd world nations, and challenged her own limiting beliefs by finishing a marathon and climbing Mt. Fuji. Because of a willingness to take personal risks, her passionate commitment to the vitality of her own life; Marianne is able to bring both education and inner wisdom to the clientele she feels fortunate to serve.

You have done so many things in your life Marianne! What inspired you to become a therapist?

Many years ago, I was a newly divorced and remarried mom, worried that I was screwing up my kids! Learning through that experience the value of counseling, I soon got into the field so I could help others as I was helped. I found a wonderful supervisor and mentor who encouraged me to just get out there and speak and get involved in the community and get my own clients. She taught me from the very beginning not to be afraid of anything and not to let anything stop me.

If I asked you to describe your relationship to education and with the academic world, what would your response be?

Raised by parents who were educators, I grew up believing strongly in the importance of education. Whether or not I would go to college was never a question; it was an assumption, even though, at the time, I did not know what I wanted to do. So, of course, I did the non-threatening thing and took the family course of action and got my undergraduate degree in education. All I ever really wanted to be, though, was a mom, which is exactly what I did right out of college…I became a step mom to an amazingly precious 2 year old boy, who is 42 now (and still amazingly precious).

But my education did not stop there. In that marriage, I had two more children (also amazingly precious). But that marriage ended. When you are “the perfect child” and you get divorced, now that is an education. It’s an education about people, judgment, faith that all of a sudden gets turned on you, falling short of everyone’s expectations, becoming the center of local gossip, learning to keep your head while being terrified that you are ruining your children by your decisions. Then remarriage, adding 5 more step children…more education.

What happened after that?

That’s when I sought counseling help. Afraid that my daughter needed counseling, the therapist told me essentially, she’s not messed up, she’s just mad at you. Of course. I had to learn to let my kids have their legitimate feelings and start learning to hear and understand and stop feeling like I had to “fix” them. Anyway, that’s when I decided to go to graduate school and get my MA in Counseling Psychology with a Marriage and Family emphasis.

Since then, my education has continued as I have traveled around the world to developing countries teaching trauma victims that they have power to change their lives. I have traveled to about 41 countries so far. Some of those countries are Sierra Leone, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Rwanda, DR Congo, Honduras, Haiti, Cambodia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and South Africa. I have worked with child soldiers, rape victims of war, amputees in Sierra Leone’s civil war, earthquake victims, AIDS patients, and victims of poverty.

I have lived in Japan for over 8 years, studied many kinds of meditation and learned about how others think and believe. I will be 61 next month, practicing therapy, speaking, writing and still learning.

What advice would you give someone who wanted to follow in your footsteps?

Don’t listen to all the naysayers. Live your dreams the best you can. It’s your life; live it. Spend time every day in silence connecting to your Source and listen to your inner wisdom. God’s voice is not in the whirlwind but in the whisper. Learn to hear it and follow it.

What one thing do you hope to have accomplished by the end of your career?

To help the highest number of people get set free from limiting beliefs as is possible!