About Open Words

Find out more about how we work.

How we work

Open Words UK believes in working collaboratively, listening deeply, and building a service that feels safe and empowering.

You’ll be in touch with Marissa as your main point of contact. If there’s ever a need for extra support or community involvement, she can connect you with trusted professionals from our wider network.

Our mission

At Open Words UK, we are committed to putting people first — honouring individual stories within the context of their wider communities. Our mission is to:

Champion mental health awareness and understanding
Share practical strategies that support emotional wellbeing
Empower individuals and organisations to embed effective mental health practices
Use creative and inclusive approaches to engage diverse voices
Promote compassion and connection through every interaction

We believe that mental health support should be personal, accessible, and rooted in real-world experience.

Our values

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Inclusivity

We welcome and respect everyone — no matter their background, identity, or life experiences. Everyone deserves to feel seen, heard, and supported.

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Cultural Competency

We recognise and value the diverse cultural experiences people bring. We aim to understand and respond to these differences with respect and sensitivity.

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Accessibility

Mental health support should be easy to reach and understand. We work to remove barriers so that our services are available to all.

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Collaboration

We believe in working together — with individuals, communities, and organisations — to create meaningful, lasting change.

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Creativity

We use creative approaches to make mental health support engaging, relatable, and flexible for different needs and ways of expression.

Testimonials

“Working with Marissa has been invaluable in setting up and growing our one-to-one counselling and group therapy service at MS Together. Her expertise and thoughtful approach have been key in helping us establish a high-quality, sustainable service that is already making a huge difference in our community.”

- Amy, CEO of MS Together

Marissa took time to build safety in the group before approaching more challenging topics and created space for us to talk openly about difficult and complex experiences and feelings.

- Anonymous participant of a reflective practice space

Marissa's creative lens has always brought a refreshing perspective to supervision, and I have learnt a lot. She has always encouraged me to trust my intuition, explore new angles and help me grow with confidence.

- Jay, Counsellor

I have had the privilege of working with Marissa in both a supervisory and collaborative capacity when developing and facilitating training together. I cannot recommend her enough as a supervisor, especially as she works in a collaborative manner, which has shaped my own journey as a facilitator.

- Ronnie, Dramatherapist

We commissioned Marissa as our head of Impact, Outcomes and Evaluation to put in place systems that enable us to continually ensure that we are having the desired impact as an organisation. Marissa's knowledge of anti-oppressive, Trauma-Informed practice has ensured that we have an immediately actionable, scalable, human-centred, neurodivergent-accessible, collaborative system of impact measurement that will enhance and improve our offer in the long-term.

- Kyra, Director of NeuroTribe UK CIC

Marissa was great, the workshop was informative without being an information overload. The workshop felt well paced and we were given lots of opportunities to ask questions.

- CPD participant

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