
Kia ora, I’m Marlies Dorrestein, founder and facilitator of The Welcome Connective
The Welcome Connective is a culmination of much, if not most, of what is important and meaningful in my personal and work life. This is a place where I share my learning and understandings of what it means to grieve well and live well…
I have called West Auckland my home since 1985. My two children were born here; one now lives in The Netherlands, and the other in West Auckland. I feel most alive, energised, well, and in tune with a divine dimension and myself when I am out in the wilderness, or when I have my hands in the soil in my garden, marveling at the awe-inspiring mystery, beauty and interconnectedness of it all. In Auckland I particularly love the elemental West Coast beaches.
I immigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1983 from the Netherlands. I have German and Dutch heritage, and some of my indigenous roots go back to the Frisians (who pre-date the Celtic influence in the Netherlands). I grew up in Roden, a village near the city of Groningen, where I went to school. The slower pace and lower population density in that part of the country must be “in my genes”: I feel at home in Aotearoa New Zealand.
I am a New Zealand registered occupational therapist of many years. I taught in the occupational therapy programme at AUT for 13 years until the end of 2020. My MHSc (MindBody Healthcare) study focused on whole-person healthcare and mindfulness practice. I have a Diploma in Counselling, and have studied the “Eco-Sensory” (nature-based) approach to wellbeing.
Most recently my year long journey into “Facing the World with Soul” and “Grief Ritual Training” with Francis Weller have shown me how grief and gratitude go hand in hand towards living life fully, well and with depth, even when facing into difficult challenges in our personal life and the world and society at large.
I bring a wealth of experience in group facilitation skills. Mindfulness practice has been a deep and transformative approach to my personal and professional life since the early 1990s and I have been teaching mindfulness since 2015, with groups in healthcare, in tertiary education, in research, and in the community. I am now devoting my time and energy to developing The Welcome Connective.

How I work
I create a welcoming, open, supportive, whole-person centred space, and use a collaborative approach, whether I work with one person or a group. Details will be available for each service.
Essentially, I respect and work with whatever is most important to you, for your health and wellbeing, in relation to your own life situation and experience.
We are nature, we are the earth… by welcoming and tuning into the dreaming earth and letting her images guide us, we can support wellbeing – our own, that of our communities and nature.


