Clare Vivian Neal - More To Life

Senior Trainer, Mentor, and Coach

Involved with More To Life since 1990

Clare Vivian-Neal has been a Senior Trainer with More To Life since 2005. She has trained many of the courses in the MTL Programme in New Zealand and around the world. Clare has worked as a teacher, bio-technologist, and change manager in the public sector. Throughout her work, she has been drawn to bring out the best in herself and people around her. She studied Gestalt and Hakomi body-centred psychotherapy and other therapeutic methods. She has been actively practicing and teaching the More To Life course work since 1991. From 2016 to 2018 she is studying for a Masters in Counselling (Solution-Focused) at Canterbury University, NZ. Working with trauma is one of her interests, especially following Bessel van der Kolk’s transformative body-based therapeutic practices. Another area of study for her final thesis is the connection between self-esteem, validation, and hope.

As a scientist in Cambridge, UK, in the late 1980s, I was inspired by the promise of what could be possible for our world. I was a keen environmentalist and active campaigner. I wanted to increase awareness of our interconnectedness with the planet so we’d stop the activities of destruction and war, and change our ways. But how to make a difference? Then I attended the More To Life Weekend. I had not previously seen change occur as I witnessed that weekend. People changed; I changed. Here was my answer: a way to engage with individual change at a deep and lasting level. I wanted to be able to do what Ann McMaster, my Trainer, was doing to assist people to shift their perception of the world and see things more clearly. My vision of a world where we respect and honour each other and our Earth has remained vividly with me since moving to New Zealand in 1990. Our society has many challenges, including isolation, abuse, unhappy workplaces, loss of direction, anxiety, and hopelessness. Through the More To Life work, I have seen profound shifts happen: hope rising again, strength growing, leadership found, vision emerging, and the courage to be our unique selves. I know of no better way to spend my life’s energy than bringing more hope, love, compassion, and courage to the world. My work as a Senior Trainer enables me offer to others some of the gifts I have received. I too am learning as I walk alongside those who also seek a more authentic world. It is a deep honour and privilege to work in this manner. My vision is to enable the healing of individuals, families, and groups so we are able to bring forward our unique gifts with more creativity and wisdom – to live our lives with more passion, lightness, joy, and more love. In a word, more connectedness. I live in Golden Bay, New Zealand with my husband, and love the wildness of the South Island. I am committed to reducing my carbon footprint and living a more sustainable lifestyle. I enjoy hiking, gardening, and adventures with my family and friends…and dog.