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0(031)6 21642597
My blog: martenbos.wordpress.com

Marten Bos
Bolsward, Friesland (Netherlands) (1955)

Marten Bos: trainer, public speaker, moderator, connector and writer.
Guidance and advice for people and organizations.
“The Power of Difference”

Self-employed since 1999 and retired in 2021.

I get my inspiration from the broad field in which I have been able to look around as a professional and as a volunteer.
Also from all the people, groups and organizations I have been able to work with.
This gained theoretical support through my HBO education Social Cultural Work, Post HBO Supervision and Coach training, The Gestalt training at the Dutch Gestalt Foundation, plus a master at Middlesex University, the Systemic Work training at Phoenix Utrecht.
In addition, the stories of big variety of different people have been very inspiring and stimulating, stories that allowed me to look into their world and stories that worked like mirrors for me to become aware of my world, my world as a white, cisgender man, Frisian Dutchman, training stacker, gay, agnostic, retirees, etc. etc. etc.
The theory of Intersectionality has brought this all together in all of this much of what I encountered in practice, in the stories and the theories, and still encounter.
Lifelong learning is for me a necessity, a gift, a need and sometimes a burden that I can no longer escape.

My experience in diversity/intersectionality extends from working with self-key organizations of migrants, banking, national police, (bicultural)LGBTI, refugees, border group of young people, prison, people with disabilities, public transport company, education and working with governments and in local communities.

Train the trainer, mostly in the field of diversity / inclusion / intersectionality

Public and motivational speaker on themes of intersectionality, gender, sexual diversity, etc.

Lately i am less active as therapist, moslty working with sexual and gender related - and fear anxiety related issues, etc. Specializes in working with men.

Supervisor and training for supervisors, teachers, coaches and gestalt therapists.

Initiated quite some community work (All Colors of East): connecting diversity in neighbourhoods and also within the LGBTI community

The question that motivates me to work:
“How to discover, use and develop our personal and collective skills”.
Our diversity and passion, our experiences and background are an enormous treasure. Sometimes covered up by introjects about how and what we should learn, what is considered to be appropriate in our social surrounding, what does fot with our class, gender, skin color, etc.
In this i work with the awareness (Gestalt) of our differences (Intersectionality) in: positions, background, privileges, goals and ambition?

“How can we become more capable of using our individual and combined knowledge in a healthy and effective way in order tot support our personal, social and professional life, our teams, our relations, our company?”

In my vision we are all unique different human beings, diversity is inside and outside all of us. There are differences in the position though, some elements of diversity (ethnical, religious, gender, sexual orientation, class, etc.) are more dominant, more appreciated than others. So, we need to pay attention on how being aware and be able to deal with that. How to use this diversity in our personal, relational and professional social contexts?

The here and now is the only start for a change for the future interconnected with past and future and the world in which we live. 
This Gestalt theory is my basic theory: the dialogue, the field(system) theory and the energy of contact. Combined with Systemic work and knowledge about consequences of Intersectionality, makes working with diversity and inclusion possible.

‘WORKING WITH DIVERSITY CARDS’

The Diversity Cards are a result of working in the field of diversity for over 30 years as trainer, coach, consultant, activist, volunteer, therapist, etc.

The 19 cards, 18 represent themes that i came along during my work as being most mentioned in the way we define ourselves as different and interconnected layers of our identities.

The cards have an A3 size to work experiential en systemic and are finished in washable laminate.

Available to order send email .(JavaScript moet ingeschakeld zijn om dit e-mail adres te bekijken) the set of cards is 50 euro

The methodology and content are developed from a practice of working over 30 years in the field of diversity / intercultural communication/ intersectionality.

The cards can be used for training, team - and individual coaching sessions, in organizational consulting and individual work.

• The substantive inspiration is the theory of Kimberle Crenshaw / Gloria Wekker a.o. on ‘Intersectionality’.
• The basic theory of teaching methods is inspired by Gestalt and Systemic work .

Workshops can be offered ‘open enrollment’ or ‘in-company’.
For information about the cards and workshops:
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Reviews of trainers that have been working with the cards:
“Would like to tell you a big THANK - cards during the strategic session worked perfectly well!! We went deeply into values, culture and client needs instead of usual empty discussion.”

“I wanted to let you know that the Diversity Cards worked very well indeed with the group I facilitated; indeed they were the highlight of the six week programme!  There were participants from Sudan, Indonesia, Guinea-Bissau, Poland, S. Africa, and Bangladesh; because the cards opened up the possibility for each person to talk about themselves from a position of their own choice, it created a lively and egalitarian atmosphere on the first day, for which I was happy. Also, everyone enjoyed translating the words into their mother tongue!”

Training on demand for teams, conferences, organisations also in English ‘Training with Diversity Cards’

Training experience:
For a variety of companies, commercial and non commercial, governmental, schools, etc.
Themes: personal development for professionals and managers, intercultural management, working with intersectionality (included LGBTI issues / gender and sexualdiversity) in education and in sociale work.
Train the trainers, therapists, coaches.
Coping (work related, domestic, sexual, relational) violence, aggression at work.
Training and supervising (gestalt)therapists in the Netherlands, Belgium and in Bulgaria.

Consulting:
- Organizations and schools in developing of (train the) trainings programs. (Including Diversity and other issues).
- Projects in the field of diversity for organizations, schools and local government.
- Writers for their books and essays on themes of sexual and cultural diversity.

Dialogue projects as trainer, counselor and consultant. Themes as: Sexual and Gender Diversity, LGBTI issues and the multicultural city of Rotterdam, Amsterdam and a National Dialogue between Refugees and Dutch organizations.

Counseling
I stopped doing personal individual counseling in 2019!
I am trained in (Gestalt therapy) on the Nederlandse Stichting Gestalt (NSG) based on Gestalt therapy.
Subjects i specialized in were: dealing with sexual abuse in the past (for men), dealing with fear related problems, low self-confidence, dealing with traumatic experiences in the past, questions about sexual identities (LGBTI), dealing with different cultural backgrounds in the Netherlands, etc.

I am Supervisor for the LVSC (Landelijke Vereniging voor Supervisie en Coaching) and the NVAGT (Nederlands Vlaamse Associatie Gestalt Therapie).

My background:
Social worker, started in 1978 and been working in this field until 1991.
My clients were: (young) immigrants, people with physical and/or mental disabilities, people with drugs addiction, juvenile delinquents, etc.)
From 1991 until 1999 I worked as (senior) trainer at the national refugee organization: VluchtelingenWerk.

In 1999 I started my own ‘one man company’. ‘Marten Bos, The Power of Differences’
I am working for a variety of companies, organizations, schools, governmental organizations and also for individual clients.

Education:
Master of Science in Gestalt therapy, Middlesex University England       2007
Systemic work/ Family constelations                           2010
V.O. Supervision en Consultation Hogeschool van Amsterdam             1992-1993
(Registration: supervisor by the LVSB S10760 H, senior supervisor LS1157H, teacher supervisors))
Bachelor (HBO) Academy Educational and Social Work ‘Jelburg’ te Baarn     1974–1978