Melinda Ashley Meyer

Melinda Ashley Meyer DeMott is Professor of Expressive Arts Therapy, RN with specialization in psychiatry, Psychodrama Director, Bioenergetic Therapist, and co-founder/director of the Norwegian Institute for Expressive Arts Therapy & Communication (NIKUT). She has more than three decades of experience as a researcher, educator, supervisor, and clinician working with trauma, exile and resilience.

Her career spans roles as senior researcher at the Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS), senior professor at the University of South-East Norway (USN) where she developed a postgraduate program in Intermodal Expressive Arts, and core faculty at the European Graduate School (EGS), teaching and supervising MA and PhD students internationally.

Melinda is the developer of the EXIT (Expressive Arts in Transition) model, an early intervention program for survivors of war, displacement, and traumatic stress, now taught and implemented internationally. She has created three documentary films and published widely.

She is the recipient of the King’s Medal of Merit (2023) and honorary life memberships from both the Norwegian Psychodrama Association and the Norwegian Association for Expressive Arts Therapy.