I offer a range of clinical services including individual, couple, family and group psychotherapy. I have worked in a range of public, private and third sector settings and am trained in and able to use a range of assessment and treatment approaches including psychodynamic, cognitive behavioural, systemic, relational, attachment-based, mentalization-based, and DBT skills. We will work out together which is the most appropriate treatment for you, considering the research and clinical evidence base, what your difficulty is, alongside your personal circumstances. Sometimes short-term interventions can be very effective and for other difficulties, more long-term therapy would be indicated. Psychotherapy is a very powerful and at times difficult process. It often brings about rewarding and striking changes. Most people notice improvements in both individual and wider quality of life; that is, you may notice changes in your school or work life and with family and friends as well as how you feel inside.
Background and Experience
o Work with young people, couples, adults and families with a range of difficulties including depression, anxiety, personality and relationship difficulties, and existential issues for many years.
o Trauma (developmental and single/ multiple incident) in a range of contexts- children and young people in the care system, family violence and court work, youth forensics, specialist refugee services and complex needs of all kinds (including multisystemic therapy and intensive family interventions)
o Specialist Eating Disorders services and I am trained and experienced in Family Based Treatment (FBT), Adolescent Focused Therapy (AFT) and Multifamily Therapy (MFT)
o Consultant and national advisor in the UK on best practice in working with families, parenting, and high risk, complex presentations.
o Clinical consultant on Mentalisation Based approaches and teams
o Professional leadership in psychotherapy and health services
The privacy of communications between a patient and therapist is protected by law and by the ethical code to which the clinician ascribes. In most situations, information about your treatment will only be released to others if you sign a written authorization form allowing/requesting such a release of information. However, there are some circumstances in which confidentiality can be breached and these will be explained to you at your first appointment (broadly, this would happen if a significant risk of harm is identified either for yourself or others).
When a referral is received from an external agency, there may be professional expectations to continue to liaise with the referring party. This will be discussed with you in advance. In addition, if necessary to work with a multidisciplinary team of other professionals for coordination of care, elements of your case may be discussed but ensuring the greatest of care to protect your privacy and dignity.
Your records will be kept off site in a locked storage facility.
Where the primary patient is under 18 years old and being seen individually, an agreement will be made about what information is shared with parents and caregivers. Particularly for teenagers, a trusting relationship is very important and, in most cases,, general treatment updates (rather than specific session content) are provided to parents. At the same time, safety needs to be held by responsible adults and this will be considered in specific situations of risk.
Payment should be made at the end of the session by cash or bank transfer.
Your next session cannot be offered if payment is not up to date.
Sessions run to the allocated time so if you are late for your appointment, the session will still finish at the appointed time. I am unable to run over time because of other patients’ slots.
I have limited capacity and your allocated slot is dedicated to you. Therefore, I ask that you notify me at your earliest convenience should you need to cancel this. If you are unable to give me 24 hours’ notice of cancellation, you will need to pay for your booked session in full.
I am available by email and phone in between appointments, should this be needed. I will endeavour to respond in a timely manner. However, I do not operate a crisis service so if you require urgent assistance, please contact emergency services. Where possible, bring updates and reflections to your session so we can explore these together in the therapy space.
Supervision Services
I have provided individual professional supervision for many years to clinicians from a range of disciplines. These include consultants across a range of medical specialties, psychiatric registrars, junior doctors, nurses and allied health disciplines. I have also taught, mentored and supervised multidisciplinary clinicians infamily therapy, systemic methods and techniques, relational and attachment approaches, and group work. I have worked within a range of legislative frameworks, and have been the service representative on a number of multi-agency strategic and operational groups. As apractice lead and clinical supervisor of others, I have quality assured clinicians and partner agencies through live supervision, supervision groups, teaching and support.
I am also trained in the Solihull approach and an accredited supervisor and facilitator of Family Partnership Model (Centre for Parent and Child Support,South London and Maudsley NHS Trust) and have trained multidisciplinary clinicians in FPM and MESCH.
Location
My private practice operates from two different locations- Remuera and Mount Albert.
Remuera
568a Remuera Rd, Remuera, Auckland.
There is ample parking on the main road or in nearby side streets. Please do not park on the main road during restricted clearway times (4-6pm). Nearest motorway off/on ramps are at Greenlane or St Marks Rd. The clinic entrance is down the driveway and off the small courtyard. Please wait in the waiting room and I will collect you.
Mount Albert
Seaview House, 2A Seaview Terrace,Mt Albert 1025.
There is off-street parking through the garage at the rear as well as street parking outside.
Please wait in the waiting room and I will collect you.
I have worked with children, adolescents, adults, couples, groups and families for many years in both New Zealand and the UK. I am an experienced clinical professional supervisor of other clinicians across professional disciplines. I have also worked as a consultant and advisor on best practice in working with families, parenting and high risk, complex presentations.
I held the Professional Leadership role (Head of Discipline) at Auckland District Health Board. In addition, I managed services for over ten years in the UK, specializing in child and family community services. My professional interest areas are complex presentations, abuse and trauma, adolescence, parent-child relationships, family systems, negotiating transitions, somatic and mind-body work, and couple work.
I hold MA (Hons) and BA degrees from the University of Auckland, an MSc from the University of London and a PGDip from the world renowned Tavistock Clinic in London.
I have also trained in Mentalization Based Treatment (MBT), Family Based Treatment (FBT) for eating disorders, several other eating disorder treatments ( AFT, MFT, SSCM), a range of trauma treatments including Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I also have training and experience in DBT and CBT approaches.
I am an accredited facilitator and supervisor of a range of parenting and family programmes including Webster Stratton Incredible Years, Triple P (Enhanced, Pathways, and Teen), Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities and SFP 6-11, 10-14 and 12-16. I am a NZ registered psychotherapist (PBANZ), member of NZAP, and an affiliate of NZACAP.