My mission is to provide professional, confidential treatment to support individuals and their families to make purposeful change in their lives. 

I believe that your mental health is just as important as your physical health and that everybody can benefit from different forms of counselling. 

I have a Bachelor Degree of Counselling and a specialist Post Graduate Certificate in Drug and Alcohol Studies. I am in private practice, with a background of working in a Specialist Addiction Agency and in a Primary Health Care setting, providing treatment for those  impacted by mild to moderate mental health and alcohol and/or drug difficulties.  

HOW I WORK

The foundation for my work is Client Centered Practice. As its name implies, client-centered practice places significant focus on you, the client. A core tenet of client-centered therapy is that people are inclined to move toward healing and growth; thus, my role as a client-centered counsellor, is to establish an atmosphere in which you, the client, can discover the answers and solutions that you have been looking for.

To do this, emphasis is placed on tailoring therapy to the individual person, this is call a pluralistic approach and emphasises shared decision making and communication: talking to clients about the process of therapy itself, including what they want from it and how they would like to try and get there. Pluralism can be a way of thinking about therapy, or it can be a specific practice in which the therapist draws on a range of different understandings and methods. 

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Professional and competent care is of utmost importance to me. My qualifications include: 

• MNZAC, registered with New Zealand Association of Counsellors, (NZAC)

• Registered Drug and Alcohol practitioner: Addiction Practitioners Association - Aoetearoa New Zealand (DAPAANZ)

• DAPAANZ Accredicted Supervisor

• Postgraduate Diploma in Supervision in Social Services

• Postgraduate certificate in Health Sciences - endorsed in Addiction and Co-existing Disorders

• Bachelor of Counselling

• Certificate in Supervision

• Certificate in Early Childhood Development

I'm here to help.

Respectfully,
Deborah Stuart
Founder