Calm Life

A little about me

The seed was sown for me doing this work during the final year of my degree, majoring in Psychology. I studied postnatal depression and interviewed 40 participants who had given birth. I later trained, certified and worked as a doula (birth companion and postnatal support), and as a certified infant massage instructor.

For nearly 15 years (from 2009) I practiced as a registered Calmbirth® Educator in Wellington, NZ, and have immersed myself in the birthing community, working and volunteering for local groups/organisations.

Over the last few years I've been studying Clinical Hypnotherapy and training in Havening Techniques®.

I am now offering this therapy as a certified practitioner. One session costs $95 (NZD) and this can be paid via online banking, details of which will be sent to you upon booking.

So if you are experiencing anxiety or fear in your pregnancy, or upset/distress/trauma from a previous birth experience, or if you are a maternity health care worker who has experienced distress/trauma whilst supporting others, please book a havening session with me.

My therapy room is in Maungaraki, Te Awa Kairangi/the Hutt Valley but if you are out of area, we can zoom.

A little about Havening

Havening is not a talk therapy, in fact you may find it reassuring to know that you do not need to share much about the presenting issue if you are more comfortable with that. Havening is a psycho-sensory, neuro-science based approach which uses safe, gentle touch, and simple distractions to change the emotional landscape of the brain. Delta waves are created (deeply relaxing) and the brain's happy chemicals such as dopamine, seratonin and oxytocin are released so that you can create your own calm space, gifting you clarity and confidence. If you want to know more, here is a helpful video produced by a Havening Trainer.

In my studies of postnatal depression at university I discovered how people can hold destructive thoughts about themselves due to a distressful event or trauma during pregnancy, labour, birth or as a new parent. I can clearly recall one person I met who was in their 80s, and tearfully recounted their experience of feeling like a failure during the birth of their baby.

Nobody needs to hold on to unhelpful feelings like this for years, or in that case, decades, and havening can help your mind to let go and heal.

So if you are experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, distress or trauma from an event that happened to you, or from the constant inner critic which tells you negative stories over and over, please book a havening session with me.