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Services

ACC Services

 

South Coast Psychology is approved by ACC to provide assessments, treatment, and group programmes for people who have a sensitive claim. Our service providers are skilled, experienced, and qualified professionals that are skilled in areas of mental health, addictions, and sexual abuse.

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Clinical Supervision

 

Clinical supervision is a special type of professional support that develops and enhances the practice of the professional, which keeps them and their clients safe. All of South Coast Psychology practitioners receive clinical supervision.

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Our Clinical Supervisors are:

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Counselling and Psychotherapy

 

South Coast Psychology has qualified counsellors, psychologists, psychotherapists and social workers providing counselling and psychotherapy services.

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To view our Counselling and Psychotherapy providers please visit the Providers page.

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Equine Therapy

 

About

Equine Therapy (also referred to as Horse Therapy, Equine-Assisted Therapy, and Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy) is a form of experiential therapy that involves interactions between a therapy provider, a horse specialist, a client/clients and horses. It can be delivered individually and in groups. Equine Therapy involves activities (such as grooming, feeding, haltering and leading a horse) that are supervised by a mental health professional and a horse professional. Both during the activity and after the client has finished working with the horse, the Equine Therapist can observe and interact with the client in order to identify behaviour patterns and process thoughts and emotions.

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The goal of Equine Therapy is to help the client develop needed skills and attributes, such as emotion regulation, confidence, relationship skills, responsibility, self-confidence, problem-solving skills, and self-control. Equine therapy also provides space in which the mental health therapist and the client can identify and address a range of emotional and behavioural challenges through the observations of the equine specialist.

 

Benefits

Studies have indicated that equine therapy has been successful in helping patients show marked improvements in the following areas:

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  • Assertiveness

  • Emotional awareness

  • Empathy

  • Stress tolerance

  • Flexibility

  • Impulse control

  • Problem-solving skills

  • Self-actualization

  • Independence

  • Self-regard

  • Social responsibility

  • Interpersonal relationships


Many of the benefits of Equine Therapy are likely due to the nature of the animals with which the client, mental health practitioner and Equine Therapist are interacting. Horses are typically non-judgmental, have no preconceived expectations or motives, and are highly effective at mirroring attitudes and behaviours of the humans with whom they are working. While working with horses under the guidance and supervision of an equine therapist and a mental health practitioner, equine therapy clients have a unique and effective opportunity to note their tendency to engage in self-defeating and otherwise negative thoughts and actions. These realizations provide excellent bases for discussion and processing both during and after the equine therapy experience.

 

Roles

Equine Therapy is delivered in a team approach; a Therapist, an Equine Specialist, a horse and a client are part of the team. Your own therapist can be part of this process or you can engage with a therapist from South Coast Psychology. You will work through activities with the horse and your therapist under the guidance of the equine specialist. Your therapist discusses the therapy, before, during and after the session. The equine specialist manages safety, the horses, and provides the activities and makes observations and feeds these back to facilitate discussion and awareness. The horse, a highly sensitive animal, is an emotional mirror assisting people to reflect on managing their own aspects of self.

 

More information

Please contact our Equine Therapy Specialist/Manager for further information.

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Jim Gillespie
Equine Therapy Manager

www.scp-equinetherapy.co.nz
jim@scp-equinetherapy.co.nz

027 466 0245

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Family Court Counselling

 

South Coast Psychology has skilled, experienced and well training relationship Counsellors and Psychologists which are approved by the Ministry of Justice to provide counselling in Family Courts.

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Our Family Court Approved Counsellors are:

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Group Therapy

 

South Coast Psychology provides Group Therapy services which includes Skills Groups and Psychotherapy Groups. ACC approved group therapy programmes include

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - Brochure

  • Dialectical Behaviour Therapy - Brochure

  • Trauma Informed Yoga (Woman's only) - Brochure

  • Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - Brochure

  • Equine Therapy Group - Men's Group - Brochure

  • Equine Therapy Group - Woman's Group - Brochure

  • Equine Therapy Group - Children's Group - Brochure

  • Equine Therapy Group - General Group - Brochure

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Psychology/Assessment

 

South Coast Psychology has qualified and experienced registered psychologists, clinical psychologists, and clinical counsellors providing assessment. We are also able to access psychiatrists to provide psychiatric assessments when required.

 

To view our Assessors please visit the Providers page.

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Social Work

 

Social Work services are used to support people access resources in the community, to support with attending appointments such as WINZ, CYFS, Strengthening Families, budgeting, and general advocacy with professionals.

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To view our Social Workers please visit the Providers page.

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Training and Consulting

 

South Coast Psychology has experienced trainers who provide education and training programmes for teams and individuals. We also provide consultation to professionals in relation to a wide range of topics.

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