Karey Meisner Counselling

03/02/2023

Really feeling for those in Auckland/Tāmaki Makaurau whose homes have been badly damaged.

30/01/2023

I have not posted from this page very often but I intend to a lot more. I'm still in private practice here with others at Whole Body Counselling in Beckenham, Christchurch. Though most referrals coming through word of mouth these days, I thought it still nice to have an online presence. Hopefully, I'll put a few more counselling related thoughts in future posts.

15/08/2017

I think this captures the next step in men's help seeking for mental wellbeing beautifully....thanks John Kirwan for getting us this far!

06/08/2017

Have you ever wondered about the process that men, particularly traditional men, go through in seeking-help from informal others for a problem related to mental wellbeing? I did. So I spent five years writing a PhD about the topic to find out more. What I found was that most men tend to go through a five-phase process of decision-making and, interestingly, the decision-making process is more related to whether to self-disclose the problem rather than actually asking for help for the problem. This, I came to understand, says how important it is for these men to retain the ability to self-manage their lives and to not be seen as being a failure in this way. I also came to understand that throughout the five-phases, men are continuously assessing their capacity to function (cognitively, emotional& behaviorally) while comparing the risk of disclosure to non-disclosure. It seems the assessment of these are critical in making the decision to disclose a problem to others in their social network, the turning point often being a crisis event. Another unexpected but encouraging outcome of the research was the process of decision-making tended to be progressive; once men made the intial decision to self-disclose their problem, their focus shifted from the perceived risks of self-disclosure to its perceived benefits.

27/07/2017

As a counsellor I have noticed more and more young adults are struggling with moderate to serious mental health issues and, in particular, anxiety related disorders (ocd, panic etc). I believe their access to help from mental health services should be more than just fleeting if more than fleeting is required...

Add your name to the campaign to tell all political parties that people experiencing mental health and addictions issues should be able to access support when they need it.

25/07/2017

I'm really looking forwards to Ekant's presentation tonight!

New Zealand regularly excels in two paradoxical international ratings. We are often seen as one of the happiest countries on Earth, but we are also se...

25/03/2017

Have you ever wondered about the link between nutrition and mental health. Professor Julia Rucklidge from the University of Canterbury talks about her research in this Ted Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dqXHHCc5lA

This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. In this critically important talk, clinical psychologist Julia Ruck...

10/12/2016

If you were thinking what I was thinking during the minute of rolling during the recent 7.8 'Kaikoura' earthquake, there was a moment of 'how is this gonna end?'. And of course for many it has not ended well. Damage to homes, businesses, roading, and to persons will have its effects both immediate and for the longer term for people of both islands. Watching what is happening in Wellington makes me realise how their quake related experiences are becoming eerily similar to ours here in Christchurch (let's just hope it doesn't get any more similar...). For people in Canterbury in particular, it may have stirred up those old feelings or, alternatively, as one person said to me recently, "Kaikoura was my safe haven while I worked through earthquake related issues over the past 6 years. Now I need to make another insurance claim". Many of you will understand the emotions that will be related to this.

In 2013, All Right? was set up in Cantabury by the Canterbury District Health Board and the Mental Health Foundation in response to surveys that found a number of Cantabrians were not doing all that well emotionally. There have a helpline (0800 777 846) as well as community based events to for general support. In addition, free Ministry of Social Development earthquake counselling is still available at designated counselling services for those who are eligible. The Christchurch based Mental Health Education Resource Centre has a list of counsellors/agencies who provide this (03 365 5344).

For some of you it may be that you were already feeling quite traumatised even before the recent quakes. This could be left over from the events of 2011. If you find you are always feeling on edge, and are easily and regularly triggered into your past experiences related to the quakes, you may be showing signs of post traumatic stress. Dr Rob Gordon, an Australian Disaster Psychologist (and Advisor to the New Zealand Government) talks about the long road to recovery for a small number of people (around 5% of the population) who will develop these symptoms. If you are one of these people, you may need some specialised help. See your GP as a first step.

21/09/2016

So many men struggle to disclose to others that they are not okay...

Even tucked up in bed on a Saturday afternoon with his pukka showing, Justin Geange emits a showman's quality. Quick, dark pools of eyes. A cheeky, animated face. And a gravelly Australian - New Zealand Herald