Dr Jacinda Shailer

I aim to meet people where they are at, working alongside them in a collaborative way, to help them overcome their mental health challenges and improve their well-being.

Areas of Special Interest

• anxiety and worry
• depression and low mood
• stress and burnout
• trauma
• self-esteem
• anger and frustration
• bereavement and loss
• living with physical illness and coping with long term health conditions

Counselling/Therapy Services

I am registered clinical psychologist working in private practice offering therapy for adults and adolescents in Wellington CBD and the Kapiti Coast.

I am committed to working alongside my clients to achieve the best possible outcomes. My approach is empathetic, warm and non-judgemental. I work flexibly and collaboratively with my clients and believe in tailoring therapy to meet their individual needs based on the evidence as well as my own experience and training. As such, I often work in an integrative way, drawing on a range of different therapeutic techniques and models in my work.

To start with, we will have an assessment session, where I will ask you questions to get a better understanding of what is going on for you right now and what you would like help with. Often this includes exploring things like what is important to you, what you want to get out of therapy, and what is getting in the way of you living the life that you want. This information-gathering phase may also be supplemented by the use of questionnaires. Once I understand more about you and what you would like from therapy, we will work together to agree on a plan for therapy.

Counselling/Therapy Approach

I have formal training and experience in using a number of different therapeutic approaches however predominately use Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in my work.

Both CBT and ACT are considered to be active interventions. This means that in order to make the most out of our time together, you will be encouraged to apply the skills and strategies learnt in sessions to your daily life.

To ensure that what we are doing is meeting your needs, we will also regularly check in and review our progress throughout our sessions together.

Background and Experience

I have over 5 years’ experience working with young people and adults of all ages presenting with a wide range of psychological and emotional difficulties. As a psychologist, I have worked across a range of settings including community child and adolescent mental health services as well as university and psychology clinics in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom.