Agnès Desombiaux-Sigley

A holistic approach to heal wounds from the past and connect with your authentic self.

Areas of Special Interest

• Adults, couples, and families
• relationships
• intimacy/sexuality
• divorce/separation
• grief/loss
• anxiety
• identity
• life changes
• mind-body/somatic
• communication
• creativity
• personal growth
• cultural difficulties
• migrant adjustment

Counselling/Therapy Services

As an experienced psychotherapist and arts therapist, I have developed an integrative approach over the years to work alongside individuals by fostering a trusting relationship that values their spiritual, physical, social, creative, and cognitive aspects. I welcome the opportunity to work with adults, youth, and families from all cultures, ethnicities, genders, and identities.

As a warm and intuitive person, I will address your issues holistically, honouring individual needs and pace while helping to explore emotions, thoughts, and beliefs in a safe, non-judgmental, and confidential environment. As an integrative psychotherapist, I utilise various methods, including relational, attachment, arts-based, and mind-body therapies.

The collaborative process seeks to enhance your self-awareness and nurture a deeper connection with your inner strength and authenticity. This journey aims to heal past experiences and refine coping skills for managing life’s stresses and challenges. Ultimately, the goal is to realise a sense of well-being, sensory enjoyment, and a revitalised connection to the flow of life.

Creative processes can help access sensations, memories, or images that might be difficult to reach with the analytical mind. Sometimes, words aren’t enough or can feel too limiting to express your inner world.

I provide psychotherapy and art therapy services, offering brief, medium, and long-term sessions.

Counselling/Therapy Approach

I have qualifications and experience spanning over 15 years in psychodynamic psychotherapy, psychosomatic integration, multimodal expressive arts therapy, mindfulness, integrative gestalt therapy, dream work, and systemic approaches.

I am committed to ongoing professional development and work in accordance with the professional Code of Ethics of PBANZ/APANZ and ANZACATA.

Background and Experience

I was educated in France, where I studied French alongside European philosophical and analytical traditions. This background informs my approach and training in psychodynamic therapy. With additional training and experience in somatic, mind-body-oriented therapy, I assist patients in raising awareness of their physical sensations as they navigate the impact of past experiences on their present lives. My qualifications also emphasise arts psychotherapy, which provides patients opportunities to engage more deeply with projection, unconscious processes, and the externalisation of situations.

As a published author in arts psychotherapy, I have presented my research at international conferences and taken part in group art exhibitions.

1. https://www.routledge.com/Arts-Therapies-in-International-Practice-Informed-by-Neuroscience-and-Research/Miller-Torkington/p/book/9780367536886
2. https://www.jkp.com/uk/arts-therapists-in-multidisciplinary-settings-1.html
3. https://ojs.aut.ac.nz/ata/article/view/128/108
4. https://www.jocat-online.org/r-21-desombiauxsigley
5. https://www.jocat-online.org/c-20-desombiauxsigley
6. https://www.thegreyplace.nz/artists/Agnes_Desombiaux-Sigley
7. https://fgs.org.nz/english/news/2024artistinsightforum
8. https://uxbridge.org.nz/events/eaa16-estuary-art-and-ecology-award-2022/
9. https://www.times.co.nz/art-entertainment/art-exhibition-explores-the-universal/

Supervision Services

I provide clinical supervision for health professionals with a particular interest in ethical issues. I support my supervisees in developing their potential for safe and ethical practice. I am an ANZACATA accredited supervisor for arts therapists.