Asha Munn Therapy – Creative, trauma-informed therapy for the tangled things. The places words cannot always reach.

I work with children, young people, adults, women, parents and whānau.

People often come when life feels too much, when old things keep showing up in new ways, or when they feel stuck in patterns they cannot quite explain.

You might be carrying trauma, grief, anxiety, family harm, birth trauma, parenting stress, shame, burnout, identity changes, neurodivergence, or the quiet exhaustion of holding everything together.

For people who have carried too much, for too long.

We start where you

A different way of seeing. A different way in.

I work from relationship outwards.

That means we do not rush straight into the hardest material. We begin by creating enough safety, trust and space for something real to emerge.

My work blends psychotherapy, EMDR, art psychotherapy and creative wellbeing. It allows us to work with words, images, memory, body, story, nervous system and relationship.

For some people, talking is enough.
For others, talking is the last thing that becomes possible.

Creativity and creative thinking about HOW we work gives us another way in.

No.

You can talk. You can make. You can sit. You can pause. You can use materials or leave them alone.

Art therapy is not about performance. It is not about making something beautiful. It is not about being clever, creative or artistic.

The work begins with safety, not performance.

Sometimes a mark on a page can hold... everything, often what a sentence cannot.

Sometimes choosing not to make anything is meaningful too.

You are allowed to have choice here

Creativity is not decoration. It is a way through.

Art therapy is psychotherapy that uses art materials, image-making and creativity as part of the therapeutic process.

It can help when feelings, memories or experiences are hard to explain. Something internal can be brought into the room — through colour, shape, image, clay, collage, photography, metaphor or mark-making — so we can witness and begin to understand it together.

The artwork is not judged or interpreted from the outside. We stay curious. We wonder. We notice. We listen for what the image, the process, and your own meaning might be saying.

Art therapy can support emotional regulation, trauma recovery, self-expression, confidence, connection and a stronger sense of self.

EMDR is a therapy that helps the brain and body process distressing or traumatic experiences that still feel stuck, active or easily triggered.

Not everything painful arrives as a sentence.

When something overwhelming happens, it may not get stored as an ordinary memory. It can keep returning through anxiety, panic, body sensations, flashbacks, avoidance, shame, numbness, anger, or reactions that feel bigger than the present moment.

EMDR helps the mind reprocess these experiences so they become less distressing and less powerful in everyday life.

We do not begin with trauma processing straight away. First, we take time to understand your story, build safety, strengthen resources and work at a pace that feels manageable.

The first session is about arriving.

We might talk about what has brought you here, what feels difficult, what has helped before, and what you are hoping might change.

You do not need to tell me everything. You do not need to open the whole story at once.

For children and young people, the first session may involve exploring the room, noticing materials, making something simple, or just beginning to feel safe enough to be there.

We do not rush the story. We make room for it. We go at your pace.

Yes. I have a particular interest in working with women through the many transitions, pressures and losses that can shape emotional wellbeing, identity and relationships.

This may include parenting, perinatal distress, birth trauma, pregnancy loss, family harm, grief, life transitions, burnout, perimenopause, hormonal change, and the slow disappearance of self that can happen when women carry too much for too long.

I am interested in what gets pushed to the edges: anger, creativity, exhaustion, desire, grief, voice, body, self.

Therapy can be a place to stop holding it all alone.

Where the unsaid can slowly become known.

Yes. I have worked with children, adolescents and young people for many years across therapy, schools, youth justice, family harm, community and creative settings.

Therapy for young people teaches asking for help is ok.
It builds the internal ability to know that what helped once can help again.

Young people often do not show distress neatly. They may become angry, anxious, withdrawn, shut down, clingy, risky, perfectionistic, defiant, numb, or unable to explain what is going on.

I do not see this simply as “bad behaviour”.
I see it as communication.

Sometimes healing starts with a colour, a line, a breath, a pause.

Creative therapy can give young people another way to express what they feel, make sense of what has happened, build confidence, and begin to find their own voice.

Therapy may include talking, art-making, photography, clay, image work, EMDR-informed resourcing, emotional regulation tools, storytelling and caregiver support.

Where helpful, I also work alongside parents, caregivers, whānau, schools and other services, because young people need the adults around them to understand them better too.

Art therapy can support young people experiencing anxiety, trauma, grief, bullying, family changes, school difficulties, low self-esteem, family harm, abuse, violence, identity struggles, neurodivergence, emotional outbursts, shutdown, self-harm, or feeling unsafe in the world.

Often, young people cannot simply explain what is wrong. They may not understand it themselves yet.

This is therapy for the tangled things.

Creative therapy helps bring things to the surface safely. It can help young people see what they feel, express what has been hidden, and begin to build language, regulation, confidence and connection.

The goal is not to force disclosure.
The goal is to create enough safety for the young person to feel less alone.

Breathing Space Studios is tucked away in Wairau on the North Shore.

It is warm, creative and welcoming, with free parking, quiet rooms, art materials, blankets, plants, tea, coffee and space to breathe.

It is designed to feel less like a clinic and more like somewhere you can gently arrive and make yourself at home.

Asha Munn Therapy is my private clinical practice.

Breathing Space Charitable Trust and With Wonder are connected to the same creative, trauma-informed way of working, but they have different roles.

Asha Munn Therapy provides clinical therapy.
Breathing Space supports the wider therapeutic environment, groups, creative wellbeing and community work.
With Wonder provides creative wellbeing resources that can extend our approach to travel beyond the therapy room.

Different doors into the same kaupapa: creativity, safety, relationship, dignity and care.

I am a Registered Psychotherapist, Art Psychotherapist, EMDR therapist and artist.

I bring over 25 years of experience across psychotherapy, art therapy, trauma work, youth justice, family harm, community practice and creative therapeutic projects in Aotearoa and the UK.

I have completed two years of postgraduate EMDR training and am family-harm endorsed through restorative justice work.

My practice is clinically grounded, but it is also shaped by art, story, relationship, social justice and the belief that creativity can reach places ordinary services often miss.

Clinically grounded. Creatively led. Human first.

Yes. We run small, carefully held therapeutic and creative wellbeing groups for adolescents, rangatahi and older rangatahi.

These groups are designed for people who may feel anxious, isolated, overwhelmed, different, shut down, unsure of themselves, or tired of being expected to explain everything in words.

Groups may include talking, art-making, photography, clay, creative reflection, grounding, nervous system support, identity exploration and gentle connection with others.

We have a particular focus on groups for takatāpui, rainbow, trans and non-binary adolescents and rangatahi, as well as creative wellbeing groups for young people navigating anxiety, trauma, identity, family stress, school pressure, neurodivergence or emotional overwhelm.

Adolescence can be a lonely place. Sometimes healing begins when a young person realises they are not the only one.

Groups are offered at different times throughout the year, depending on funding, capacity and community need.

Yes, there may be funding options available, including ACC and WINZ, depending on your situation.

We can talk about this before beginning, as the process and availability may vary.

Yes. I can offer online sessions.

Some people prefer online therapy because it feels easier to access from home. Others prefer being in the studio, where the materials, room and atmosphere become part of the work.

Creative therapy can still happen online. Art therapy does not have to be limited to the studio — we can use simple materials, images, objects, writing, photography, drawing, or other creative ways of working from wherever you are.

I also use specific online EMDR tools, which can work really well for trauma processing when online therapy is the best or most accessible option.

For EMDR, art therapy, child therapy or whānau work, we can talk together about what format feels safest, most useful and most supportive.

Therapy can still be creative, connected and carefully held — even through a screen.