Ellie Fourie

Offering therapy for a range of issues. Using evidence based treatment models but fundamentally therapy is about YOU, and what will be most helpful. You are the expert in yourself, therapy will help you become a better you.

Areas of Special Interest

• anxiety
• depression
• stress
• trauma (sexual/non-sexual)
• adjustment to change
• PTSD
• pain management & chronic pain
• traumatic brain injury
• physical injury adjustment

Counselling/Therapy Services

I am a Counselling Psychologist. This means that I am trained in the best research based therapy models, but always recognising that as people, we do not come in one-size-fits all, so these frameworks will be adapted to suit you and your needs. I have experienced working in many different settings, and with clients from a wide range of age groups, ethnicities, and backgrounds. My predominant area of interest is in trauma, and I have worked with many different forms of trauma. This includes palliative care, serious injury (tetraplegic/paraplegic or having had a traumatic brain injury), traumatic grief, first responders, and many more.

I have a warm and compassionate approach to therapy and believe in the importance of establishing a trusting relationship. I help people to make sense of their experiences, to understand themselves and their patterns better and to then make the changes they need to improve their lives.

Counselling/Therapy Approach

Therapy can help you become a better version of yourself. The evidence-based treatments I draw upon include:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): the focus is on increasing meaning and purpose and giving you the tools to manage emotions so they do not affect your life as much.
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), including Trauma-Focused Cognitive behavioural therapy: this is about focusing on the relationship between your thoughts and feelings, finding ways to break the loop or cycle of thoughts, feelings, body reactions and behaviours in order to reduce anxiety/depression.
• Schema Therapy: this is about understanding patterns in your life, how and why you react the way you do and finding ways to overcome these patterns.
• behavioural therapy.
• Humanistic models
• Existential therapy

The aim of therapy is to empower you and provide the tools you need to help you live your best life, and so the approach I used will be very much based on what will help you the most. This may include drawing from one or all of these models.

Background and Experience

I have over 3 years postgraduate experience, including at Hospice, in a multidisciplinary healthcare practice, under Training for Independence contracts working with seriously injured ACC clients (including traumatic brain injury, spinal injury, polytrauma and complex other injuries) working with first responders, and with ACC sensitive claims (sexual trauma).
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In my training I did research into the following areas:

• Hons: Disordered eating patterns, specifically about breaking cycles of overeating.
• Hons: With Autism New Zealand, a parent focused intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
• Masters: a Postmodern analysis of marriage in New Zealand.