Peter James

When we are no longer able to change a situation … we are challenged to change ourselves.
– Viktor E. Frankl

Areas of Special Interest

• Stress, anxiety, & depression
• Grief & loss
• Relationships & family dynamics
• Conflict & anger
• Men’s work & fatherhood
• Self-actualisation and transcendence – personal & spiritual growth
• Existential counselling – making meaning in times of transition & crisis

Counselling/Therapy Services

Change can flow through our lives like water. It might also shake the ground beneath our feet. Significant life transitions, loss, relationship shifts, and other experiences of seismic change can overwhelm your thoughts and emotions, leaving you feeling stuck and powerless.

Counselling invites you to safely work through any experience, past or present, that has impacted your sense of wellbeing. As your counsellor I will sensitively support your exploration of such experiences and skilfully encourage you to find opportunities for growth and empowerment in times of change and crisis. Through the counselling process, you can make new meaning of life’s challenges and cultivate a richer understanding of yourself and your relationships.

Counselling/Therapy Approach

I have a warm, person-centred approach to counselling. I will pay deep, open-minded attention to your individual story and how you tell it, using integrated therapeutic techniques to resource you with inner-strength, self-direction, meaning, relational connection, and a greater sense of balance, flow, and presence. I invite you bring your own unique worldview to the work, and I welcome philosophical and spiritual exploration as part of the counselling process.

I offer short-term solution-focused counselling and more explorative long-term therapy, or a combination of the two. Your intent for counselling change over time as you shift or deepen your perspective. I will hold space for you to safely work through underlying issues, such as experiences of trauma and the feelings of shame, anger, and fear that might accompany them.

Background and Experience

Since becoming a counsellor in 2016 I have worked with clients from various backgrounds in the international tertiary education sector and at the Citizens Advice Bureau, along with establishing my own private practice. I have also lectured on counselling and human development on the Bachelor of Applied Counselling programme at Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT). I have authored articles on counselling and therapy for international academic journals such as the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.

Before discovering my passion for counselling, I taught English as a second language in various countries, such as Japan and Brazil. Living abroad for almost ten years provided me with my own set of challenging and rewarding experiences adapting to different cultures and relationships. After this period of great personal change, returning home to Aotearoa gave me many more valuable instances of learning and adjustment. I incorporate this depth of lived experience into my work as a counsellor.