Ataya Kanji

I am a psychotherapist working with individual clients from clinic rooms located in Ponsonby, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

I seek to meet my clients where they are, sensitively feeling into what it might be like to be you, with respect, openness and warmth.

I have a particular interest in accompanying individuals through the process of working through emotional pain and early relational trauma. This can present in a variety of ways, such as feelings of emptiness, anxiety and depression, low self-esteem or stuckness, numbness or withdrawal from life.

Psychodynamically trained, my approach is influenced by theories of attachment, intergenerational trauma, internal family systems and other somatic approaches to trauma healing.

Of Indian descent but born in Aotearoa New Zealand, I am attentive to questions around cultural and ethnic identity, power, intersectionality, and how broader systems of societal oppression and injustice affect us.

During sessions, I tend to focus on what is happening in the client/therapist relationship. What is it like for you being in therapy? How do you feel about the way we are working together? What does the connection between us feel like today?

Examining relational patterns in this immediate way can help us discover what it means to engage non-defensively and authentically with others, but also ourselves, as we work to foster self understanding and compassion.

If you are interested in working together, or have any questions, please feel free to contact me.