Jessica Scanlan

Counselling/Therapy Services

I am a registered Clinical Psychologist currently based in Marlborough. My services will be offered via Telehealth until February 2025 when services will fully transition to face to face in Dunedin, Otago.

I am motivated by the opportunity to walk alongside people in their pursuit of personally meaningful and satisfying lives.

I work with my clients in a compassionate and non-judgemental way to achieve their goals. We will utilise a range of evidence based therapy to help you to develop skills and strategies to live a rich and meaningful life.

The focus of our initial session(s) together will be an assessment of what has brought you to therapy, the challenges you are experiencing and how you would like things to be different. The assessment focuses on key areas of your life from the past, the present as well as your hopes and aspirations for the future. The assessment may also include the use of questionnaires and I may ask your consent to contact important people in your life to assist in my understanding of your needs.

I wish to highlight the importance of a strong therapeutic relationship as a key driver to delivering the benefits of psychological therapy. The assessment period offers the opportunity to ensure we are a good fit to work effectively together.

Following the assessment, we develop a plan for therapy together. This may include the skills and strategies to focus on, the type of therapeutic approach, and number of sessions needed. During the course of therapy, we will regularly review progress and I will always be open to your feedback and reflection to ensure our work together is meeting your needs.

One of the core focuses of therapy is to assist clients in bringing to awareness their thoughts, beliefs, assumptions and behavioural patterns which contribute to life challenges. Therapy will focus on helping clients to develop alternate ways of understanding and relating to their internal world so they are more able to take effective steps toward the life they wish to lead.

I predominately utilise Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and integrate elements of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) where required. All of these therapies are active, skills based, which means in order for therapy to be of greatest benefit it requires clients to practice the skills and strategies outside of the therapy session, in their own lives.

From October 2024, I will be able to offer Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy.

Background and Experience

I qualified as Clinical Psychologist in 2018. Since then I have worked consistently in public services including Te Whatu Ora and Ara Poutama Aotearoa. I have experience working with neurodiverse adolescents and adults in both community and inpatient settings who exhibit complex behaviour and mental health challenges. I also have experience working in community mental health teams with adults and young people with moderate to severe mental illness.