Lisa Chaplow

I offer a confidential, warm and non-judgmental space for you to share what’s going on for you. Here we can identify some ways to resolve current difficulties, or to navigate experiences from the past that may be holding you stuck from living your life freely.

Kia ora, welcome to my little space on the internet. I’m Lisa and among other things, I’m a mother to three sons, an aunty, wife, sister, daughter and friend.

I’m an experienced counsellor and Certified Hakomi Therapist. I graduated from my three-year training in Hakomi Mindful Somatic (body-centered) Psychotherapy in 2014, and from my Masters in Counselling in 2019. I have my own clinic in Whanganui, in a wood cabin nestled near trees and birdsong, adjacent to our home.

I offer a confidential, warm and non-judgmental space for you to share what’s going on for you. Here we can identify some ways to resolve current difficulties, or to navigate experiences from the past that may be holding you stuck from living your life freely.

I pride myself on my integrity and being a clear communicator. I am honest about my areas of expertise, and I will endeavour to find someone who can help you if I cannot.

Counselling Services

My therapeutic approach is founded on being responsive to you as a whole person, drawing on your existing strengths and support, and being in tune with your needs and experiences. I believe in the human impulse toward growth and wellness, and don’t believe therapy is about “fixing” you.

Some of my central values are to live and work with kindness, compassion, curiosity and respect. I warmly welcome people from all cultures, backgrounds, identities and orientations. The trust and connection in the relationship between you and me is absolutely central to our therapy.

I approach therapy collaboratively and pluralistically. This means I don’t believe there’s one set way or method of counselling that is right for everyone, nor do I believe I have all the answers. I am drawn to warm, embodied, mindful and affirming ways of being in the counselling room. My training approach is fully supported by evidence and research, and integrates the body-mind connection.

Counselling Approach

My therapeutic approach is founded on being responsive to you as a whole person, drawing on your existing strengths and support, and being in tune with your needs and experiences. I believe in the human impulse toward growth and wellness, and don’t believe therapy is about “fixing” you.

Some of my central values are to live and work with kindness, authenticity, compassion, curiosity and respect. I warmly welcome people from all cultures, backgrounds, identities and orientations. The trust and connection in the relationship between you and me is absolutely central to our therapy.

Background and experience

I work with individuals in my private practice where I am experienced in working across a number of life challenges that my clients bring. 

Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy

My comprehensive and ongoing training in Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy provides the foundation for the way I work as a therapist. Beyond reflective listening or problem solving, Hakomi is an experiential and body-centred psychotherapy. It is founded on the principle that the body serves as a resource that reflects and stores formative memories, and the core beliefs they have generated.

What this looks like in the counselling room is that as I’m empathically listening to you I might invite you to repeat a gesture or study an involuntary movement to bring your early learning into consciousness. We may also co-create “little experiments” to evoke the feelings that are troubling you so we can better understand what is shaping your reactions, and broaden your capacity to be with them.

Hakomi is a gentle form of therapy that encourages curiosity about our internal experiences so that we may better understand how we operate in the world. This can be enormously useful if we are hoping to shift and change our patterns of behaviour.

For more information see the Hakomi Institute International and the Hakomi Institute New Zealand.

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

I have completed the first step in my EMDR training and integrate this into my therapy work, depending on what clients would like or need to be different.

EMDR treats mental health conditions that happen because of memories from traumatic events in your past. It’s best known for its role in treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but its use is expanding to include treatment of many other conditions.

This method involves moving your eyes a specific way while you process traumatic memories, under the guidance of a therapist. EMDR’s goal is to help you heal from trauma or other distressing life experiences. Compared to other therapy methods, EMDR is relatively new. The first clinical trial investigating EMDR was in 1989. Dozens of clinical trials since EMDR’s development show this technique is effective and can help a person faster than many other methods.

You can read more about EMDR on the EMDR International Institute’s website or on the New Zealand Association for EMDR Therapists website.

I was awarded a post graduate scholarship from Graduate Women New Zealand in 2019 for academic merit, personal attributes, and future plans in the field of counselling. My research from my Master of Counselling was accepted for publication in the New Zealand Journal of Counselling, 2019.

About me

I am a fifth generation New Zealander on my father’s side, and third generation on my mother’s side.

I have roots in Ireland and England, and my family settled in Taranaki. I was born in Titahi Bay, Porirua, and the hills and waters of this part of Aotearoa are very significant to me. I lived in Manawatū for most of my school years, and Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) for a large portion of my adulthood. I have also lived in France, Italy and Alaska. In 2017 my husband, three sons and I made Whanganui home and we love it here – especially the wide banks of the awa, the fresh roar of the sea, and the rich green of the suburbs.

I am passionate about human beings, relationship and communication, and have been for over twenty years. I came to therapy through my own experiences of counselling. My earlier careers included writing and communications for large government departments; and primary school teaching which was both in Alaska and Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington).