Henriette Politano

BA (Hons, Univ. of Massachusetts), Dip. Counselling
MITAA, MNZTAA
Provisional Member NZAC

I also work with clients in German and Italian and to a slightly more limited degree in French and Spanish
I hold a New Zealand Association of Counsellors accredited Diploma in Counselling and am currently studying towards Certification as a Transactional Analyst with a psychotherapy specialization.

I am working under professional supervision, adhering to the NZAC Code of Ethics and participate in ongoing professional development through NZAC and other connected bodies

During my”first adult life” I pursued an management career in the UK. This involved visits to all the continents and many countries over a ten year period, building partnerships and mentoring associates.

During my “second adult life” I chose freedom and spent six years with my husband, living on a sailing yacht on the circumnavigation which ultimately brought me to New Zealand. During this time I learned to know and love Pacific Island cultures, values and ways of life.

Now, in my “third adult life”, I am as passionate about working with my clients as I have been about anything I have done previously. I am especially pleased to be able to bring insights and experience gained in my previous lives to my accreditation as a counsellor.

My approach to counselling is focused on creating a safe space for you to explore, share and understand thoughts and feelings and how these present themselves within your life. My focus is to work with clients to gain a clearer understanding of areas of frustration and dissatisfaction,  in order to help finding ways of dealing with these issues to promote a motivated and fulfilled life. I will approach our dialogue with respect, compassion, courage and honesty. My style of counselling is integrative – I see each client as an individual and tailor every session towards what they want to achieve. This means we will work with a range of modalities: Cognitive Therapy (CBT), Transactional Analysis (TA), Gestalt Therapy, Inner Child Therapy, as well as Narrative Therapy. I also use Interactive Drawing Therapy and incorporate my familiarity with Tantra studied extensively in the UK and India.

Most importantly I value the relationship between myself and my clients. When searching for a counselor it is vital to follow your intuition to find a person that you feel able to relate to: someone who is genuinely open and interested in your world and your problems. Although the counsellor’s experience and education is important, this is a person-to-person relationship. Both client and counsellor need to be confident that they can engage with each other. I am committed to do this with integrity and my whole being.