Frequently Asked Questions

I enjoy supporting people who having difficulty navigating life's challenges. I work in a way that is collaborative, always respecting the client as the expert in their life. Whether you are feeling overwhelmed by your inner state or stuck in your external circumstances, we can work together to find a way forward that feels authentic to you.

In life coaching, our attention is forward, I support clients to identify exactly what their goal is and using a framework of values and strengths work with the client to co-create actionable steps, they feel will work best for them to achieve the outcome they desire.
Examples of goals people may be working towards:
Career transition - Navigating promotions, starting new roles, or exploring career change.
Relationship shifts - Support through separation, divorce, or the process of restoring or ending a difficult relationships.
Life milestone - Processing significant birthdays, marriage, or the impact of your own mortality or losing a significant person.
Neurodivergent strategy - Developing practical, individual strategies to manage life with ADHD or Dyslexia.

In solution focused counselling, our attention is inward, we look to the past to understand the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that are holding the client back from reaching their goals, as well as co-create an authentic actionable plan to support them to move forward in life.
Examples of problems people may be dealing with:
Identity issues - Separating the problem from the core of who you are so that you can see the problem as the problem rather than seeing yourself as the problem.
Overcoming self-doubt - Identifying the inner critic and building a more compassionate and capable self-image.
Breaking patterns - Recognising recurring emotional or behavioural cycles that no longer serve you and discovering the resources to choose a different path.
Anxiety and overwhelm - Learning to use your strengths and values to navigate your thoughts and feelings that make life feel overwhelming, and finding yourself again.

In Tomatis® Method, our attention is foundational at a brain-body level - using the ear-brain connection as the superhighway to the nervous system. We address the foundation of the stress response, retraining how your brain and body process information to improve emotional and sensory regulation and executive function.
Examples of problems people may be dealing with:
Sensory overwhelm - Reducing reactivity to noise, light, texture, touch, taste and smell and busy environments.
Emotional dysregulation - Settling the "internal storm" of big emotions, and being easily triggered to fight/flight or freeze/fawn states, as well as being able to express oneself emotionally or in emotionally charged environments.
Impulsivity and Attention - Strengthening the "pause" to allow thought processing to help manage ADHD symptoms and physical restlessness.
Executive function - Improving memory, focus and the ability to get things done and reducing impulsivity
Burnout recovery - Restoring a nervous system that has been stuck in survival mode for too long.

In Life Coaching the focus is the present and the future. While we can look to the past to identify blocks and patterns we see them as obstacles to remove or sidestep, rather than wounds to heal.

In Solution Focused Counselling the focus is on seeing the problem as the problem and finding the exceptions to your struggles to identify the strengths and values you already have. This shifts the mindset from stuck to capable and facilitates movement towards your preferred future with a sense of authenticity and confidence.

Example:
Imagine someone who feels stuck and is consistently overlooked for promotion at work. The only reason they can identify is that they are too dumb to do that job, (even though they do it well when someone in that team is away).

In life coaching we focus on strategy and momentum. We would see the I'm dumb thought as an obstacle to sidestep. Evidence is the focus, so a life coach might ask "You are already doing the work successfully, what specific skills do you use when you are doing that job?", "What successes have you had in that role?", "How can we package those successes to your employer to secure the promotion?"
The focus is on the practical steps to get you into the new role.

In solution focused counselling we focus on the exceptions and identity. Asking questions like "How do you manage to do that job when your colleague is away with that you can't do it voice in your ear?", "What hidden strengths allow you to succeed despite the doubt?", "Which one of your values are you honouring when you do step up, even though you don't feel smart enough?"
By focusing on existing capability and the kind of person the client wants to be, we shift the mindset from stuck to capable - empowering the person to seek the promotion with authentic confidence.

In our consultation, we'll work together to:

1. Give you an opportunity to teach me more about the issue(s) that are interfering in you life that are stopping you from enjoying the quality of life you would like to enjoy.

2. Make a plan that works for you. The plan needs to meet you where you are in terms of motivation to reach your goal, availability, beliefs and budget.

3. If appropriate book a date to get started with your unique life coaching, solution focused counselling and/or Tomatis® Method plan to assist you to meet your goals.

In Life Coaching each session is dedicated to the particular issue the client is facing at the time.  I do not plan a standard session, they are all unique, dedicated to the clients needs and aligned with the clients beliefs and comfort.

In Solution Focused Counselling as a student counsellor, I work with clients who are seeking either an impartial person to listen to them as they vent, or actively work with clients to empower them to see the problem as the problem. This shift in perception empowers clients to move beyond the limitations or deficits they believe they have. Using a strengths and values based framework to supports clients to make the changes they believe necessary to solve their problem, generally results in meaningful and sustainable change.

In Tomatis® Method sessions are around every 10 weeks and are aligned with each 'loop' of a programme. Each session involves evaluating the person's ability to listen (not hear), to track change,  discuss the goals for next loop of listening, and load the next personalised programme to the Maestro headphones.

In Life Coaching I will happily work with young people over the age of 16 years who are highly motivated to achieve a specific outcome.

In Solution Focused Counselling I will work with young adults over the age of 18 years.

For the Tomatis® Method yes I absolutely work with children from the age of 3, up to and including adults.
I have a long history of working with children from my previous career as a Dental Therapist.

In Life Coaching I offer some in person appointments, the majority are online.
In Solution Focused Counselling all sessions are online.

Online sessions are conducted via secure video conferencing software and offer the convenience of meeting from anywhere with an internet connection.
In-person sessions may take place at my office in Hamilton.

In the Tomatis® Method people MUST be able to visit me at my office in Hamilton for their listening evaluation and to have their programme downloaded to their Maestro headphones.

It depends on the modality the client is wanting to use.  
Life Coaching $95 per one hour session

Solution Focused Counselling $95 per 50 minute session

Tomatis® Method - dependent on needs and length of the programme.
Maestro Programme 
Maestro Headphones $900
Each loop of listening $600
(Four loops are recommended over a period of 36 - 40 weeks for optimal change)

Debbie is a trained Life Coach, 2nd year Bachelor of Applied Counselling Student, and Level 2 Tomatis® Practitioner. 

Integrity is very important to Debbie, she holds worldwide (excluding North America) professional indemnity insurance for all of the modalities she offers.

As a student member of the new Zealand Association of Counsellors in counselling work she is guided by the New Zealand Association of Counsellors Code of Ethics.
Debbie is also a current member of International Institute of Complementary Therapists IICT.