Mental health resources
There are many people out there providing well-being support with the hope that no one feels alone in their pain. I have listed just a few of them below. It would be natural for you to try some of these avenues and not find any benefit. We are all such different, complex and unique human beings. If you try something and it doesn’t work out, keep trying. You are not going to get on with everyone. But every now and then you meet one person that changes your life.
Keep trying, there are so many people out there who have your best interest at heart and want to see you shine.
Immediate support
1737
1737 is Aotearoa/New Zealand’s national mental health & addictions helpline number. It offers free 24/7 text and phone support provided by trained counsellors and peer support workers.
Lifeline
Lifeline Aotearoa offer free 24/7 helpline services (text and phone) that are answered by their highly trained team from centres in Auckland and Christchurch.
Call Lifeline on 0800 543 354 ↗
Call the Suicide Crisis Helpline on 0508 82 88 65 ↗
Youthline
Youthline offer a free 24/7 helpline service (text, phone and chat), free face-to-face counselling services, youth mentoring, and programmes in communities to help people grow.
Call Youthline on 0800 376 633 ↗
Region-specific mental health crisis services
Each region of Aotearoa/New Zealand has its own public mental health crisis service. Please refer to this Ministry of Health directory to find your local service.
LGBTQIA+ resources
InsideOUT
A national organisation that works with youth, whānau, schools, community groups, youth services, government agencies and other relevant organisations.
Gender Minorities Aotearoa
Gender Minorities Aotearoa is a nationwide transgender organisation. It is run by and for transgender people; including binary and non-binary, intersex, and irawhiti takatāpui. They provide one-to-one peer support nationwide.
Burnett Foundation Aotearoa
Burnett Foundation Aotearoa (formerly New Zealand AIDS Foundation & Ending HIV NZ) has been at the forefront of the community response to HIV in Aotearoa for nearly 40 years.
OutLine
Confidential, free, all-ages support line, rainbow specialist counselling and trans peer support.
Rainbow Youth
Rainbow Youth offers strengths-based peer support that considers hauora, resilience, cultural identities, and individual journeys.
Gender Affirming Surgery Service
Gender Affirming (Genital) Surgery Service has been established to help more transgender and non-binary people access publicly-funded gender affirming genital surgery in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Service has been funded for the delivery of up to 14 surgeries per year.
Qtopia NZ - Gender-affirming care
https://qtopia.org.nz/gender-affirming-care
General helpfulness…..
Free support at your local GP. Health Improvement Practitioners (HIPs) are a free resource, usually with no wait lists. Anybody can access a HIP well-being related support. Find out if there is a HIP at your practice here; https://www.wellbeingsupport.health.nz/#find-support
Some workplaces have free counselling sessions available. Usually this is referred to as the “EAP service”. Companies such as “Umbrella wellbeing”, “Vitae” and “Ignite Aotearoa” are some of the organisations that offer free counselling for employees or student’s. The sessions are completely confidential.
Looking for a clinical psychologist? This site makes it easy to specifically search for the skillset you are after. No guarantees there will be a Psychologist available in your region, however, many are offering online sessions. https://www.nzccp.co.nz/for-the-public/find-a-clinical-psychologist/
Self compassion is a skill we must work on if we want to be good at it. Dr Kristin Neff has devoted her career to researching effective ways to cultivate self-compassion and she has many free resources available on her website; https://self-compassion.org/
ACT or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is the therapeutic modality (type of therapy) I have the most experience with. I like how it uses metaphors to explain complex mechanisms within the brain to help me to understand why we think and behave the way we do. There are so many videos etc freely available to learn from. Including on youtube and also here; https://www.actmindfully.com.au/free-stuff/?__cf_chl_tk=RZvx93ufb4fvjfT1xyFozZS59bwfwRRP0Efdy_WrVQk-1719075009-0.0.1.1-3604
Want to dance more? Start in the comfort of your own home with The Fitness Marshall; https://www.youtube.com/user/thefitnessmarshall
Think yoga might help to connect with the body and calm the mind? Try Yoga with Adriene. She has thousands of videos to choose. For example you might try “yoga for grief”, or “yoga for older people”, “yoga for period pain” etc etc etc. https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene
