What I offer
Child & Youth Counselling
Children and young people rarely arrive in counselling because they have chosen to. They arrive because the adults around them have noticed something — a withdrawal, a change in behaviour, a sadness that won't lift. They come in carrying things they may not yet have language for.
My job is not to make them talk. It is to make it safe enough that they eventually choose to.
Who I work with
A Wide Range of Experiences
I work with tamariki and young people from age six through to their mid-twenties. My specialist area is grief, loss, family breakdown, and the emotional impact of separation on children — though I work across a wide range of presentations including anxiety, transition, and the complex emotions that come with being young in a difficult world.
"A child who feels truly seen — even once — carries that with them for the rest of their life."
Sabrina Barbara
how i work
Meeting Children
Where They Are
How I work with younger children (ages 6–12)
Younger children do not heal through conversation alone. They heal through play, through story, through movement and creative expression — through the experience of being in a safe space with a safe adult. I follow their lead entirely.
Sessions are warm, age-appropriate, and unhurried. I do not push. I do not interrogate. I create safety, and I listen — to what they say and to what they don't.
How I work with adolescents and young adults (ages 13–25)
Adolescents and young adults often arrive with a sophisticated understanding of their situation and a frustrated sense that nothing is changing. I draw on emotionally focused and narrative approaches — helping them understand what they are carrying, where it came from, and how to relate to themselves with more compassion and less judgement.
This is not skills training. It is genuine therapeutic work — the kind that goes to the root.
THE PROCESS
What Working Together Looks Like
What to Expect
Sessions are 50 minutes. All sessions begin via Zoom; in-person in Wellington and Hawke's Bay where appropriate. We begin with a free 20-minute call — with you as the parent, without your child present — to understand the situation and decide together whether this is the right fit.
"Children don't need to talk to heal. They need to feel safe, understood, and not alone."
Sabrina Barbara
A Note for Parents
If your child is coming to see me, you matter in this process too. I offer a parent session alongside your child's work wherever that would be helpful — not to report on your child, but to support you in supporting them. Ask me about this when you get in touch.
If you're going through a separation and need help with parenting arrangements, visit TheMediationRoom.nz.