Family Therapy in Whitianga
Providing private, trauma-informed counselling and psychotherapy for individuals, couples, families, and professionals in a calm, discrete environment to help you rediscover inner clarity and resilience.
Explore Specialised Services
Select a service tab below to review the approach, target areas, and therapeutic framework:
Systemic Family Constellation Work & Family Therapy
"Constellation work makes hidden dynamics visible, bringing clarity, relief, and new possibilities for change."
Systemic Family Constellation work is a practical method that helps people understand how family patterns, roles, and generational influences shape their lives today. It is a reflective process, not a mystical one; it is a clear, systemic approach developed and refined in Germany.
Many people discover that they carry responsibilities, emotions, or expectations that began long before their own lifetime. Constellation work makes these hidden dynamics visible, often bringing clarity, relief, and new possibilities for change.
I first encountered Family Constellation work 25 years ago in Germany, where the method has its roots. I trained in the traditional German systemic approach, including a yearlong learning group and assistant work with a constellation therapist. As a German practitioner, I bring a grounded, structured, reflective style to this work, a perspective that is sometimes different from how constellation work is used by some therapists in New Zealand.
When Constellation Work Can Help
"Something is influencing me, but I can’t see what it is."
Ways This Work Can Be Explored
Engage at the level that feels right for you, from a first individual session to committed long-term exploration:
Individual Therapeutic Sessions
One-on-one sessions utilising floor anchors, figurines, and guided dialogue.
Introduction Workshops
A gentle, low-pressure entry point to experience representative perception.
Weekend Workshops
Immersive 1-day or weekend containers to place personal constellations or represent.
Committed Yeargroups
Consistent closed cohorts exploring deeper layers of systemic and generational patterns over time.
Looking for In-Depth Details & Workshop Information?
Read our full overview of the German systemic tradition, lineage, and retreat schedules.
Therapeutic Approaches & Methodology
Steffen integrates evidence-based psychological modalities tailored to your unique circumstances:
Client-Centred Therapy
Empowering Authentic Growth
Places the client at the heart of the therapeutic journey. Rather than diagnosing or prescribing, Steffen creates a non-judgemental, deeply empathetic environment where you discover your innate capacity for self-healing and personal agency.
Gestalt Therapy
Embracing the Whole Self in the Present Moment
Focuses on experiencing thoughts, bodily sensations, and emotional patterns in real time. Steffen organises and utilises creative experiential techniques, including dialogue experiments and the "empty chair", to help you move from feeling "stuck" into empowered choice.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
Reshaping Thought Patterns & Behaviour
A structured, goal-directed method exploring the interplay between thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and actions. Steffen helps clients identify cognitive distortions and replace self-limiting scripts with realistic, empowering perspectives.
Mindfulness (MBSR) Methodology
Cultivating Calm, Non-Judgemental Awareness & Nervous System Ease
Integrates Jon Kabat-Zinn’s evidence-based Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) methodology with somatic nervous system regulation. Steffen guides you through mindful breathwork, body-scan inquiry, and present-moment grounding to interrupt automatic cycles of stress, anxiety, and mental rumination. By learning to observe inner sensations without judgment, you cultivate steady emotional resilience and sustainable inner peace.
Positive Psychotherapy
A Strength-Based Path to Healing
As a member of the New Zealand Association of Positive Psychology (NZAPP), Steffen focuses not only on relieving suffering, but on cultivating what makes life deeply fulfilling: meaning, positive relationships, and character strengths.
Family Systemic Constellations & Satir
Transforming Relational Patterns Across Generations
Systemic constellation work is a reflective process to explore relationship patterns and support well-being. It is not a medical diagnosis, mental health treatment or substitute for professional care.
Key Differences: Counselling vs. Psychotherapy
Both modalities are tailored to your unique circumstances:
Action-Oriented & Problem-Solving
Helps people identify immediate challenges, life crises, and relationship roadblocks, encouraging positive, practical steps toward resolution.
Deep Understanding & Root Healing
Addresses psychological patterns and emotional blocks formed over years, exploring unconscious relational patterns and long-standing wounds.
A Time & Location to Suit Your Needs
Therapy sessions can be booked at flexible times to suit your individual or group needs, including after hours and weekends.
Steffen's Private Practice Room
5 Coghill Street, Whitianga
A discrete, charming, and peaceful environment situated right in the centre of town within our restored 1860s sanctuary.
Online Video Consultations
New Zealand & International
Location is no barrier. Receive secure, confidential, uninterrupted therapeutic care from anywhere in New Zealand or worldwide.
Flexible Custom Arrangements
Tailored Site Visits
Custom arrangements for specialised group facilitation, workplace supervision, or home visits where appropriate.
Session Fees & Accessibility
I aim to keep my work accessible while honouring the depth, time, and presence required for meaningful healing.
Standard Counselling Session
A steady, focused container for individual counselling, psychotherapy, emotional regulation, and ongoing support.
Extended Deep-Exploration Session
For those who prefer more spacious work. Supports deeper exploration, calmer pacing, systemic mapping, and a more grounded therapeutic process.
Sliding Scale & Funding Support
A sliding scale is available for people in financial need, and different funding options may also be possible. We discuss this openly in the first appointment and find an arrangement that feels fair and manageable.
"Your healing is always more important than money, and I do my best to ensure support remains within reach."