Our psychology team

With more than 10-years’ experience working with adults and children, Lesia moved to New Zealand from South Africa in August 2020 and has been with APM ever since.

Lesia’s compassion and care for her clients and their whānau is at the centre of her neurodiverse and multidisciplinary work.

Lesia can help with: neurodevelopmental disorders (diagnoses, therapeutic intervention, and support), acquired neuropathology in children, adults, and geriatrics (diagnoses, therapeutic intervention, and support), children with behavioural, emotional, and/or social difficulties, highly sensitive persons. Individuals and families/whānau, school support.

Practices include: acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness, applied behavioural analysis and functional analysis, neurocognitive rehabilitation, neuropsychoanalysis, pay therapy, body-mind therapies, brain working recursive therapy.

Leslia speaks English and Afrikaans.

Robin comes with 15 years’ experience delivering psychological services with a wide and varied background working with critical illnesses and injuries, and military and paramedics who have experienced job-related trauma and injuries. She has worked in Federal and private prisons and in the LGBTQ+ community.

She is passionate about supporting and assisting patients to improve their quality of life. Having struggled with a chronic illness and ongoing sports related injuries she understands the importance and benefits of a good support system, treatment plans that are tailored to the individual’s needs and culture, and a well-informed multi-disciplinary team to provide the variety of services needed to overcome illness and injury.

Robin can help with: medical illness and injuries, such as, but not limited to, burns, spinal injuries, athletic injuries, cancer, infertility, endometriosis, etc.

Practices include: cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), humanistic therapy, humour, and a wide variety of skills and evidence-based practices to tailor the treatment plan to the individual and their culture.

Debbie has over a decade of experience working in mental health services with adults and older adults.

Through her practice, Debbie uses her skills at understanding presenting problems through to establishing effective, practical treatment plans with her clients.

This includes intellectual disability assessments and neuropsychological assessments.

She also provides specialised consultation on managing challenging behaviours in adults with complex needs.

Debbie can help with:

• Anxiety disorders
• Panic disorder
• Phobias
• Depression
• Psychosis
• Emotion dysregulation
• Grief
• Trauma
• Pain management
• Addiction

Practices include:

• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
• Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT)
• Third wave interventions (e.g. mindfulness)

Caitlyn provides mental health support for adults, adolescents, and children. She also has experience with physical health issues such as chronic pain and concussion recovery.

She has a professional interest in working with the LGBTI+ community, offering support tailored to their specific needs.

In addition, Caitlyn also has experience working with people from diverse cultural backgrounds and strives to accommodate cultural difference within her practice.

Caitlyn can help with:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Stress
• Concussion recovery
• Managing chronic pain
• Assessment and support following traumatic head injuries
• Assessment and support for neurodevelopmental disorder
  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
  • Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
  • Intellectual disability (ID)

Practices include:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT & ACT-ADJUST)
• He Puna Whakaata (Māori wellbeing)
• Compassion focused therapy (CFT)
• Mindfulness and emotional regulation skills

Caitlyn is based in the Auckland region for face-to-face appointments and offers telehealth services across the country.

Marisa brings more than two decades of experience working with adults as individuals, couples, and families to her role with APM. She has spent much of her career in South Africa before moving to New Zealand.

Marisa is passionate about her work and finds the journeys shared with clients deeply meaningful and gratifying.

She is committed to delivering ethical and professional psychological services with empathy, integrity, and respect.

Marisa can help with:

• Trauma
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• Mood disorders
• Anxiety
• Grief and loss
• Adjustment issues after life-changing events - trauma, illness, surgery, divorce etc.
• Pain management
• Sexual health - pre-and postnatal care, infertility, sexual trauma, LGBTQI+ issues etc.

Practices include:

• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Mindfulness
• Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT)
• Internal family systems (IFS)/Psychodynamic approach
• Ecosystemic therapeutic approach

Marisa speaks English and Afrikaans.

Cushla has treating experience with a diverse range of patients from the Department of Corrections, as well as medical rehabilitation.

She has worked closely providing treatment and assessment to people living with chronic pain and older persons.

Cushla’s compassion for her clients runs deeply through her approach to treatment. She assists people of all ages to navigate complex mental health and medical issues. Through assessment and treatment, she focuses on delivering the best possible wellness outcomes.

Cushla can help with: treating depression, anxiety and trauma in adults, children and adolescents, with a special interest in relational issues and providing couples therapy.

Practices include: cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT), eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) and mindfulness.

Ilse joined the New Zealand team in 2021 after more than a decade of clinical and psychiatric experience in her home country of South Africa.

She has managed community mental health services in regional and culturally diverse areas, including working in inpatient and outpatient settings.

Ilse has a keen professional interest in working with people who have been affected by trauma or violence.

Through her work appreciates clients’ unique cultural backgrounds and includes their cultural experiences and understanding in the therapeutic process.

She works with clients across different age ranges, including young children, adolescents, and adults.

Ilse can help with:

• Issues relating to trauma and grief
• Mental health issues such as depression (including ante- and postnatal depression)
• Anxiety
• Bipolar disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Adjustment and attachment difficulties
• Transitional life challenges such as parenthood, separation, or divorce

She currently provides treatment on various ACC contracts, including pain service, concussion, training for independence, psychology service, and integrated services for sensitive claims. She also offers services to private clients, the New Zealand Police, and victim support services.

Practices include:

• Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT)
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
• Eye movement integration therapy (EMI)
• Motivational interviewing
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing – level 1 (EMDR)

Ilse is based in the Manawatu-Whanganui region for face-to-face appointments, and offers telehealth services across the country. She speaks English and Afrikaans.

Dr. Tereska brings many years of experience working in private practice and adult community mental health, with clients aged 18 and over.

Her approach with her clients encourages healthy lifestyle and behavioural changes, including support and building resilience while adjusting to different life stages and changes.

She enjoys providing psychological support for clients referred to APM’s programmes, including training for independence, concussion and pain services.

Dr. Tereska can help with:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Phobias
• Sleep problems
• Eating disorders
• Trauma
• Grief and loss
• Pain management
• Work-related stress
• Anger management

Practices include:

• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
• Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT)
• Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)
• Solution-focused therapy
• Brief psychotherapy

Cheryl moved to New Zealand in 2022, brings more than 25 years’ experience of psychotherapy and assessments. She specialises in working with adults from a multicultural background.

She is passionate about supporting and assisting the patients with the frameworks they need to improve their quality of life.

Cheryl helps create treatment plans with her clients that are tailored to their individual and cultural needs, so they can achieve their goals.

Cheryl can help with:

• Depressive disorders
• Bipolar and related disorders
• Personality disorders
• Trauma
• Anxiety disorders
• Trauma and stress related disorders

Practices include:

• Hypnosis
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
• Rational emotive behavioural therapy (REBT)