A Change of Focus
Mental Health Therapies NZ was born from a desire to help people in mental distress. It came about from my own personal journey of trauma, post natal depression and anxiety. At the time I needed counselling the most, I couldn’t afford it, being a stay at home mum with a small child. The free sessions I was eligible for through a GP referral were wholly inadequate.
I soon discovered that there were thousands of others in the same boat. Every day suffering the effects of trauma, addictions, severe anxiety, OCD or depression. Many unable to work but not “sick enough” to qualify for crisis services and no other meaningful avenues open to them to access the counsellors or psychologists they needed.
Something had to be done and as I gradually healed from my own mental distress enough to go back to work fulltime and afford private therapy, I recognised the value of making longer term therapy available to more people.
So a charity was born last year with the intention to raise funds to be able to fund up to 12 months of counselling/therapy for adult Kiwis in mental distress. Awesome!
However, it soon became clear that raising money for our counselling fund was not going to be easy (I never really thought it would be) and without a clear target group for our counselling funding, it was hard to gather fundraising momentum and even harder to qualify for grants from charity funders.
After some expert advice, it became apparent that by wanting to help everyone who was suffering, we weren’t going to be able to help anyone and we made the decision that we needed to narrow our focus.
Lineē and I went away and separately thought about who we would choose as our target for funding therapy. When we came back together we were delighted to discover that we both had the same idea - Mums who had suffered trauma. Not just for the mums, but also knowing that when mums are unwell, their tamariki and whānau also suffer.
After doing our research and consulting with people supporting mums, we narrowed this down even further. We have decided to first and foremost support mums who have suffered the trauma of intimate partner violence (IPV) - being physical, sexual, emotional, psychological or economic abuse inflicted by their intimate partner.
In New Zealand, 55% of women will experience IPV in their lifetime. The ongoing impact of this is felt by their children, their wider family and it can turn into an intergenerational cycle of mental distress.
We want to do something to disrupt that cycle and so we have made the decision to focus our fundraising efforts and counselling fund for this group of women for the foreseeable future. Research shows that women who have the benefit of ongoing therapy are at less risk of returning to their abuser, suicide and developing mental health disorders like depression, post traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse disorders. It also has a positive impact on their children through mum being able to provide a safer, more stable and less traumatic environment.
For now, we will be connecting with women who need ongoing counselling through our fund by collaborating with established refuge and family violence organisations - initially in Auckland and then spreading the net further around Aotearoa as funds allow. We have already had contact with a couple of these organisations and they have confirmed the huge need that currently exists. Survivors of IPV have themselves ranked ongoing free or heavily subsidised counselling as the most important support they need after experiencing IPV*. This gives us confidence that we’re on the right track to have a positive impact on Kiwi mums and their whānau with this change in focus.
So things are now looking quite different on our website and soon our social media channels to reflect this targeted direction.
We hope you will come along for the ride with us, by spreading the word or by donating. We are forever thankful for those who have supported us already on our journey with your encouragement and donations. Our founding supporters will always have a special place in our heart.
Ngā mihi nui
Kat McKay (Co-Founder)
*Backbone Collective report on Victim-Survivor Perspectives on Longer-Term Support after Experiencing Violence and Abuse - January 2020