About Dr. Sharyn

Therapy approach

Solving complex problems, working through troublesome relationships, facing the unknown, dealing with unpleasant situations, being afraid – these are issues we all encounter, sometimes again and again throughout the course of our lives. My goal is to help you comprehend how people think and feel when they face these obstacles. I help people understand how and why they make decisions, behave towards others, and work through difficult situations.

This means that first of all you'll learn to distinguish your thinking from your feelings. You will probably also want to explore what kinds of things drive your thinking (experiences, simple habitual thinking, emotions, reactions to people and situations) so that you can better understand how to manage those thoughts. And you may want to explore the different emotions that come and go in your mind (what they're telling you, what responses they're generating in you, and how you might manage these responses).

When you come to therapy I will share what I know about the brain with you — the neuroscience of learning, relearning, breaking thinking habits and making changes.

With persistence and practice it's possible for us to rewire our brains and build new neural pathways. I will show you how.

I also want to share information and ideas from current research with you so that you can use your brain’s plasticity to make changes with the expectation that they will work. I want to help you learn skills, tools and strategies that will help you better understand and manage your thinking, feelings and behaviour. Building awareness and intentionally working with the way you think and feel will help you develop more effective ways of responding to the world.

I also use ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) in my work — this therapy approach helps you develop skills to become more ‘psychologically flexible.’ We learn psychological flexibility when we learn skills of mindfulness (i.e., being open, engaged and focused) and awareness (of our thoughts and feelings). ACT helps you learn skills to manage thinking and feeling effectively, so you can go ahead and do those things that bring meaning and fulfilment into your life. We will work together to develop an action-oriented approach to your life, making conscious decisions based on what is important to you.

In therapy, I also use a solution-focused approach that emphasises the strengths and resources you already have, and I may include aspects of narrative therapy, stress management and client-centred counselling (a supportive and non-judgmental approach) to help you find solutions.

I’ve worked in psychology in many different domains, and some of the important things I’ve learned are that:

People are relational – It is a fundamental need to want to relate to others, to be part of the group, to be accepted and to feel loved.

People naturally think negatively – It’s easy to get stuck and to feel hopeless when you have a never-ending circle of thoughts and feelings that are predominantly negative. This cycle can powerfully reinforce the thinking, ideas and emotions that can keep you feeling trapped and helpless.

Emotions can be overpowering – They can be so powerful that you may feel overwhelmed by them or want to push them aside and try not to experience them.

Behaviour (what you do) is something that you can control much of the time – It is also something that is greatly affected by what people do and say around you.

This is the blueprint I use with my clients to help them systematically and effectively learn about and understand how their brain behaves when it feels anxiety, fear, or stress.

Each of these steps builds upon the previous one - and leads you to a space where you stay calm, focused and confident.

Use these science-based steps to change how you feel and respond.

 I have a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in Industrial/Organisational Psychology, a Master in Educational Psychology and a PhD (Cognitive Psychology) all from Massey University in New Zealand. I also hold a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychological Practice.

I have had specific training in Cognitive Behaviour therapy – I have a Primary Certificate in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy from UK Centre for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and have attended training workshops in Metacognition and CBT conceptualisation.

I am a registered psychologist in NZ and in my practice I adhere to the NZ Psychological Society’s Code of Ethics. The Code of Ethics has been developed to promote fair and just psychological practice and to ensure that all clients receive safe and professional services.