Clinical Therapist
Individual & Relationship Therapy
Researcher & Founder of ‘The AND Method’
Mum, Step-Mum
Author – Published Nationally & Internationally
Clinical Therapist
Individual & Relationship Therapy
Researcher & Founder of ‘The AND Method’
Mum, Step-Mum
Author – Published Nationally & Internationally
Dr Anna is an experienced Clinical Therapist, mum, and step-mum. Anna works as an individual and relationship therapist. She works with couples, families, adults, and adolescents. Anna also works with parents with children of all ages.
Anna has had extensive experience working with couples/individuals, and relationships on a variety of concerns (please refer to the specific therapeutic pages on this website for further details).
She has published (nationally and internationally) books and articles on topics relating to attachment, relational issues, behaviour, and parenting.
Anna is an ACC registered sensitive claim therapist.
The majority of her clinical experience has been gained through consulting in private practice. For in-person sessions, Anna is situated in Central Auckland (Remuera). She also conducts sessions online. Please refer to the contact page for details.
Anna works with individuals, couples, and other relationship issues on (but not limited to):
Anna has presented at seminars and workshops around the country and receives media requests to discuss topics relating to attachment, relationships, parenting, and other therapy-related topics. She has been a regular guest on The Hits Radio Show discussing issues experienced by the listener.
Dr Anna works in a collaborative and respectful way with her clients (‘About Dr Anna’ provides details outlining the issues worked on with clients in sessions). Anna recognises the importance of the therapeutic relationship and endeavours to provide a warm and safe environment for clients, to ensure that their goals for therapy are prioritised.
Anna works with individuals (adults and adolescents) & relationships (couples, families, siblings, blended families) experiencing issues.
The core themes of emotional attunement, communication, and secure connection/attachment directly inform her work with relationships/couples and individuals.
Through her research background and clinical experience, Anna has developed a strong understanding of the relational processes that influence how partners connect and communicate and how individuals process their experiences. She is particularly interested in how attachment and interpersonal patterns may impact the quality of a couple’s relationship and the individuals unique experiences, and their ability to navigate life challenges.
Anna has a therapeutic approach that aims to support couples/other relationships in strengthening their relational foundation, and an individuals sense of self. She works with clients to help foster more constructive communication, deepen emotional understanding, and create patterns that promote secure and sustainable connections and outcomes.
This work aims to help individuals identify their priorities, goals, patterns, and sense of self. It also focuses on how couples can create a constructive and meaningful relational environment.
Anna has also studied, completed research, and works with parent/child relational aspects, particularly focusing on attachment-related issues.
Anna uses a range of therapeutic modalities, depending on the client’s needs. She is informed by and trained in (but not limited to) the following therapeutic modalities:
Anna values the opportunity to assist clients (individual and relationship/couples) across a range of issues. Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have further queries, or would like to make an appointment. Please refer to the contact page.
Dr Anna was awarded her PhD from the University of Auckland. Her thesis focused on attachment, relationships and interactions, and the parent/child relationship. Her research was focused on how to achieve more productive outcomes during conflict and other relational issues. Her work also explored the effectiveness of the current mainstream discipline methods commonly used in many households.
Anna found that a variety of common discipline methods used can be unhelpful and ineffective for the relationship between parent and child and the development of the child’s sense of self.
As a result of her research findings and other widely acknowledged research, Anna was able to create a new parenting discipline method, which encourages a new relational paradigm and lowers conflict levels between parent and child. Again, this method is founded on widely accepted evidence and research, and supports both the parent and child to work towards a more attuned outcome and helps maintain a securely attached relationship.
The AND discipline method is provided in her book – “Listen to Me! – Taking the conflict out of child discipline” – published nationally by Penguin Random House in June 2019, and an international publishing house in Poland.
Anna has also written a new evidence-based parenting book “Pocketbook of Parenting“. This cartoon and evidence-based book provides parents with the foundational information for parenting in a quick and easy reading format.
Dr Anna’s effective and popular ‘AND’ discipline method has been enthusiastically received by many parents. The ‘AND’ method is a researched, practical, and easy-to-use parenting method. It replaces the more traditional, authoritarian discipline approaches which tend to focus on behaviours only and can be unhelpful for the parent/child relationship.
The ‘AND’ method is discussed in her book (2019) – “Listen to Me! – Taking the conflict out of child discipline” and her latest book “Pocketbook of Parenting.”
Anna is committed to ongoing training to ensure she has up-to-date evidence-based information informing her practice to assist clients.
