About Cary McDermott
I bring over 25 years of accumulated knowledge and experience to my work as a counsellor. As well as working in private practice, I have worked in a range of community agencies dealing with many different issues and contexts, with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and life experiences both in New Zealand and overseas.
I have trained and work with various models and draw from a wide range including but not limited to transactional analysis,person-centred, Gestalt, trauma models, systems therapy, emotion focused therapy, emotional/somatic integration therapies, and mindfulness.
At the heart of how I work is that you are doing the best you can. The key to understanding your current feelings and behaviours and even your thoughts and unhelpful beliefs is that they are adaptive. That is, they are your best attempt to take care of yourself right now.
It's important to know that we all have a strong sense of self-preservation, even though this may have been damaged or misdirected. So, it's also important to acknowledge that your solutions worked for you some time in the past, possibly when you were young and with limited options. But strategies learned in childhood, or through painful experiences, are often limiting in adult life. They are often no longer working or helpful. They are not the best response to your situation, and will not resolve the problems you are having, and can be making them worse.
Even so, anxiety, depression, feeling stuck and even responses to trauma, are your best attempts to take care of yourself and need to be treated as such. Even self-destructive behaviours can be an attempt to adapt and solve difficulties. You need to understand your responses or symptoms as self-preservation. Then you can find other ways to do so that don't cause you pain and difficulty.
I can help you deal with many issues including:
Anxiety
Creativity, Artist Development and Blocks
Depression
Grief and Loss
Life Changes & Transitions
Personal Growth, Realising your Potential
Relationship Issues
Self Esteem and Low Self Worth
Stress
Trauma
Workplace Issues & Bullying
QUALIFICATIONS
I completed a Bachelor in Psychology and Masters in Social Science, and completed a full time Internship in Counselling with the Human Development and Training Institute. I was one of only eight selected students per year, at a time before degree programmes in psychotherapy were available. I then trained as a clinical supervisor and continued to train with experts in their fields both in New Zealand and overseas.
I am a full member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors.