Selena Serra

Kia ora, my name is Selena, and throughout my personal and professional life, I meet and enjoy connecting with people from all walks of life. I work well with all genders and cultural backgrounds. The practice of counselling is my passion; It’s a practice that seeks to empower people. I have been working with youth and adults as coach for over 6 years and since 2019 as a qualified counsellor. Privacy and confidentiality are very important to me, and I bring to the practice the most respect for all no matter what your story is. Honesty, promoting safety and wellbeing, and to seek to increase opportunities for clients are core values I bring to my practice. Working in rural communities often comes with the challenge of multiple relationships. I consider having healthy boundaries extremely important to bring safety to the relationship with my clients and the community. As an Italian woman living in New Zealand for over twelve years, I am learning the complexities of this society and the importance of bi-cultural and multi-cultural practice. Understanding that there isn’t one way to look at and be in this world is important to me; and when applied to my practice this brings an open view and acceptance of differences. I have travelled and lived in various countries around the world, learning about different cultures. Strength-Based approaches like Solution-Focused therapy is my preferred modality next to the basic core conditions of Person Centered Counselling. I also enjoy the Cognitive Behavioural approach to understand the link between our thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. I am currently training to become a Child-Centered Play Therapist and from February 2022 I will be working with children from the age of 5. I offer counselling in Italian and English.