Tag Archives: psychosocial support

When windows get smashed

The window of tolerance after Cyclone Gabrielle is shifting. Here’s what it means for response and recovery.  In Dan Siegel’s book, The Developing Mind, he describes how everyone has a range of intensities of emotional experience that they can comfortably experience, process and integrate. This is the ‘window of tolerance’, and it varies widely. For […]

4 Day eBook Pre-Order Sale on Amazon for my New Book – Steady STARTS NOW

For the next 4 days, my eBook will be discounted to US$2.99 on Amazon globally on pre-order. That’s over 60% off With the UK in lockdown, and the virus continuing to spread rapidly globally, we are not through this pandemic yet.  We know that looking after our mental health is important not only in crisis, […]

Steady – now available for pre-order globally in paperback and ebook: links

It’s exciting to be able to let you know that my upcoming book is now available for global pre-order in both paperback and ebook formats. And of course, you can still buy it directly from me right here on my website. It’s loaded up into bookseller catalogues, so if you prefer to buy from an […]

My First Book is Coming: Steady – Keeping Calm in a World Gone Viral

For the past 6 months I have been busy. As well as a number of other projects, creating videos, scripts, and more, I have been writing a book. My first book. And it was ambitious. What started as an attempt to document what I did during the first lockdowns in New Zealand to advise the […]

Webinar: 6 May 12pm NZT

I’m doing a webinar next Wednesday 6th May at 12pm NZT. I’ll outline the main points from the Framework for Psychosocial Support published by the Ministry of Health in 2016, and how this translates to a new New Zealand Government Psychosocial Response Framework for COVID-19 – drawing upon what I’ve learned from the past 14 years working in Disaster Mental Health and Emergency Management and my experiences as a psychologist and policy maker.

Potential psychosocial impacts of recent flooding in New Zealand

The south of New Zealand is experiencing exceptional flooding events – in Fiordland and towns in Southland too – this is still ongoing, with much uncertainty for residents about what this will mean for them now, and in the future.

How to support after the Whakaari / White Island volcanic eruption

In this short article, I want to go over some of the principles of what helps in supporting people through emergency events and disaster, and what we need to bear in mind when dealing with the special case of first responders, and those in the emergency and welfare services who are tasked to serve and protect in times of crisis and distress.