GOOD THERAPY - Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, Relationship & Supervision

Highly qualified and experienced, I specialize in anxiety, depression, motherhood, trauma, and relationship counselling.

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Helping you through the difficult times...and change

My Qualifications and Experience

Masters in Counselling (1st class honours) & Bachelor Honours in Psychology - Auckland University
NZAC member
Experienced in community agencies, university and high schools since 2009
Currently providing services to EAP and WDHB clients
Fluent in English and Mandarin, 70% of my clients have been non-Chinese
80% of client feedback 5/5 very useful

My Approach

I focus a lot on self work. I help clients become more aware of their emotions, thoughts and patterns, and more accepting of themselves.
I emphasize relationships, which I believe goes hand in hand with sense of self. I help clients improve their relationships through more healthy ways to relate and communicate.
I teach and coach practical tools to help cope with challenges, personal or interpersonal.
I use drawing (IDT) and sandtray to facilitate exploration with the unconscious, which is powerful in helping clients get unstuck.
Clients describe me as "empathetic, nonjudgmental, patient, sensitive, insightful and knowledgeable". I draw from a variety of counselling and psychology methods to best serve an individual's unique needs, background, situation, and style.

What You Can Expect

Better sense of self, less self-critical, and more self-accepting
More accepting of your feelings and less affected by emotional disturbances, eg. depression, anxiety, fear, guilt and anger
Communications and relationships improved, whether it is with your family, the other half, friends or people at work
Discover the unconscious, the blocks, and make sense of your past, so you can heal and live more effectively in the present
Overcome your fear to make positive changes in life

Our Therapy

Relationships

Relationship counseling can be beneficial to couples (or any type of relationship such as a parent and a child), who are looking to strengthen their communication and emotional connection, in all stages of their relationship. Therapy sessions are held with both couples, and sometimes with individuals separately if needed. It provides a supportive place to unpack and discuss issues and solutions, and coach more effective communication and healthy ways to relate and connect.

Depression & Anxiety

Depression, fear, and anxiety are some of the most common and uncomfortable emotions that we can experience at some point in our lives. Through counseling and treatment, we are able to help you recover motivation, perspective, and joy that you once had in your life.

Childhood Trauma

Childhood trauma, neglect and an invalidating environment growing up can have a significant impact on how we function as an adult both within ourselves and in relation to others. Often the grief and struggles start to emerge in adulthood and can be especially triggered by big life events. Unpacking and processing these in a safe space can be extremely helpful as we learn to make sense of the past and become more confident, self compassionate, in control and wise about our choices.

Motherhood Adjustment

Motherhood can be the most transformative and potentially stressful event of a woman's life. It can trigger tension within the relationships with the partner, the child/children, and the parents. It can also trigger self doubt, identity confusion, anxiety and depression. Often, unresolved issues and emotions from childhood can surface. On the bright side, it provides an opportunity to reconcile with our past and parts of ourselves. With help, we can heal and become more whole.

Sherry's Original Articles

My Anxiety Toolbox

How I work with Anxiety

I like working with anxiety because it is a high energy that can be readily worked with. In child play therapy, it struck me how simply providing a safe open nonjudgmental space for children to express any feelings can be powerful in helping them release any negative feelings, whereby generalized distorted anxiety and anger turn into specific short-lived anxiety and anger, which is much more healthy and manageable. I believe this applies to adults too. This is why an accepting and nurturing relationship between the counsellor and the client is vital because it allows for these feelings to be expressed and explored freely, so that healing can take place. Hence, to a large degree, I believe that therapy is the therapist herself/himself.

Befriend Your Feelings

A philosophy I hold dearly is that instead of controlling feelings, we need to befriend them. I often use this analogy in my sessions. Emotions are like our children banging on the door asking for attention (fair enough!). Often our response is to shoo them away, ignore them, or tell them they are bad or we are too busy. This does not help. They might bang harder, or withdraw into depression. A more healthy way is to open the door, acknowledge and validate them. This reminds me of an example of my then two- year-old son. He was asking for ice-cream before bedtime. My husband’s firm decline led to tears. Being told to stop, ironically, escalated the crying. So, I put him on my laps and said, “You are sad because you can’t have the ice-cream”. He nodded. Tears stopped, because his feelings were understood and respected.

Strengthen Sense of Self

Anxiety is often rooted in a weakened sense of self, which can be buried in the unconscious because of our defenses. I like to use sand tray and drawing (Interactive Drawing Therapy) to draw it out because they are less threatening. For example, a person might have social anxiety because she thinks “People reject me because I am not likable. Therefore, I am worthless”. When the core of the insecurity is out in the open, we can then challenge it by using, for instance, self-compassion and counter evidence.

Fact or Thought?

Another useful idea is fact vs. thought from Action Commitment Therapy. For instance, if the core of what bothers a person is “I am useless”, I would encourage her/him to critically evaluate if this is a thought or a fact. If it is a thought (and most likely it is), we should just acknowledge it and let it go.

Is it within my control?

Quite often, we worry about things that are beyond our control. Especially these days when we are experiencing a pandemic, the control we have over this global disaster is limited. We cannot flatten the curve overnight in the world, and in NZ we cannot decide how long the border control will be and how many jobs are lost. But we can count our blessings, we can limit our time following news, and focus on the things we can control, like reading a good book and spending quality time with the children. When we think about it, we even influenced the curve in NZ by abiding to social distancing and lockdown. All the things that we can assert control over, gives us a sense of power and hope. Accepting the ones that we can’t, reduces anxiety.

What is underneath my Anxiety?

Anxiety is a secondary emotion, which means there is usually a primary emotion underneath anxiety. The function of anxiety here is to “protect” us from the more painful and uncomfortable feeling such as hurt, grief, and fear. Therapy can help to unearth these feelings in a safe environment where they can then be processed. When we can acknowledge and accept our deepest experience and emotions, we are less likely to be interfered by anxiety.

Untrap the Energy

Anxiety is believed to be a trapped energy. After unpacking the core of it, I sometimes facilitate releasing it by using chair work, for instance, talking to a relevant imagined person (such as a bullying manager) in an empty chair in the room. Clients often gain power and confidence through this process, and the tension is released.

Differentiate Yourself

Differentiation is another concept I advocate often, which is an indicator for maturity and psychological health. A new-born baby has no differentiation. They see their mothers as an extension of themselves. When we grow up, we start to develop differentiation, seeing ourselves as separate from others. No one is 100% differentiated. But the more differentiated we are, the less likely we are affected by how others perceive us. The more we see our worth independent of external judgements. This is powerful in freeing us from anxiety.

Secure Attachment

Anxiety can also be seen as a lack of security. A sense of secure attachment can be strengthened to reduce this. When I was starting my private practice, I was going through anxiety myself. When I lied in bed struggling to sleep at night, I asked myself what my fear was. It was “I am going to fail”. When I came to realize, “it is really a thought rather than a fact”, the anxiety eased. When I thought of my boys, their little faces, and the love between us, the anxiety lifted even more. I remembered how I used to sooth myself thinking about my dad when I was young. I am OK because my dad loves me. I am OK because my boys love me. This is unconditional no matter how “well” I am doing. I am safe and secure.

By Sherry Zhang Carter, Jan 2021

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Why Are Feelings the Heart of Therapy

I often come across clients who suddenly start to have panic attacks. On the surface they look very together and rational. It is beyond them why they would be hit by such anxiety.

The reason is they are in touch with their mind but not their feelings. They are fearful and avoidant of feelings, or see them as weak, silly or inconvenient. The very problem with this, is that feelings that get supressed over time will turn into anxiety, depression, and other issues. They are like balloons pushed under the water. The pressure will build.

Feelings can make us uneasy and uncomfortable. Children learn to avoid feelings from a very young age as they know it can cause tension within themselves. I still remember how my 5-year-old turned away when I asked how he felt when he had to change school. Adults know that too well. On top of that, the social learnings have taught them to be rational civilised reasonable humans who need to maintain a certain image. Over time, this image becomes not only for others but also for ourselves.

On the other hand, feelings are the most natural thing. They are a gift. They make us human. They bond us. My heart melts and my tears well up when I hear the emotions in a person’s story. We meet in a special place and healing happens. It is such a treasure.

Feelings also reveal important information. Anger may tell me my boundary has been crossed. Sadness may tell me to slow down and be gentle with myself. Hurt may say something about the other person, even more about myself, my inner child and my past. Feelings sing to my existence, on a heart level.

Carl Rogers, the founder of humanistic therapy approach, believes that empathy is “a healing agent and one of the most potent aspects of therapy”. Understanding and empathising the clients’ emotional experience can help them release, confirm that of their own, which is powerfully empowering. This just brought to mind the many times in couple work, when I ask how one person feels after being really listened to by the partner, they report “I feel loved”.

By Sherry Carter 23/8/2021

Sherry Zhang Carter