About Me
David Gaze
Bachelor's Degree - Counselling
IFS Therapist (IFSI Level 1)
ACC Counsellor
Provisional Member, NZCCA
I became a therapist so I can help people heal and develop into who they want to be (or the best version of themselves). I am passionate about being as effective as possible as a therapist, so that when you are prepared for the next step in your healing/growth journey, it can be as efficient, empowering, and painless as possible.
I am Christchurch based with an office in Shirley. I offer online counselling too.
It can be hard to find a therapist that understands you and can help you get to where you want to be. This is why I offer the first session free, so we can figure out if we are a good match.
Therapeutic approach
My approach to therapy is grounded in understanding of relationships, memory, trauma and dissociation, attachment wounds, different parts of the personality - and how these can be healed. I use an integrative approach which brings together practices from Internal Family Systems (IFS), Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR), body-based approaches, Imagery, and Flash (Four blinks version), while being supported by Person-Centred and Narrative counselling skills.
I am currently also training in relational psychotherapy.
Going deeper
Often, many difficulties such as anxiety, depression, feeling stuck, or isolation, relate back to earlier experiences. In counselling, I can help you to understand your unique experience and context, and then we can figure out together the best way to work toward resolution, maybe trying several different things until we find what clicks for you. This can often transform the initial problem.
e.g. Anxiety related to the earthquakes - once the traumatic memories of the earthquakes are healed/resolved, the anxiety that resulted from them often also resolves, or at least reduces significantly. This means that instead of only offering some ways of managing the symptom (anxiety), I also offer ways of resolving the underlying cause (the unresolved memories).
This applies to the majority of emotionally distressing experiences and patterns from the past.