“Lea provided a very safe space within which to talk. She allowed pauses to be thoughtful and reflective in such a way that pauses were an important part of my thought process. Lea showed that she listened carefully to what I said, as she often referred back to points I had made and was able to weave those points back into the conversation. Lea helped me to feel how my body reacts and where my body reacts. This has proved incredibly helpful outside the counselling sessions and has made me far more aware of my stress and anxiety levels and how to help myself.”
Ali Davis
“Lea has respectfully offered a journey of self-discovery to live more mindfully. Every session with Lea offers insights and approaches to understand where I’ve come from and where I want to go in life. This has been challenging, but rewarding, made easier thanks to Lea’s respectful and mindful approach.”
Jo Ladley
“I recently met with Lea for one-on-one counselling sessions over an 8-week period and found the experience to be very helpful and positive. Lea’s warmth and empathy created a safe and trusting environment where I felt I was being listened to and understood. My feelings were validated without any form of judgement, and I was comfortable enough to talk with complete honesty. I left with practical strategies from Lea which I now use in everyday life.”
Alex Kett
“I found Lea incredibly caring, and she always made an effort to understand me and challenged me in ways that worked for me. I would have no hesitation to recommend her for anybody that I care about. I cherish the time I had with Lea; she is a very caring person who has great tools to help others.”
Odette Watson
“Lea is a warm and accepting counsellor whose style made me feel entirely safe during our online sessions. I was encouraged to lead with what felt meaningful for me to explore at the time, supported by Lea to navigate whatever came up. This approach led me to new insights that have since supported me in managing my work and relationship challenges. I would highly recommend Lea to others.”
P. Brown
“Reaching out to Lea 11 months ago was one of the best decisions I have made as I was going through a personal crisis. Lea's compassionate and objective guidance using Hakomi online Psychotherapy techniques is helping me regain confidence, and to make better decisions in my life.”
Donna Gough
“I am extremely fortunate to have had a series of psychotherapy sessions with Lea. She is a sensitive, empathetic and professional therapist who really helped me cope with my family background, medical history and life experiences in a positive way. I feel privileged to have started this ongoing process with Lea who used her knowledge of psychotherapy and deep understanding of mindfulness to provide me with the tools I needed to become more accepting and positive. I strongly recommend Lea Godfrey as a psychotherapist.”
Margaret
“I had several sessions with Lea and I am very grateful for her warm and caring support on my journey of self-discovery. Lea helped me to understand and accept different parts of myself by gently guiding me into areas of my body where I was feeling the emotions and the overwhelm. The safe and trusting environment allowed me to open up and explore the uncomfortable and painful places inside myself with compassion and love. The Hakomi approach was a wonderful tool to turn inwards and become aware of the wealth of information stored in our bodies. Lea is full of compassion and wisdom and after each session, I felt truly heard, accepted, and much lighter in myself.”
Isabel Law
“My continuous failed attempts over 30 years to overcome bulimia led me in the past year to online psychotherapy with Lea. I’ve found Lea to be completely non-judgemental and shows genuine care and concern. Her gentle guidance through the felt sense in the body to core issues has led to real changes in my life. I am still a work in progress, but I am no longer controlled by a very entrenched addiction. I have freedom and choices now and food no longer consumes my life.”
Jo
“I found the MBCT course enjoyable and informative. Lea was authentic and very knowledgeable. My ability to be able to cope with situations that used to rattle me has increased dramatically. I have more presence; awareness and I feel more grounded and connected to myself.”
Michael Vandenhoek
“Lea’s guidance through the MCBT programme has been invaluable in personalising strategies to best suit my needs and circumstances. Her willingness to be flexible with dates and times has made it possible for me to do the course amidst huge change. That has been much appreciated because MBCT practice is enabling me to navigate this season in my life with relative ease. It is making a significant difference.”
Debbie
“I have been fortunate to enjoy 8 sessions of Mindfulness training with Lea Godfrey. Her approach has always been gentle and respectful. I have learnt strategies to enable me to function more calmly when faced with stressful situations in my everyday life.”
F L Taylor
“Thanks so much again for a life changing 8 weeks. This practice is changing the relationship I have with myself, my thoughts, feelings and my actions and transforming the way I relate to and connect with the world (environment and people) around me every day in surprising ways.”
Samantha Vandenhoek
“I have been lucky enough to have been working with Lea for nearly six months. I started seeing Lea as part of my battle with cancer. Not only is this disease physically demanding, the mental toll is very taxing as well. The work I have done so far with Lea has been a key factor in me keeping my mental state in good health.
I was diagnosed in May 2018 and the road has been hard. Where I struggled most, was the extreme “high’s and low’s” I was having in my battle with cancer. Lea has helped me take more control of the present and that has allowed me to have a much more balanced experience with life (& death). I can honestly say Lea has helped me in the direction I had been trying for but couldn’t find on my own, and the tools I have learnt from her are helping me stay on that path. Thanks Lea!”
Jason Walling
“I always used to judge myself based on what thoughts I had. I spent a lot of time thinking about the past. Now I know that thoughts are not facts and that bad feelings can come from thoughts that simply aren’t true. I have the power to view thoughts from a different angle and choose whether to engage with the thought or tell it to go away. I also have the power to choose my reactions to situations.”
India Carr
“I was quite nervous to start the course but after finishing the last week of training I was so glad I did. It definitely wasn’t easy but with Lea’s great teaching I was starting to see real benefit in the practise by the end of week 8. I would recommend MBCT to anyone who wants a better understanding of their mind and to gain the ability to choose how they react in uncomfortable situations.”
Cory Mitchell
“It was an enriching experience in which I not only learnt to better understand some things about myself and the importance of accepting them, but also how meditation and breathing exercises can help us become more mindful about daily activities and also help prepare for or cope with difficulties which can arise. It was really good to work in a small group and realise that we all have different lives and cope with problems in different ways, sharing was an important part of the course, but the most importance was acceptance of oneself and others.”
Margaret Dempsey
"I have learnt so much about myself, my trigger points and how I can balance my life out and enjoy the moment and to be able to control the mind which previously was constantly running on overdrive."
Julia Macklen
“Strengthened my Mindfulness practice. Equipped me with tools to deal with problems.”
Net Creagh
“[A] reminder what I enjoyed from the original course. Got me back on track to mediate regularly. Got me back on track in mindful thinking about everyday activities.”
Jacqui Robertson
“The easy, non-judgemental manners of Lea. She is learned, experienced, yet humble and relatable. She does not pretend to be bulletproof and offers realistic strategies that I am able to implement.”
San P
“The Introduction course is excellent and a real game changer for me.”
Fiona Kirk
“Clearly Lea has a passion for the subject and so is limited to the ‘introductory’ requirements. Lea's ability to reflect on what participants say and to bring it to context was very helpful.”
Shelly Rotherham
TE RUNANGA O NGAI TAHU Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu
“Most importantly the content that was covered was relatable for staff and they came away with practical Mindfulness strategies they could use in everyday life. Staff were surveyed and all had nothing but positive words for the training that Lea provided and can’t wait for the next session!”
Christina Johnston, HR
ANZCAL – Australia and New Zealand Coaching Alliance
“We engaged Lea Godfrey to run a short professional development session (3hrs) for our members. This focused on 'Mental Well-being' and how mindfulness and meditation can help for coaches and when coaching others. She provided a good informative overview on the topics and used guided meditations to deepen our learning. It was well received by our members.”
Paul Walmsley, joint founder of ANZCAL
CASPA NZ LTD – Creative After School Programmed Activities
“Lea Godfrey facilitated a 1.5 hours training session for the CASPA staff. She was very engaging and made the team feel comfortable in this new experience. The introduction to mindfulness training was well received by all. This is something I would highly recommend to any business as a group session or individually.”
Rachel Simons, Operations Manager.
ALLFREY + SOUTH ARCHITECTS LTD
“Lea facilitated our introduction to Mindfulness training (2hrs) and although we were a little unsure what to expect, Lea put us at ease with her professional, calming and personable demeanour. Our team appreciated that the session didn’t require any prior experience with mindfulness which made us all feel comfortable and confident to fully participate. We would happily recommend Lea’s training to other businesses looking for a way to reduce stress and increase productivity in their workplace.”
About Lea
Lea is a registered Psychotherapist (PBANZ) and has a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Psychology, is certified in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, and is a certified Buddhist chaplain.
She has extensive experience using mindfulness, cognitive behavioural skills and psychotherapy for depression, anxiety, workplace stress, burnout and general mental health. With a special interest in loss, grief, and end of life counselling, Lea also runs Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy groups for the general public and workplaces, along with coaching individuals in the MBCT programme.
Lea considers it a privilege and joy to be able to share in another's personal journey towards wholeness, she looks forward to hearing from you.
Contact1>
If you would like to discuss counselling, psychotherapy or MBCT sessions, or to request a proposal for workplace training, please contact Lea via email or telephone:
Telephone
+64 (0)21 182 0969
Or simply complete the form below: