Clinical Teams
People like you mean that we can help former refugees thrive as kiwis!Mangere Clinical Team
Mangere Clinical Team
The Mangere Clinical Team is based at the Te Āhuru Mōwai o Aotearoa, where all newly-arrived UN Quota refugees acclimatise for 5 weeks upon arrival to New Zealand.
Trauma, family separation, cultural differences, and ongoing struggles in countries of origin are examples of stressors which often impact many former refugees. These dynamic and contextual struggles can thwart adjustment to settlement.
RASNZ offers culturally-sensitive, trauma informed mental health services to all incoming refugees to meet individual needs.
Our holistic team which includes talking therapists, body therapists, psychiatrists, cross-cultural facilitators, work alongside interpreters to:
- Introduce the concept of mental wellbeing to all residents at Te Āhuru Mōwai o Aotearoa
- Identify and assess mental health concerns,
- Provide 1:1 counselling and group based activities for settlement containment,
- Assess and review psychiatric and pharmacological needs,
- Utilise body therapy to assist with the mind-body duality of trauma experiences,
- Deliver health promotion programmes,
- Make onward referrals to settlement regions for clients with ongoing complex trauma needs.
“I came to New Zealand as a refugee from Kurdistan, Iraq. Life as a refugee is not easy, regardless of which country you come from or where you land. Almost twenty years after arrival in New Zealand, I still identify with the refugee journey. Working at RASNZ gives me the sense that I can make a difference. Through my work as an interpreter, I give hope to refugees – the hope that, through hard work and finding your voice, dreams can become your reality.”
“In my country, they believe women are not supposed to go to school. Women are supposed to grow up, get married, get children—that’s it! That’s your life. With RASNZ Mobile Team’s help, I started in Level 2 English language classes. Yes, it’s only level 2…but oh my god, I am better! I can write. I can read. I love it! RASNZ helped me understand I can be anything I want to be in New Zealand.”
Mobile Clinical Team
The RASNZ Community Clinical Team works throughout the Auckland Metropolitan region, providing short-, medium-, and (occasional) long-term therapeutic support for people of refugee background. We offer a mobile service for clients who cannot visit our Onehunga location.
Our lived experience Cultural support teams work alongside clinicians to deliver a trauma-informed, culturally appropriate holistic service. At RASNZ, we strive to language-match our clinicians or utilise our highly skilled, lived, experienced interpreters to provide the best outcomes for clients.
Anyone from a refugee background can self-refer. General referral pathways include schools, GPs, police, lawyers, community mental health services, and other agencies and NGOs. All Community Clinical Team services are free, with funding provided by Te Whatu Ora.
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