Newsletter
Newsletter
Newsletter
Newsletter
Newsletter
Newsletter
Newsletter
Whakarongo, whakarongo, whakarongo ki te tangi o te manu e karanga nei; tui, tui, tui, tuia
Listen to the cry of the birds calling for unity
Te Whare Hauora | Wellbeing Clinic
A wellbeing service with an environment-based approach
We're a mental health and wellbeing service for adults (18+) based at Pīwaiwaka Farm, Whanganui. We offer individual and group therapy services.
Our focus is on increasing accessibility for those who cannot normally afford private rates.
Services are funded through:
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ACC Sensitive Claims
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ACC Psychological Services
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EAP via Clearhead (through associated workplaces)
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Whanganui Regional Health Network (through associated GPs)
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Self-funding is also an option when space is available
Or email: clinic-admin@learningenvironment.nz
Read more about our practitioners and booking policies below
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Practitioners
Currently, we have one practitioner working two days per week, but we're planning to grow. Read more about our vision below
Sam O'Sullivan
Clinical Psychologist
Or email: clinic-admin@learningenvironment.nz
Sam’s practice is grounded in calmness, compassion, curiosity, and connection to the natural world. He integrates various approaches in therapy, adjusting them collaboratively to suit people’s needs.
He has over 10 years of experience working primarily with adults across different contexts: private practice, hospital, group therapy, workshops, and facilitation. Sam enjoys creative pursuits such as creating Tough Talk, a video series about men’s wellbeing in Aotearoa NZ, and currently works part-time as a product manager at Clearhead.
Sam identifies as Tangata Tiriti and has experience working with many people, including those who identify as LGBTQI+ and neurodiverse. He takes a trauma-informed and neuro-affirming approach.
Specialisations
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Adult mental health
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Social anxiety
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Mood issues
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Relationship issues
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Trauma
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Mindfulness
Therapy Modalities
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Eye Movement Desensitisation & Reprocessing (EMDR)
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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Booking Policies
Privacy
We respect your privacy and are committed to keeping your personal and health information safe.
We collect and store your personal and health information to enable us to provide health services. Your information is kept secure and only accessed by authorised staff. It can only be shared with your consent or where required by law. For example, if there is a serious risk to your safety or someone else’s.
You have the right to access and correct your information upon request. If you have any questions about your privacy, please contact us.
You can also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for more information about your rights.
Our practice management software has been generously donated by Zanda, which is ISO 27001 certified and HIPAA compliant, meaning your healthcare data is stored securely.
Cancellations
General bookings (not ACC)
You must provide at least 24 hours’ notice if you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment.
Missed appointments or late cancellations will result in the full session fee or the use of funded hours, except under extenuating circumstances such as a family or health emergency.
ACC's cancellation policy
ACC requires that you provide at least 2 working days' notice if you need to cancel or reschedule an appointment.
Complaints
You can read about your rights as a health consumer here.
Should you need to submit a complaint about our services, please email clinic-admin@learningenvironment.nz so we can connect you to the right complaints process for your referral pathway.
Vision
A wellbeing clinic within a supportive rōpū [group] and an educational landscape, where people are growing nutritious food and native forest systems. Individual and group services are delivered with an awareness of natural cycles and social factors, in a way that benefits te taiao [the environment] and, in turn, ourselves.
The clinic comprises a therapy cabin, with two therapy rooms and reception, alongside a yurt nestled beside regenerating wetland and a stream, surrounded by rākau rongoā [medicinal plants], walkways, and private outdoor seating.
Operating within the facility are registered health practitioners who are not solely focused on the absence of poor health; they’re facilitating flourishing wellbeing.
We aim to produce measurable health outcomes that will inspire Aotearoa New Zealand and the world to increasingly invest in this approach to health.
Please note, we are working toward this vision over the next 2-3 years and currently have the yurt available for bookings.
Our bicultural therapeutic approach was inspired by He Awa Whiria (Macfarlane et al., 2024; 2018; 2015) and then influenced locally by Tupua te Kawa (Whanganui Iwi, 2017). He Awa Whiria draws on the metaphor of braided rivers, with two interconnected streams meeting and parting ways on a riverbed, to describe a way for Mātauranga Māori and Western science to relate. Examples of meetings might be a waiata written to facilitate mindfulness or practising kapa haka as part of processing emotions in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
Many streams of our identity flow from five core puna [springs]: hinengaro [mind], tinana [body], whānau [family/community], wairua [spirtuality/world views], and taiao [environment]. These are based on the four walls of Sir Mason Durie’s Te Whare Tapa Whā model (1984) with the addition of taiao from the Meihana Model (Pitama et al., 2007). The philosophy of this approach has also been informed by social-ecological thinking (such as Macy & Seed, 1985; Roszak, 1992; Bateson, N., 2017; Key and Tudor, 2023), which connects environmental, social, and emotional issues to the dominant worldviews of our time.
The therapeutic approach is as fluid as the wai [water] it represents; the streams are shaped through many pūrakau [narratives] and models. Practitioners draw on this way of thinking during assessment to collaboratively identify where the streams meet and integrate their expertise, focusing treatment on key pressure points.
He puna wai!
He puna ora!
He puna tawhito!
Tihei, mauri ora!
E kī ana te kōrero o ngā tūpuna o te awa…
“Ko te awa tupua te mātāpuna o te ora, o ngā whenua me ngā tāngata kātoa,
Mai i te Kāhui Maunga ki Tangaroa”
Nō reira, kei te mihi.
E rere kau ana ngā wai o Tauararoa ki roto i te awa nui.
Ko ēnei wai, e karapotia i ngā puke tapu, ngā puke kōrero o te tāngata o Ngā Paerangi me Ngā Rauru hoki.
Nō reira, mō ēnei mea kia honohono mai, ka tupu ana te tūranga i o mātou kaupapa.
Ko te mea tuatahi! He oranga, he oranga!
O ngā mea kātoa, o ngā piringa! Tēnei anō te mihi.
Hui e tāiki e.
A font of water!
A font of life!
A font of ancients!
The breath of life!
The saying of the ancestors of the River states…
“The River is the source of life from which the lands and the people draw, from the mountain to the sea”
In short, we acknowledge.
The waters of Tauararoa flow freely into the greater river.
These waters are encircled by the sacred and storied hills of the people of Ngā Paerangi and Ngā Rauru also.
These factors combined together, form this foundation for our purpose…
The main focus of which is wellbeing!
For all these reasons and all these connections, we give thanks and acknowledge.
We gather and consolidate!
Collaborators
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Rochelle Bullock, Rongoā Practitioner, Partner
Rochelle and the Te Kopere clinic are partnering with The Learning Environment to deliver ACC Sensitive Claims groups.
They offer traditional Māori healing: rongoā rakau, mirimiri, romiromi, and honohono passed down by kaumatua for all generations.
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Geoffrey Hipango, Cultural Supervisor
Geoff is a community leader at Te Ao Hou Marae, has been a manager and social worker in community mental health and addictions, and serves as Māori Ward on the Whanganui District Council
Joseph Barber, Cultural Advisor
Joseph is a local artist/designer from the awa (Ngā Paerangi) who works at The Learning Environment designing, facilitating, and teaching courses.
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