Auckland Psychotherapy Professional

My name is Crispin Balfour and I work in general practice as a psychotherapist and psychoanalyst based in Point Chevalier, Auckland. I am a Registered Psychotherapist (PBANZ) and member of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists (NZAP) with a Certificate of Advanced Clinical Practice.

I work with individuals and couples, face-to-face, on the couch, in groups and online, practicing as Auckland Psychotherapy.

My work is grounded in psychoanalysis, as "... still the most coherent and intellectually satisfying view of the mind." (Eric Kandel, Neuroscientist and Nobel Prize Winner)

WHO DOES PSYCHOTHERAPY?

• Usually you start psychotherapy because you are struggling with some aspect of your life.

• People from all walks of life benefit from psychotherapy.

• You dont need any special knowledge to benefit, and your own experience of psychotherapy will be unique.

• It is not necessary to have something wrong with you.

• If you are interested in yourself as a person, you will be able to engage with psychotherapy.

• I work with you as a person, whatever your diagnosis or difficulties.

• Perhaps you simply want a greater sense of aliveness, to understand yourself better, to feel more human.

• The reasons you gave yourself for beginning psychotherapy may turn out not to be so important.

WHAT HAPPENS IN PSYCHOTHERAPY?

To begin with, we will make time to have an extended conversation over a couple of hours, to think about what you need and whether psychotherapy is the best option.

Then we might make times to meet together regularly over an extended period and for an agreed fee. Our meetings become something you can rely on and "lean into".

I allow you to set the agenda, and avoid imposing my own view. Sometimes this might make you anxious, but this is something we can think about together.

I listen carefully to what you have to say and how you are saying it, reading between the lines, as it were, for what is not spoken.

HOW DOES PSYCHOTHERAPY WORK?

Your mental and emotional health has laid down on what was inborn from birth by a course of development, both internal and through emotional contacts with external reality.

Patterns are formed and, although your mind, brain and personality remain extraordinarily plastic, once these patterns are unconscious, they can be hard to change - making your personality rigid in ways that are difficult and painful.

Psychotherapy uses the relationship between us to investigate the structure of your personality. Together we are able to make use of our remarkably human ability to allow one thing to stand for another, and over time you can make use of psychotherapy to radically transform yourself.

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a powerful approach to mental and emotional development which makes good use of our remarkably human ability to allow one thing to stand for another, and works with the unconscious forces that shape our lives.

I WORK WITH:

• Depression or loss
• Fear, Anxiety disorders, Anger issues
• Recovery from trauma or breakdown
• Mental illness or Cancer
• Difficulties with relationships.

WHETHER YOU ARE:

• An Individual
• A Couple
• In a Group
• Or Online

I also offer professional supervision to therapists, teachers, managers and artists (wherever understanding unconscious processes is key to the success of the practice).

I have over twenty years of experience working in private practice .

BACKGROUND AND TRAINING

My background includes working as an architect, actor, accountant, engineer and inventor. Always interested in what it means to be a human being, I studied buddhism for many years, explored psychodrama, taught at university, and directed theatre.

In 1995 I began training as a counsellor and then as a psychotherapist with the Institute of Psychosynthesis, where I went on to teach experiential groups for ten years.

In 2001 I discovered a passion for psychoanalytic theory and practice. Since then I have extensively studied psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy: I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in 2003 and a Masters in Psychoanalytic Studies in 2011. I have also pursued my own personal analyses which have been central to my training.

In 2006 I completed an Introductory Course in Group Analysis and have conducted psychotherapy groups since 2007. I am passionate about group process.

In 2005 I completed a Certificate in Supervision Practice. I am interested in bringing psychoanalytically oriented supervision to other disciplines, such as teaching, art, management and commerce.

Qualifications

• Member of New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists
• NZAP Certificate of Advanced Clinical Practice
• Registered Psychotherapist (PBANZ)
• Master of Psychoanalytic Studies
• Postgraduate Certificate in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
• NZ Introductory Course Group Analysis
• Diploma of Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy
• Diploma of Psychosynthesis Counselling
• Certificate in Clinical Supervision
• MA(Eng)Oxon; BArch