Landa
Counselling & Meditation
My services
I am an experienced counsellor and trauma therapist,
specialised in using the body in therapeutic work. For those interested, I love to include mindfulness meditation and spirituality in my offering.
I am bilingual. If you prefer to speak Dutch, just let me know.
“Welcome to my website. I’d love to hear from you and discuss if and how I could support you. If you are left with any questions, please don’t hesitate to be in touch.”
Landa van den Berg
Counselling & Trauma Therapy
“The capacity to be vulnerable is what allows us to truly connect with ourselves, with others, and with life itself.”
(John Welwood)
As human beings we all encounter challenges in our life, big and small. Often we manage to get through with help from our loved ones. However, sometimes it can be useful to call on an outsider for support.
You may want to use our space together to find an independent sounding board, reflect on a dilemma you are facing, or find some tools to live your life with more ease.
It may also be the right time for you to seek healing from trauma or painful past events. Many of us carry wounding from the past and have found ways to ‘just keep going’ with life. However, allowing yourself to open to and process old pain can be deeply freeing. It can open new perspectives on who you truly are, so that you can live your life to its full potential.
If need be, I can help you in getting clarity about what you hope to achieve. If this involves longer term work, we will set goals together and regularly review our collaboration. In any case, you as a client are in charge. You should always feel free to decide yourself if and how you want to continue.
I support individuals of 18-years and older with a variety of life challenges, including trauma, developmental injuries, anxiety, depression, illness, grief and loss, major life transitions like immigration and relationship and work-related problems.
I aim at creating a welcoming and safe space for all, including folks from the rainbow community and those with physical impairments.
Please note, I currently do not accept ACC clients. My practice is also not set up to support clients with severe mental health issues, like personality disorders. I am happy to try to refer you to a colleague who supports clients with such issues.
My therapeutic approach
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy is the foundation of my approach. In this modality it is understood that the body holds its own wisdom. This can be accessed by carefully observing and experimenting with patterns of body tension, posture and movement.
Clients with for instance symptoms of anxiety, depression or grief, will find that paying attention to how their body is talking to them can offer a sense of insight and relief that cannot be achieved by ‘simply’ talking about what is going on.
Using the body as a portal to healing is especially important for those who have experienced trauma or childhood wounding. Neuroscience is showing that the body holds these painful memories at an unconscious level. This is why the impact of just sticking to the stories of the thinking mind is often limited, as that only uses a small part of the inner wisdom.
Together we will find gentle and safe ways to mindfully connect to the body and what it has to tell us. Integrating this with the wisdom of your mind and emotions will make lasting deep healing and change possible.
Some clients gain deep insights from working with their ‘inner child’ or ‘parts’, like the one who needs to please or hide. You can learn how to connect and have dialogues with the experiences of those younger versions of yourself. Over time this will help you to wholeheartedly step into your adult presence. This work is an integral part of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. I have received additional training from Janina Fisher, who has combined the insights from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Internal Family Systems.
For more information, please have a look at the website of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute.
Ultimately, every client is unique, so I do not believe in an ‘one size fits all’ approach. You may have your own preferences, and in collaboration we will find tools and techniques that work for you. This can include mindfulness practices for those interested.
My practice is guided by the Code of Ethics of the NZ Association of Counsellors. I have robust processes in place to safeguard the confidentiality of our work.
Buddhist guidance & meditation
If you are a Buddhist practitioner or interested in Buddhism, we may draw on Buddhism to inform our work together. We can integrate meditation practices like loving kindness or compassion. Life challenges can also be explored through a Buddhist perspective, for instance the deep understanding of impermanence or interdependence. Together we can find ways to weave in the beautiful ancient practices of wisdom, love and meditation with modern Western therapeutic understandings.
I am also a Buddhist meditation teacher. I can support you individually in case you want to engage in or deepen your Buddhist practice. You may also want to join regular sessions or retreats that I offer to the Wellington Insight Meditation community.
“Just as a bird needs two wings to fly,
so the practitioner needs the wings
of wisdom and love.”
(Tibetan saying)
About me
I am a body-centered counsellor and trauma therapist, working in private practice as well as for an agency supporting survivors of sexualised trauma.
In my previous professional life I worked more than 30 years as a management consultant and HR professional.
My professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Counselling, certificates in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for Trauma, Developmental Injuries and Trauma Informed Stabilisation Treatment through the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute and a Masters in Law.
I am Member registered with the NZ Association of Counsellors and receive ongoing training and supervision.
Buddhist practice is a major inspiration in my life. I am an authorised Buddhist teacher in the Western Insight Meditation tradition, with years of in-depth Buddhist meditation practice and study.
My partner and I moved to New Zealand in 2007 from the Netherlands and have since called Wellington home. Together with our two Siamese cats we live in beautiful Wadestown, Wellington.
Here to support you in navigating life
with body, heart and mind.
Let’s talk
I work in private practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays only.
For our sessions we meet in my very private Garden Room, in Wadestown, Wellington. There is free parking and easy bus access. Unfortunately my space is less accessible for those with walking difficulties.
If going out in nature is your preference, we can use my sheltered garden or meet in Otari Wilton Bush for a walking session.
For those out of town, or if you prefer not to meet in person for health reasons, sessions by Zoom is an alternative.
A counselling session lasts up to an hour and costs NZ$130, which you can transfer online after the session. For international rates, please contact me to discuss. Cancellations within 24 hours may be charged.
Individual Buddhist counselling and guidance is offered at the same rate. Group meditation and teaching sessions in the Wellington Insight Meditation community are dana (generosity) based.
In my experience the best work happens in a space of deeply personal encounters. Of course, this means that there needs to be a ‘click’ between us. If you want to, we can arrange a free of charge initial 20 minutes online meet-and-greet.
To find out if I can support you, please send a text to 021 985 334 or an email to hello@landa.nz.
Your view from the Garden Room
Credentials:
Portrait photos by: NatureinSync
Purple sky by: Ferdinand Stohr on Unsplash
Bubbles by: Alexander Grey on Unsplash
Cloudy sky by: Davies Design Studio on Unsplash
Buddha by: Olaf Scheffers on Unsplash
Landscape with sun by: John Fowler on Unsplash