1. Home >
  2. Professional Groups >
  3. Mental Health

Our Mental Health service within Auckland DHB offers a diverse range of services to children, adolescents and adults through inpatient, outpatient, home and community settings both locally and regionally. 

Our services are provided via passionate and highly skilled multi-disciplinary teams which include psychiatrists, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, social workers and many other psychiatric experts.

Our mission statement we live by is that we provide evidence based clinical interventions and supports that are culturally responsive, consumer focussed, acceptable and accessible to the population we serve. Our services will strive to achieve constant improvement in the standards of consumer care, management and education.

We’re extremely fortunate to have an extremely engaged and collaborative team, who through their diverse skills and expertise create an inclusive open environment for our clients and their whanau. We’re at the centre of an exciting period of innovation and development as are move increasingly into partnership with other providers such as General practice, and building our relationship further with NGOs.

Some of the things we’re proud of:

  • Mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) program for our people: Our programme started in 2014, with one location. After seeing the positive impact this programme had, we extended to all our Mental Health Services. We’ve have had 20 eight-week courses and 263 staff members participate in the training to date. This incredible initiative was a finalist in the 2016 ADHB Health Excellence Awards.

  • We have two new graduate intakes (NESP) per year, Nursing and Allied Health (Click here for more information on NESP Nursing) and Click here for more information on NESP Allied Health. These programmes enable our graduates to undertake the NESP programme so they can work confidently and competently within mental health. We take pride in the being able to offer permanent employment to our new graduates in a range of secondary and tertiary specialist mental health services. 

  • Psychotherapy is a well-established profession within Auckland DHB, with a history spanning more than 40 years. There are strong links in place with the training institution and an active student placement programme that is currently being expanded across secondary and tertiary mental health services as a pipeline to future employment and a sustainable workforce.  Our specialist psychotherapy service, Rauaroha – is a tertiary psychotherapy service that specialises in treatment for individuals with significant and often long enduring psychological problems. 

The only eating disorder service in NZ to include this programme

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is the best evidence based therapy for the treatment of complex emotionally deregulated service users who are at risk of deliberate self-harm or suicide.

It consists of a group programme and individual therapy. We have one of the longest running programmes in Australasia. Our team are trained by the organisation founded by the originator of the treatment Marsha Linehan.

We are the only eating disorder service in NZ to include this programme.

Clinical research training fellowship

Optimising parent-child interaction therapy

A clinical research training fellowship was received by Dr Melanie Woodfield

To investigate Optimising parent-child interaction therapy for childhood conduct problems.

Some children have challenging behaviour that lasts beyond the ‘terrible twos’ and begins to have serious consequences, with difficulties that continue into adulthood. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a unique training programme for parents of young children with conduct problems.

This project aims to explore the effectiveness of the existing intervention in the ‘real world’ of New Zealand child mental health services, by looking at data from families who have completed the programme, and to explore how more families in need can be offered the intervention.

A small investment in young children with challenging behaviour can pay significant dividends in later years – for the child, their family, and for society.

Providing the best in cultural and clinical practice

Our Cultural Services

Tena Koutou. Manawanui

Our Māori Mental Health and Addictions service, providing the best in cultural and clinical practice for whai i te ora in both inpatient and community settings. Our treatment is further enhanced by the presence of Marae facilities on both inpatient and community sites, which each offer their own resident kaumatua, thus promoting an unique treating and learning environment.

At Manawanui we can provide you a unique cultural and clinical learning experience to develop your career in Maori Mental Health and Addictions treatment and care. Nga Mihi.

Lotofale

Pacific greetings… Kia orana, Talofa, Malo e lelei, Fakalofa lahi atu, Bula vinaka

Lotofale is a Pacific Specialist Service in Mental Health which encompasses the clinical and cultural elements of care that embraces and responds to our Pacific people’s needs.

We offer you a whole career

With Auckland DHB, Mental Health & Addiction Services we cover the full range of inpatient and community services across the ages, we can provide experiences in a variety of clinical settings including training and experiences in inpatient MH Rehab, DBT, Psychotherapy, Eating disorders, cultural services for Māori and Pacifica and Early Intervention.

We support your career development in mental health, giving you opportunities to advance your career through a clinical education or managerial pathway.

We'd love to hear from you, reach out to Jimmy Mathews today on 09 307 4949 using extension 26064 or jimmy.mathews@adhb.govt.nz

Check out our current openings