Counselling services

Our counsellors offer support for study and personal issues to help you achieve your goals.

Ngā Kaiwhiriwhiri

Confidential counselling is offered free to all MIT students - in person or over the phone from our on-campus counsellors and also online or by phone through the Pūawaitanga service.

Counsellors are registered, professional, experienced, and come from diverse backgrounds. They ensure we offer you the best level of care and a high standard of practice.

All information and any details you share with our counsellors are kept fully confidential.

Some of the things counsellors can help with include:
  • Study-related issues
  • Anxiety
  • Loss and grief
  • Depression
  • Stress
  • Loneliness
  • Homesickness
  • Relationship issues
  • Gender concerns
  • Eating disorders
  • Substance abuse

On-campus counselling - in person and by phone

Making an appointment

For all information, inquiries or to make an appointment, please use the contact details below. You can also drop into the Ask Me! Student Services centres or the counselling team offices between the hours of 8.30am-4.30pm to book a 30-60 minute session. If you don’t have an appointment but need to see a counsellor urgently, we will arrange a time as soon as possible.

We also offer counselling sessions via phone for when it's difficult to get into our offices. This service is also available when MIT campuses and facilities are closed for COVID-19 or other health and safety measures. As with all our counselling sessions, these are free and confidential.

Contact details

MIT Ōtara: Dilworth Building, NA Block, Gate 12, Ōtara Road, Ōtara.

MIT Manukau: Enquire at Floor 2 Reception.

counsellors@manukau.ac.nz

(09) 968 8072

Support outside of office hours

Our commitment to you as our client
  • Provide a safe, trusting environment
  • See you on your own or with support people
  • Treat what you say in a respectful and confidential manner
  • Listen actively to what you say and give clear and honest feedback
  • Provide a range of responses and strategies
  • Be sensitive to your values and culture
  • Respect your freedom to choose. You can choose which counsellor you see and you can choose to end the counselling relationship at any time
  • Arrive at a mutual agreement about the goals of counselling and its duration
  • Refer you to a more suitable agency if appropriate.

Pūawaitanga - online and phone counselling

Alo i ou faiva - Own your journey

Puāwaitanga means to blossom, to flourish, to break through, and is a free phone and web-based alternative to face to face counselling for students who are struggling but face challenges in accessing traditional counselling.

To be eligible:
  • a person must be a current MIT Student, in New Zealand and over 18 years old.
  • Students will be asked for Student ID number to confirm they are an enrolled student.
How appointments work
  • Sessions  can be held any time between 9am – 9pm (and outside these times as needed) - Puāwaitanga will ‘move mountains’ to work around your schedule.
  • You complete an enrolment questionnaire, choose your counsellor and book an initial appointment, all via the Puāwaitanga patient portal.
  • In your first appointment you will talk with the counsellor about what you would like to achieve, come up with a plan on how to achieve these and discuss how many sessions you may need to attend do this.
  • Over the course of the programme the counsellor and you work together to identify strategies to achieve your goals and increase your wellbeing.
  • The first and final sessions are 45 minutes and the other sessions in between are 30 minutes.

Services are offering in the following languages: Te Reo Māori, English, Samoan, Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Fiji Hindi, French, Malay, Indonesian, Tamil, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, German, Gaelige, Welsh, Croatian.

Making an appointment

Students can book appointments online or call 0800 782 999 through self-referral service.

Book at Pūawaitanga

You can find out more about the services we provide here: