Support services and advisors

We provide support and advisory services to people using our mental health service. These include whānau (family) advice, support for Māori, a lived experience team, and a chapel and spiritual therapy services.

On this page

Lived experience team

Our lived experience team is made up of people who have had first-hand experience with a mental health or addiction service.  

Our team supports you to:

  • participate in and use mental health and addiction services
  • make sure the services you receive are focused on your recovery and that you are fully involved in your care and treatment
  • make sure your rights are respected.

We work to make sure the views of people using MHAIDS services  and their whānau are included in the way services are planned, run and evaluated. 

We also work with you and the wider community to help make improvements to services. 

Our team members

All members of our team bring real life experience of using mental health services to our roles. We have a range of skills, experience, and qualifications that we can use to support you while you are using the service.  

Peer advocacy

The MHAIDS lived experience team does not provide an advocacy service. If you need advocacy, you can contact the peer advocacy service Ka Puta Ka Ora Emerge Aotearoa.

Peer services —Emerge Aoteroaexternal link

Support for Māori patients and whānau

Our mental health services are guided by a Māori kaumatua kaunihera (elders council). They advise us on tikanga to best support our Māori tangata whaiora (patients) and our kaimahi.

The kaunihera meets every month and works to:

  • support our service to meet our obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi
  • guide and advise us on our strategies, policies and operations
  • support or assist kaimahi, tangata whaiora and their whānau directly as requested
  • support and advise clinicians on tikanga.

In many cases our kaumatua or kuia will refer whānau to their local mana whenua to support them on any areas of concern.

The kaunihera can also provide support to the Pacific matua (cultural advisor) and clinicians on culturally sensitive support for Pacific people using our service.

Family advisors

People are more likely to recover well when whānau are involved. This means it is important for us to support whānau as well as the person person receiving treatment.

Our family advisors:

  • work with clinical staff and management to make sure our services include whānau
  • help improve the way our services communicate with whānau
  • represent the whānau voice at all levels of our organisation and across all services
  • make sure we work in partnership with whānau when working to improve our services
  • talk with other organisations to make sure MHAIDS services reflect the diverse whānau who are supporting someone using our services. 

Spiritual services

Therapists

Spiritual pastoral therapists provide spiritual support to people and their whānau of any religion or spiritual belief. Support is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Spiritual Pastoral Therapists also run clinical pastoral education courses for people using our services.

Chapel

The chapel on the Rātonga-Rua-O-Porirua Mental Health Campus is open to all.

Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 9am and 4pm.

A chapel service is held at 9:30am on Sundays.

The chaplains are Rev Canon Kath MacLean and Rev Amy Finiki.

Rev Canon Kath MacLean:

Rev Amy Finiki: