Hamish & Regina Webb

Co-Founders of Counsellors NZ

Counsellors.co.nz & Counsellors.nz are more than just counselling websites. They have a set of free self-reporting tools that helps users establish where they are emotionally, physically, and mentally and that information acts as a benchmark.

Mental Health, much like physical health, can be measured. We use scales or measuring tape to show us our progress when measuring physical health. In mental health, self-reporting things like how much we eat and sleep, how much we exercise, and how we think and feel.
It is good to have a reference point to check back on and see the progress made.
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine states that about 1 in 4 adults have a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year.
An article published on the Princeton University website states, “Worldwide, about 450 million people have a mental illness – this is equal to 1 in 4 people”. They also say 400 million are not receiving the treatment they need, and as much as 40% do not receive any treatment at all.
In New Zealand, there are almost four million adults, with approximately one million with mental illness.

Community services providing low cost or no cost counselling have long waiting lists, which does not help the issue because the longer people wait, the worse things get. Then when they do get seen, they are usually limited to a maximum number of sessions and need to take time off work for the sessions.
Private practice has no such limits, and many operate after hours, but private practice also has its disadvantages.
You usually get very little information before booking an appointment. Who is your counsellor, and how might they help with your problem? Private practice counsellors generally only offer clients a few available appointment times, meaning clients need to fit them in, rather than the other way around. Session time is valuable, and there is little to no value for the client to use the session time to discuss costs and rebook the next appointment.
Counsellors.co.nz, solves all of these issues. Clients are empowered to select a counsellor they want to work with at a time that works best. No wasting time negotiating the next appointment during the session, as clients rebook themselves through our automated booking system. Clients can have a free 15 minute chat with a counsellor before booking to see if counselling is a good fit for them and their situation. There are no waitlists, and clients are not limited by the number of sessions they can have.
Counsellors.co.nz was started by Hamish and Regina Webb during the pandemic. The platform specialises in Zoom counselling. It means counsellors save on office costs while everyone stays safe and gets the help they need.
The site co-founders, Hamish and Regina, are husband and wife; they have three children and celebrate 25 years of marriage this year. They are both trained counsellors. Regina specialises in relationship & conflict resolution counselling. Hamish specialises in caring for men, communication coaching, depression and anxiety issues.
Hamish and Regina both hold qualifications from the New Zealand Institute of Professional Counselling in Professional Counselling and Harvard Medical School in Psychedelic Assisted Psychotherapy.