Erin Zhai - Registered Psychologist

你好! Kia ora! I'm Erin, a Registered Psychologist with a wealth of experience supporting individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds. I understand that life can often feel overwhelming, and it's easy to get caught up in unhelpful patterns of thinking, behaviour, and how we relate to ourselves and others. These patterns can lead to challenges such as mood issues, self-doubt, guilt, shame, or even substance use as a way to escape emotional pain. In such moments, therapy can offer a path to greater clarity, self-awareness, and new strategies for navigating life’s complexities.

I have worked in a variety of settings including NGO disability services, the Department of Corrections, and the education sector. I've worked with a broad range of people—children, youth, adults, individuals with offending backgrounds, neurodiverse people, as well as immigrants and refugees. I am also dedicated to community involvement, having volunteered in projects that support neurodiverse children through group programs.

I am fluent in both Mandarin and English, and I bring a culturally sensitive approach to all the work I do.

Expertise

• Depression and mood

• Anxiety, stress and burnout

• Neurodiversity

• ACC sensitive claim

• Relationship/interpersonal issues

• Trauma, PTSD, complex Trauma

• Intellectual disability, Neurodiversity and Behavioural challenges

• Parenting work – neurodiverse children, immigrant families

• Cultural adjustment issues

Therapy approaches

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

• Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Schema Therapy

• Certified Circle of Security (COS) facilitator

• Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
  

Qualifications

• Masters of Science in Psychology (Distinction), The University of Auckland

• Post Graduate Diploma of Arts in Psychology (Merit) , The University of Auckland

• Post Graduate Diploma of Practice Psychology, Waikato University

• Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Linguistics, The University of Auckland
  

Memberships

• New Zealand Psychologist Board Registered Psychologist

• Member of New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPS)