Amanda Cox

Amanda Cox
MHSc Psychotherapy (Hons);
Grad Dip Psych; RNComp;
Registered Psychotherapist

I grew up in the Manawatu – my father was from the UK and my mother 4th generation New Zealander. I am the youngest of 4 children. After leaving school I spent a year in the USA as an exchange student followed by a year back in my home-town studying for a tourism diploma, and then a year in Queenstown working in customer service. I waitressed (not very well) and worked as a sales assistant for Rodd and Gunn. In the mid 1990s I moved back to the Manawatu where I trained as a Registered Nurse.

I trained in a variety of areas but I especially enjoyed mental health and my first paid job as an RN was in Wellington working with long-term mental health inpatients and helping them to integrate back into the community. The work was very rewarding and provided me with a useful foundation for my future work in the mental health world.

After travelling to the UK and working for both private and public healthcare systems in mental health and oncology, I returned to New Zealand and spent the following six years working in medical recruitment. During that time I also began studying for my Masters in Psychotherapy.

As part of my Masters internship I worked at a well-established counselling and psychotherapy centre in Epsom. Alongside my study I also worked at AUT as a group clinical supervisor for mental health diploma students, as well as tutoring for students taking a first level psychology paper. After graduating I worked as a case manager whilst also running my own small private psychotherapy practice.  In 2008 I joined the NZ AIDS Foundation providing psychotherapy services. This was a valuable experience and I loved working with the team there but after 2 years I went on maternity leave and had my first child. When I returned to work I chose to go back to private practice and together with Jon Hay, setup Auckland City Therapy. I enjoy my role as a counsellor and psychotherapist and I work with individual men and women.