Te Whare Awhero - Hope House
Building Hope
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Whanau
We are established in the knowledge that we do not stand alone.
Community
We stand with our community.
People
We value people and meet everyone with love where they are at.
Integrity
We bring honesty, openness, professionalism, and ethical practice in all that we do.
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1/413 Main South Road, Hornby, Christchurch 8042
PO Box 16451 Hornby, Christchurch 8441
Te Whare Awhero (Hope House), originally known as Hornby Presbyterian Community Trust, is motivated to bring hope to those who are facing life’s challenges, help empower them in achieving tino rangatiratanga and enrich the community with manaakitanga to positively influence a society where people can mutually uplift one another.
Te Whare Awhero (Hope House) grew from Hope Church and has been providing community and social services in Hornby and the Greater Southwest of Christchurch for over 30 years.
We provide affordable counselling, community development, as well as child and family support services.
Whatever challenges you are facing, we all need support. But reaching out for support takes courage, and willingness to work hard to create change in your life. When you are ready to make that step, we are here to provide that support through counselling.
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Your counsellor can help you find tools that might help you navigate the challenges you are dealing with. They are someone unbiased, who may help you understand another perspective, or help you better understand yourself and what may be underlying the problems you experience. They can provide both support and accountability as you work together through challenges, and work toward any goals you may have.
At Te Whare Awhero, all our counsellors are qualified and professionally registered. We have provided counselling services in South-West Christchurch for more than 30 years, as part of our overarching purpose of building hope in our community. We have removed financial barriers to accessing support through our subsidised, sliding payment scale.
How can counselling help?
Through counselling, we can provide tools and support to help you through personal challenges, including anger, stress and burnout, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, fear, guilt or shame, self-esteem and body image, trauma or PTSD, and thoughts of self harm or suicide.
We can provide support navigating relationships, including those with parents, children or teens, in the workplace, or within wider social settings. We can provide couples counselling or individual support navigating intimate relationships, including support through a separation or divorce.
We can support you through challenging events in life, including grief and loss, trauma, medical or health challenges, pregnancy or post-natal depression, parenting, relationship breakdowns, social issues, workplace challenges, or navigating significant changes in your life.
Some challenges may require support beyond the scope of what we can provide, or outside the expertise of your counsellor. In that case, we help to connect you with a person or service that can help.
Our counsellors
Our counsellors are all fully qualified, and professionally registered. Each counsellor has their own skill set and follows their own style of counselling. It’s important that your counsellor is the right fit for you, so you can build trust and a strong connection.
You can read more about our counsellors, their backgrounds and philosophies in their profiles below. You can request a specific counsellor, although their availability may vary.
Or get in contact with us here, let us know your needs and what you’re looking for through counselling, and we can connect you with the counsellor we believe may be the best fit for you.
Book A Session - https://tewhareawhero.org/adult-counselling-contact
Session Fees - https://tewhareawhero.org/counselling-fees
What to expect at a session - https://tewhareawhero.org/what-to-expect-at-your-session
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Coming in for counselling can be intimidating, especially if it is your first time. Here’s what you can expect when you book a session with one of our counsellors.
How long are sessions?
Our sessions are usually 50 minutes to an hour. For children, we keep our sessions shorter, at 45 minutes.
What is the purpose of a counselling session?
That is up to you. Some people have very specific goals they want to achieve through counselling, and are looking for support around a challenging situation, a crisis, a goal or an event. If that’s you, your counsellor can offer specific advice and support as you navigate the situation.
Others are looking for more open-ended support, perhaps needing someone to talk to to feel understood, while others may be looking to improve their quality of life, to understand themselves or their relationships better, or to overcome more long-running challenges. If that’s you, your counsellor can support you to find a path forward.
Either way, our first sessions are focused on getting to know you and what your hopes are for counselling, and working together with your counsellor to find a way forward.
How is counselling more valuable than just talking with a friend?
Your counsellor is someone unbiased, with no previous assumptions about you, your relationships or your situation. They can help you see another perspective, and provide support without strings attached.
Your counsellor can also help you find tools that might help you navigate the challenges or situations you are dealing with. They may help you understand another perspective, or help you better understand yourself and what may be underlying the problems you experience. They can provide both support and accountability as you work together toward your hopes or goals.
How frequent are sessions, and how many sessions will I need?
That is also up to you. We usually recommend sessions start weekly, in order to build the supportive connection with your counsellor and allow the flow of the work to develop and grow, with relevance to your life. Sessions could also be fortnightly or monthly, as your schedule allows.
We would usually recommend six to ten sessions, but that can also vary depending on your hopes for the sessions. Throughout the process we review and evaluate how it’s going, and adapt our approach based on your needs.
Can I ask for a different counsellor after I start my sessions?
Absolutely. Each counsellor has their own skill set, and follows their own style of counselling. It’s important that their style is the right fit for you, and that you can build trust and a strong connection, in order to get the most out of the counselling process.
It is your right to ask for a different counsellor at any point during the process, for any reason. We will do our best to accommodate any requests, although this may come with delays or require changes to booked session times etc.
Are the things I talk about kept confidential?
The relationship between you and your counsellor is a confidential one, and your privacy is protected both by law and by our strict policies designed to guard your privacy and the things you choose to share.
Your counsellor will take notes, but no sessions are recorded without your written consent. Everything you speak about with your counsellor is kept strictly confidential, with the only exception being if your counsellor believes disclosing information could prevent a serious threat to your life or health, or that of someone else, or a threat to public health or safety.
What kind of issues can counselling help with?
Through counselling, we can provide tools and support to help you through personal challenges, including anger, stress and burnout, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, fear, guilt or shame, self-esteem and body image, trauma or PTSD, and thoughts of self harm or suicide.
We can provide support navigating relationships, including those with parents, children or teens, in the workplace, within wider social settings. We can provide couples counselling or individual support navigating intimate relationships, including support through a separation or divorce.
We can support you through challenging events in life, including grief and loss, trauma, medical or health challenges, pregnancy or post-natal depression, parenting, relationship breakdowns, social issues, workplace challenges, or navigating significant changes in your life.
Some challenges may require support beyond the scope of what we can provide, or outside the expertise of your counsellor. In that case, we help to connect you with a person or service that can help.
By choosing to use our services, you’re helping our community.
When you choose to use our counselling service, you are supporting our community work at Te Whare Awhero.
We believe counselling can play a vital part in helping people through the challenges they face, and can help to improve our lives in many ways. But it’s sometimes needed most at times in life when people can least afford it.
In 2022 alone our team at Te Whare Awhero donated more than $277,500 in social value and services to the community, including free or subsidized counselling sessions, children’s counselling sessions in schools, supporting working families with before and after school care, sponsoring local children to achieve their goals, and supporting people in the community through many kinds of challenges.
This work doesn’t add anything to the cost of your session, as it is largely paid for through grants and donations. But by choosing to visit our counsellors, you play a vital role in helping us keep the lights on and continue the great work we are doing in our community.
How do I get to my session?
Our office is on Main South Rd, directly opposite The Hub Hornby mall. Limited parking is available directly in front of our office, or free street parking available around the corner on Goulding Ave. We’re also very accessible by bus, with many routes stopping at Hornby Mall. We are also able to provide online sessions if needed.
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At Horizons OSCAR we believe growth happens when children feel safe and secure. That’s the environment we strive to create.
Our programmes offer a well supervised learning environment for your child, where they are free to play, learn, create and make new friends. We aim to help the children practice good values, experience new challenges and develop new skills.
We currently offer Before School Care, After School Care and School Holiday Programmes for children aged 5-13 years, with various programmes based at South Hornby School, Wigram Primary School, Gilberthorpe School, Hornby Primary School and from Term 4 2024 Oaklands School and transport options from St Bernadette’s, OLV and Yaldhurst School to our programmes.
At our programme
Children are provided with breakfast in the before school programme, and afternoon tea in the afternoons. We offer them help with homework, structured activities, and time for free play.
We have provided OSCAR programmes in the Greater Hornby area for more than 20 years, since 2002. We are committed to providing quality, affordable childcare programmes for the community, providing a place where children feel safe and supported, and parents feel confident in our care.
All our programmes are MSD approved, and all our staff are police checked.
Fee subsidies are available for lower and middle income families, and details can be found here.
To enquire about spaces in our before school, after school or holiday programmes, click here.
At Horizons OSCAR we believe growth happens when children feel safe and secure. That’s the environment we strive to create.
We have provided OSCAR programmes in the Greater Hornby area for more than 20 years, since 2002. We are committed to providing quality, affordable childcare programmes for the community, providing a place where children feel safe and supported, and parents feel confident in our care.
Horizons Oscar began in Hornby, Christchurch under the Hornby Presbyterian Community Trust banner and, up until September 2012, we were known as Hornby Presbyterian Community Oscar.
We have been running our OSCAR childcare programmes in Christchurch since 2002 when the City Council approached us to manage one of their childcare programmes at Gilberthorpe School. This led to them asking us to take on two other local after school care and holiday programme locations.
In July 2015 we decided to open a before school programme from our Sockburn site, giving us four Oscar programmes. We now operate from Wigram School, South Hornby School, Hornby Primary School and Gilberthorpes School. We also provide transport from and to Yaldhurst School.
From the start of Term 2 2023 we are running programmes from the following sites:
South Hornby School Hall – Before and After School and Holiday programmes,
Wigram Primary School Hall – After School programmes
Hornby Primary School Rm’S 14&15 – Before School, After School and Holiday programmes.
Gilberthorpes School Hall – After School programmes
Our programmes offer a well supervised learning environment for your child, where they are free to play, learn, create and make new friends. We aim to help the children practice good values, experience new challenges and develop new skills.
Children are provided with breakfast in the before school, afternoon tea, help with homework, structured activities and time for free play.
We are able to provide transport to/from some of the surrounding schools.
All our OSCAR staff are police checked.
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Mana Ake provides support to children in Canterbury and kaikōura, in years 1-8 at school, promoting wellbeing and positive mental health.
We can support children at school and at home and provide advice, guidance and workshops for parents, whānau and teachers.Click here to find out more about what we do.
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At Te Whare Awhero, we seek to meet the needs of our community and provide timely help when it's needed the most. Our professional community support services focus on practical, short-term support to residents of the Hornby area.
Range of support
We can assist with housing, employment, access to physical and mental health services, and much more at no cost.
Accessible
Our goal is to remove barriers to accessing support, particularly financial barriers, to encourage people who need our services to reach out and seek help.
Community based
We are well-placed to meet the needs of the community and help people where they are at, given our location in the heart of Hornby and our history of supporting people in the area.
Contact us here - https://tewhareawhero.org/contact
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Professional counselling and employee support services, supporting you and your team to work at your best.
That can mean individual counselling support sessions offered to your employees, or group support sessions with your team.
As a non-profit community trust established in Hornby, Christchurch, for more than 30 years, Te Whare Awhero reinvests any profits from counselling services back into the community, helping struggling families access support and building up new programmes in schools for Hornby kids.
Together we can work to create stronger individuals, stronger businesses and stronger communities.
Why choose us?
Professional Counselling service m- With a team of eight qualified and fully registered counsellors, we offer a range of expertise to help your employees through both work or personal challenges. After hours sessions are available to reduce disruption to your staff during the workday.
Do good with your dollars - As a non-profit community trust, all profits from our services go back to the community, developing our initiatives in local schools, supporting families in need, and building up our community.
No Locked-In Contracts or hidden fees - No locked-in contracts, hidden fees or compulsory services you don’t need - pay only for the services you use.
What we offer
Group Sessions Available - If your team are facing specific challenges or struggles, we can offer on-site group sessions to Christchurch-based businesses, covering topics of your choice, regularly or as a one-off.
EAP Sessions Available - Professional, anonymous counselling sessions offered to your employees, where they can work through problems they are struggling with at work or in their personal lives. You choose the number of sessions and services available to your team, we handle the rest.
