Meet

Kia Ora

ko - te maunga Hikorangi
ko - te awa Waipoua
ko - te iwi irish, scots, french, english
ko - te hapu Hogan, Campbell, Ellis and Stuart
ko - te kainga Patutahi
ko - Sheree Honeyfield tuku ingoa
tena tatou katoa

Sheree's pepeha or mihi describes her origins and where she was born, her family and ancestry, and where she attended school in her earliest years (Patutahi). She names her river (Waipoua) and her mountain (Hikurangi) as these natural elements have strong spiritual significance to her and she regards her maunga as kaitiaki - spiritual guardian.

Although Sheree isn't tangata whenua as her mihi will attest (irish, scots, english and french), she grew up with strong connections to tikanga maori and te reo and continually works to honour her bi-cultural environment and experiences.

Professional background

Sheree is a member of the Hakomi Australia Association and is an active member of the Hakomi community in New Zealand. She holds a diploma in Hakomi Experiential Psychotherapy and has graduated in November 2018 with a second diploma in Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy. With over 1200 hours studying and practicing mindfulness, Sheree also has a Diploma in Life Coaching and is a member of the International Federation of Coaches.

She works with an awareness of cultural similarities and differences and continues to participate in and learn tikanga maori (protocols), te au maori (the world of maori) and te reo maori (maori language).

Mindfulness and Hakomi classes

Sheree has designed, organised and taught a number of Mindfulness classes at several venues around New Zealand. She has also designed and taught a very successful programme for young mums, called "If Mum is OK, The Kids Will Be OK". Sheree has also worked with troubled youth at a related centre in Westport.

Sheree offered and facilitated two workshops at the National Secondary Schools Conference in Nelson, one called "It's Not What You Do, It's Who You Are That Counts", while the other looked at using one's intuition to problem solve.

Sheree lived in Moana at the time of the Pike River mining disaster. Invited by a senior colleague, Sheree coordinated and assisted in delivering a Hakomi workshop in Greymouth designed to help the community after the tragedy.

Sheree's professional-personal journey

Reading where Sheree's journey began is more about understanding her professional perspective than mere personal interest.

Sheree embarked on her journey as a therapist, counsellor, lifecoach and mindfulness teacher nearly thirty years ago. Widowed to leukaemia and with three small children to support, she became fascinated by the human condition.  How we develop our ideas about life and death, health, relationships and family, career and work - how we respond to these things and the choices we make as a result - became a lifelong passion and quest for understanding. 

Spanning many years and with tertiary studies in psychology and human development to support training and education as a counsellor and lifecoach, Sheree's experience as a graduate Hakomi therapist supports her decision to live and work mindfully.

Growth through understanding

Learning to work in mindfulness deepened Sheree's commitment to understanding and working with this information

Initially working within a hospital-based pain clinic revealed her clients needed more than talk therapy - clients living with chronic pain, stress and illness were presented daily with bodily symptoms they couldn't ignore. 

Working to understand these experiences and to offer effective therapy, Sheree turned to schools of research and practice that worked with the mind-body connection, using mindfulness. 

However it was the experiential training in mindfulness and the Hakomi method of Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy that illustrated how the skillful application of mindfulness could utilise and work with the information available to us in the connection between body and mind, 

Whether working as a life-coach, counsellor, therapist or mindfulness teacher, Sheree has seen the power inherent within mindful work to create personal transformation and development. Throughout this journey, she has developed a huge respect for the uniqueness of each individual's journey and the knowledge that we are more than what we know. 

The byline in the logo of Somatic Rehabilitation, Your Life, Your Way refers to her commitment and understanding of this process, as does the quote below.