Are you seriously concerned for your welfare or your loved-one’s welfare, right now?

​Taranaki Retreat is not a ‘crisis service’ – we are a non-clinical whānau-based time-out space, for our community to have somewhere to turn for recovery after trauma, or in finding hope and their next steps.
​Please, never hesitate to share your situation either with us – or with one of these helping services:

If it is an emergency, or you, or someone you know, is at risk, call 111.

Where to Get Help:
​
1737, Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
Lifeline – 0800 543 354 or (09) 5222 999 within Auckland, ​or Text ‘Help’ to 4357
Samaritans – 0800 726 666
Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865
Anxiety New Zealand – 0800 269 4389

For Children and Young People:
Youthline – 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat
What’s Up – 0800 942 8787 (for 5–18 year olds). Phone counselling is available Monday to Friday, midday–11pm and weekends, 3pm–11pm. Online chat is available 7pm–10pm daily.
Kidsline – 0800 54 37 54  for young people up to 18 years of age. Open 24/7.
thelowdown.co.nz – or email team@thelowdown.co.nz or free text 5626

For Anyone Experiencing or in Danger of Abuse
Shine: – 0508 744 633

For Anyone Who Identifies as LGBTQIA+
Outline: – 0800 688 5463, Open 10am to 9pm weekdays, 6pm – 9pm weekends

You are NOT alone.
​Kāore koe i te noho takitahi.

We want you to know what we do to keep your information safe.

At Taranaki Retreat, our work often involves sensitive situations. We have a commitment to confidentiality and we deeply respect your right to privacy. We want you to know that we have rules and procedures to protect sensitive information about you, your family/whānau or your child being given to anyone who does not have a right to such information.

As we aim for the very best of outcomes for all those we serve, we are committed to working in a connected-way with other helping services in our community (for example, we sometimes help people who are seeking budgeting support, or we adocate with WINZ). But, rest assured, if we feel it would be helpful to contact anyone outside our organisation to give or receive information, we will always discuss this with you first, and ask for your consent before we proceed.

We have two common-sense limitations to that confidentiality, which we stick to as best practice , and these are:

– When the safety of another person (and, especially, a child or young person) is at risk – we may need to share information.
– When there is a risk to the person we are supporting, including from the person themselves. For example, this may mean contacting the ABC Team to request support if a person shares that they are feeling at risk of harming themselves.

Should you have any concerns or questions regarding this policy you are welcome to discuss them with us on 06 2150993, talk to one of our Team, or drop us a message.

We ALL need a shoulder to lean on. We’re glad that you’re here; and we mihi to you for reaching out. We know that can be the hardest part.

Our work is peer-support based – which means our aim is for you to be alongside people who know what it is to walk a similar journey. That helps.

We’re not about quick fixes or rushing things through. There’s too much of that going on, and the problem is that things don’t really get sorted.

This means that, to support you, we will need to get to know each other. We won’t be able to support you unless you know that you can trust us – and we don’t take that trust lightly. We want to take the time to make sure that you are ‘heard’. Some of the ways that we do this is to:

• Ask you to share a little of your story, so that we know the right member of our team for you to work with
• Figure out what might work as a next step
• When you are ready to do so, we’ll ask you to share a little more
• We’ll often meet people face-to-face or chat over the phone or by Skype (if you’re out of our area) – again, when you’re ready to do this – at your pace
• From there, we’ll begin building a plan together. This might be through our Outreach Programmes or looking at a Residential Stay.
• Our work with you will have a beginning, a middle and an end, but that doesn’t mean we expect everything to be sorted. Plenty of people get in touch later down the track, and that’s cool with us.

So, the next steps will be you continuing to connect up through our Tautoko Portal (where you are, right now) and getting stuck into the conversation. If you’ve not already received a confirmation email from us, check your spam! Once you’ve found our email, click the link, and you’ll then be able to login and get things moving.

BRING IT ON!

It is so hard to see a friend or loved one suffering and our natural response is help. Good on you for looking into some support for them!

We are keen to be there to support people when things are tough; we all need a bit of help to get through from time to time. Encouragement from a good friend or whānau member can be just what is needed to help someone open up to to the idea of support.

Taranaki Retreat is a non-clinical environment that offers a range of support services. Read more about what those services in the ‘What our Support Looks Like” section, above. If you feel there is something there that would help the one you care about, it helps to be well informed so that you can be there to guide them through our process and reassure them about what it might entail.

We are happy to receive inquiries on behalf of someone else – it can be hard to know what to do and comforting to get some advice around what could work. The biggest part you can play, for someone else, is inspire them to reach out. All the support services we offer rely on the person wanting to get some help and being ready to talk to us. That is the vital role you can play.

Most often, we will want the person themselves to get in touch with us, to confirm themselves that they are happy and keen to be contacted so that we can look into what would support them best. Sometimes, we can get in touch if we are reassured that this is the person’s wish, and that they find making the first move too hard.

As a friend or whānau member you are well placed to do that encouraging – maybe show them our website, explain about the various options available and discuss what getting support from the Retreat might look like.

Next steps….How do we work?

So, the next steps will be you to connect up through our Tautoko Portal (where you are, right now) and getting stuck into the conversation about your loved one. We’ll be back in touch.

Arohanui, The Taranaki Retreat Care Team.

Thank you for connecting up. Concerned employers, clinicians and other support workers often suggest their clients might find support from Taranaki Retreat helpful. We are happy to accept direct requests for help; or it may be easier for your client/employee if you make the first step for them.

Referring someone is easy. As soon as your Portal account is active, you’ll be able to share more details with us. You can ask for advice, further information or put in a request for help from here. Before you do though, it would be good to know what kind of support we offer and whether it will be of benefit to the person you are referring. Read more about us in ‘What our Support Looks Like’ (above)

Here are some useful things to consider :

Finally, thank you for doing this. We all need a bit help from others at some point in our lives, you may that person who makes all the difference. A listening, non-judgemental, ear can really help someone to feel cared about and give them hope. We’ll drop you an email as soon as your Portal login is set up. Once you’re in, we can be in regular, secure contact.

Arohanui, The Taranaki Retreat Care Team.

Taranaki Retreat offers Outreach Support Programmes which are entirely geared around being alongside you through the tough stuff. Here are some of the ways that we can help:

Research and Advocacy
“I’m not sure where to turn to for support; I’m hoping there’s something out-there for me/my whānau.”

Our service is not the ‘right fit’ for every situation. However, those who reach out to us often are helped by our Team’s awareness of “What’s out there” – and all the services where we have built connections and relationships.

Support Checkins
“I’m feeling isolated in my situation, and just wish I have someone to chat to.” / “I find it difficult to talk, but being in touch by email is much much easier.”

Need to know someone is there for you? Someone to check in with you and chat? We will contact you on a regular basis (for example, every Wednesday at 2pm) – by your preferred method of comms (Phone / text / email / skype / on the Portal)

Outreach Support Visits
“I’d like to come to Waimanako or the Retreat Site, to visit – and be in a safe environment”

“Could someone come to my home to chat? Or could we meet in a cafe?”
We offer space to clear your head and to be with someone whose role it is to listen, confidentially, to your situation, and to support you in the way forward. This can open doors to long-term support from our team – such as counsellors, medical professionals and budget advisers.
Sometimes, all that we’ve been through can leave us isolated or finding social situations difficult. Waimanako and The Retreat are safe spaces – drug and alcohol-free environments; allowing both time to be alone, and a caring environment to eat and hang out together, and to know you are not alone.

Listening Ears
“I’d value the opportunity to ‘Let it all out’ with someone who has no connections to my situation, so I can reflect on what might be the way forward.”

Sometimes, a huge dilemma or problem is facing us. We can offer a listening ear, as a one-off – just someone to be there as a support, as you talk through what you’re facing.

Online Journal / Blogging

Ideal for when there’s a physical distance between the Retreat and you – or when sitting down with someone to talk feels like ‘too hard basket’ – or if writing is your ‘thing’.
We offer a secure online shared journaling or blogging platform. There, people privately blog on a regular basis; and one of our Care Team sits alongside you as a buddy in your blogging, sharing the journey; and responding with encouragement and reflection. It can really help to process stuff – and is sometimes a great prelude for further support….

Outreach Support ‘On the Fringes’

Our support for people who perhaps tend not to find a place within conventional support models. We all deserve a place to be heard. Everyone.

Flexibility, straight talking and regular check ins are the keys to ensure a solid, tailored connection is built. There is an unwritten kinship between those who have walked the paths of ‘not fitting in’.

We offer outreach visits on a regular basis, usually fortnightly, which are an opportunity to talk, laugh and share the difficulties that the individual experienced in the past, the challenges facing them that particular day and strategies to help navigate the obstacles of tomorrow. This is a no-judgment warts-and-all time where they feel comfortable opening up to someone who is no stranger to the pitfalls, temptations and complications in life.

Interested in one or more of the above? Message us about it… don’t wait for something to happen.

Taranaki Retreat Care Team

Why we have a Journaling System

I’ll bet you write stuff (eg on a computer or a device) regularly. If you are like most of us you record only what you must – and it’s a flurry of inboxes and messages – with not much space for reflection. So – I’ll let you in on a well-kept secret: A journal can serve as a powerful life tool.

Health Benefits

Contrary to popular belief (lol) many old ways were good ways! There is overwhelming evidence that journaling – jotting stuff down that’s circling in our minds – has a positive impact on our well-being. It’s been demonstrated that regular journaling even strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. Other research indicates that journaling decreases the symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis (seriously – it’s true!). Still other research has shown that writing about stressful events helps us come to terms with them, thus reducing the impact of these stressors on our physical health.

Scientific evidence supports that journaling provides other unexpected benefits. The act of writing accesses your left brain, which is analytical and rational. While your left brain is occupied, your right brain is free to create, intuit and feel. Think of it this way: writing removes mental blocks and allows you to use all of your brainpower to better understand yourself, others and the world around you. Begin journaling and begin experiencing these benefits:

• Clarify your thoughts and feelings. Do you ever seem all jumbled up inside, unsure of what you want or feel? Taking a few minutes to jot down your thoughts and emotions (no editing!) will quickly get you in touch with your internal world.
• Know yourself better. By writing routinely you will get to know what makes you feel happy and confident. You will also become clear about situations and people who are harmful to you — important information for your emotional well-being.
• Reduce stress. Writing about anger, sadness and other painful emotions helps to release the intensity of these feelings. By doing so you will feel calmer and better able to stay in the present.
• Solve problems more effectively. Typically we problem solve from a left-brained, analytical perspective. But sometimes the answer can only be found by engaging right-brained creativity and intuition. Writing unlocks these other capabilities, and affords the opportunity for unexpected solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems.
• Resolve disagreements with others. Writing about misunderstandings rather than stewing over them will help you to understand another’s point of view. And you just may come up with a helpful resolution to the conflict.
• In addition to all of these wonderful benefits, keeping a journal allows another resource for you to heal while the Retreat is alongside you on this journey. When current circumstances appear insurmountable, we hope that you will be able to record your story (for yourself) of things that are changing for the better.

Your journaling will be most effective if you do it daily for about 20 minutes. Begin anywhere, and please don’t worry about stuff like spelling and punctuation. Write quickly, as this frees your brain from “shoulds” and other blocks to successful journaling. If it helps, pick a theme for the day (for example, peace of mind, confusion, change or anger). The most important rule of all is that there are no rules.

Popular off-road tracks

• Lake Mangamahoe is 10 minutes drive south of New Plymouth city on SH3. You can enter from Junction Road and Plantation Road.
• Lake Rotokare – 12 km’s east of Eltham. 364 Sangster Road Rawhitiroa, Taranaki
• Barrett Domain – entrance at the end of Roto Street, New Plymouth
• Coastal Walkway.
• Te Henui Walkway – New Plymouth Coastal Walkway, Strandon, New Plymouth
• Huatoki Walkway – 35 Powderham Street, New Plymouth
• Mangaotuku Pathway – There are various access points including points off Calvert Road, Lawry Street, Devon Street, Wiremu Place, Cook Street, Vancouver Place and Endeavour Place, New Plymouth
• Mangati Walkway – Started at Gardenia Avenue Reserve, located on Gardenia Ave, Bell Block, NP
• Taranaki Cycle Park.

Lake Mangamahoe

Lake Mangamahoe is home to mountain bike trails for families and beginners through to intermediate riders.

Taranaki Cycle Park

The Taranaki Cycle Park consists of a 1.75km closed road circuit with two smaller one kilometre loops as well as a 333m velodrome and younger children’s area including a learners pad, pump track, limestone obstacle course and mini road circuit complete with traffic lights, road signs, etc. This facility is free to use. Saint Andrews Drive, Bell Block, New Plymouth