Alta qualified as a counselling psychologist in South Africa where she ran a practice working with both adults and children. She worked with corporations in promoting wellness and for strengthening intergroup relations. Her skill base extended to learning and behaviour difficulties experienced by children while working as a school psychologist in the USA. Specialist training included providing services for children with autism and doing neuropsychological assessment and rehabilitation. She moved to New Zealand in 1998 to work as an educational psychologist for the Ministry of Education. In this capacity, she worked with teachers, parents and children in managing behavioural difficulties and implementing remedial learning programmes. Her interest in trauma led her to join a small team working with children’s early trauma experiences and enabling parents and teachers to manage their challenging behaviour. Specializations include assessment, including neuropsychological assessment, and working with a range of mental health difficulties that arise from trauma and challenging developmental experiences. An eclectic range of person-centred therapeutic skills are used including Acceptance and Commitment, Mindfulness, Narrative, Cognitive Restructuring, and working with schema.
