"As captain of the Wheel Blacks I can say that Hamish was great for our team. He gave us the tools to develop a cohesive team culture. I am genuine in saying the team culture is in a better place now than before Hamish worked with us."
Gav Rolton, Wheel Blacks
Paula is an expert in her field, she knows how to make you work your mind to the best that it can be. Nothing is impossible with Paula. Sport Pyschology is a worthwhile investment that will give you rewarding experiences and opportunities, it will give you a fresh perspective on things. Paula helped me to push myself further than I would have expected and I have seen so many great results in my Swimming, Lifesaving and even work from it. I use the tools she has given me to mentally prepare myself for races, training and the ups and downs of life even. She helped me push through when I had all my racing gear stolen to outperform my competitors with older and slower equipment. Mental training and toughness is key in my sport; it can override many things including: physical fitness, doubts, mind games competitors play on you, others expectations of you, pressure, bad experiences, illness and many more to help you perform above your optimum level for continuous improvement. Thank you Paula for all the amazing wisdom you have passed onto me, which I will be forever grateful for.
With gymnastics being a sport that is just as mental as it is physical, Paula was able to help me train my mind to become mentally tougher in and out of the gym. Learning to deal with any fears or anxiety I may have had about a certain skill or learning how to get through a bad day was essential for me as an athlete if I wanted to be competitive in my sport. Paula was very supportive and helped me get through my tougher days so I could go out and be the best athlete I could be.
When I first made the Black Sticks, I really struggled with anxiety. It became a constant companion of mine and had a huge impact on aspects of everyday life. I was having hour long anxiety attacks; I was emotional and lacked a lot of self-confidence. Seeing Paula was one of the best decisions I could have made,
I Began to understand my anxiety instead of constantly fighting it. Reaching out and asking for help is not a weakness, it was one of the best things I ever did. Dealing with my anxiety and overcoming the pressure of high performance sport is one of my proudest achievements.
I have been working on and off with Paula since 2008. She has been a tremendous help in both my personal and sporting life. She is a vibrant personality whose expertise is second to none offering a very comfortable, compassionate and empathetic environment coupled with steadfast tools to facilitate any challenges I have faced with great success.
When I first began competing in gymnastics, I had the common and frustrating experience of thriving in training and crumbling in competition. With Paula, I was able to learn psychological strategies for managing my performance anxiety and work through personal issues that were inhibiting my ability to perform to my potential. As a result of this work, I was able to manage my anxiety more effectively to perform well under pressure, and eventually win two national championships (2006, 2007) and to medal in international competition while representing New Zealand. These skills have not only been beneficial to my past performance in elite sport, but have continued to serve me well in many other aspects of my life, and inspired me to pursue a career in psychology myself.
Paula has provided excellent and professional advice to develop the necessary tools needed not only for international sport but more importantly for life itself. Her humility and ability to understand situations and provide clarity and context have been hugely beneficial for me both on and off the field. It goes without saying, she is by far the best person I have ever worked with in this capacity and I would highly recommend her service to individuals especially athletes balancing life and sport together.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with Paula and she has enabled me to deal with the adversity that athletes can face and given me the appropriate tools to deal with all aspects of life and sport. I would highly recommend Paula to any person or athlete at any stage or level of their sport.
Ian is the team psychologist for Auckland Aces and the high performance for young cricketers. High performance sport has highlighted that team success is not only down to talent and ability but importantly psychological readiness to perform where one puts themselves in a state of discomfort in order to perform at the highest stage. This takes time to build relationships which Ian has done with players and management in order to help the Auckland cricket team succeed and have their most successful season in 60 years in 2016.
Dr Ian Lambie has been instrumental in moving a generation of Auckland and Auckland Aces players forward from a mental skills component over a 10 year plus period of time. Individually and as a collective group including out internationals. He is crucial in our success at this level especially in setting routines, clear guidance and highlighting the need for our top performing athletes to be open to talking about the pressure they experience while playing.
We(NZCPA) have been working with Paula for the past 3 years and found Paula to be extremely professional and effective in dealing with our player’s clinical issues. Paula’s become a key service provider for us over the past 3 years and has an in depth knowledge in her own field but also sport in general. She understands the unique nature of Cricket ( also other sports) and the challenges it presents. We found Paula to be easy going, builds rapport with our players easily, extremely knowledgeable in her field and most importantly our players trust and respect her. We have no hesitation in recommending Paula’s services to anyone.