Personal Experience
After 16 years working as a registered nurse
predominantly in the community, Kristina Grace (previously Kristina Paterson) experienced depression and anxiety first hand when she became pregnant and had her first baby more than 12
years ago. As a result of her experience, Kristina set up the charity "Mothers Helpers" to assist women experiencing perinatal depression/anxiety. Mothers Helpers still runs an effective, free and low-cost service to women across New Zealand with more than 600 women requesting help from their service every year.
During the charity's infancy, Kristina gained a
post-graduate diploma in Not-for-Profit Management and then completed her
Masters in Applied Social Work with her research project in perinatal mental
health.
Author talks about Out of the Fog programme
Developing the 'Out of the Fog' Programme
In 2015, Kristina developed a group therapy
programme she would later name "Out of the Fog" for women in the
perinatal stages wanting to recover from depression/anxiety. She trained
and supervised social workers, mental health nurses and counsellors to deliver
the programme and year-upon-year the programme consistently showed the approach
was effective. The most recent data collected in 2022 showed 90% of
women attending the programme were well by course end with a 48% reduction in
depression scores.
The 10-week group therapy programme was so
effective, Kristina decided to train clinicians to deliver the programme to any
adult experiencing depression or anxiety either in individual or group therapy.
She developed training that could be accessed online by any clinician anywhere
in the world so that clinicians could be confident that they were delivering
effective, holistic therapy to their clients experiencing
depression/anxiety.
Private Practice (Counselling)
While Kristina found delivering the training,
managing the charity and supervising staff rewarding, she still wanted to
maintain her connection with clients through her own private practice offering
counselling sessions and so she offers this in addition to her other
work. She is trained in ACT, CBT, Transactional Analysis,
Person-centred Approach, Strengths-based and Solution Focused therapies.
Natural Supplements that Support Mental Health
Kristina's medical background in addition to her social work and counselling training and experience gives her a unique in-depth understanding of mental health and a respect for holistic, evidence-based approaches. While supporting the role of prescription medication, she
also saw the limitations in many of her clients suffering with depression/anxiety. In 2021, Kristina approached her son's father - a qualified Herbalist with a Diploma in Naturopathic Medicine, asking whether he would write about nutritional supplements that might support mental health. In her experience, a number of clients either struggled with the side effects or chose not to pursue
prescription medication and she wanted to be able to offer an alternative or a
supplement to prescription medication. Jeremy Paterson wrote his book "Scientific Supplements - Treating Adult ADHD, Depression, Anxiety & Panic Disorders Naturally" in 2022.