- Tūhono home Hoki ki Tūhono
-
- Staff Directory
- Chief Executive Office Auckland International Office Corporate Services Finance Campus Services Functions and Catering Information Systems and Support Marketing, Communications and Engagement Learner Journey Academic Registry International Learner Services Te Punaka Ōwheo
- Learner Experience Academic Excellence Central Campus College of Community Development and Personal Wellbeing College of Engineering, Construction and Living Sciences College of Health College of Work Based Learning Open Education Resource/OERu Research and Postgraduate Studies Te Maru Pumanawa | College of Creative Practice and Enterprise
- Māori Development and Kaitohutohu Office People, Culture & Safety People and Culture Childcare Centre Te Ama Ako | Learning and Teaching Development Wellbeing and Safety Auckland Staff Directory Executive Office Academic Corporate Services Marketing and Business Development Human Resources Campus Quality and Programme Development
-
Our people make a better world
We build the capabilities of individuals, organisations and communities and help them to realise their potential.
Staff Directory
-
- Tools
- Academic Integrity Declaration Form AIC applications dashboard Approved programmes Approved programme fees Centralised assessement repository Chemwatch Course evaluation and surveys CRM applications CRM customer service hub Delegations policy/process Disability and neurodiversity Dynamics 365 (CRM) EBS Ontrack EBS Report Email security personal portal Employment Matters / Solarworkplace / Performance reviews eTaxi eTV
- Financial variance reporting Hidden Disabilities Sunflower programme FCM travel intranet InPlace International entry requirements Knowledgebase articles Learner support dashboards Linkedin Learning Log a job with Marketing Login as an applicant Media consent form Microsoft 365 Moderation App Moodle OP Docs OP Docs - Publishing OP Image Libraries Performance Excellence Portal Pocket Lab (student healthcare) Product Evaluation Panel
- Policy Library Privacy Programme and course design/development Qualtrics XM RDS Remote access support portal Research Database Robertson Library Staff FAQs about graduation Status of Programmes Student intranet (Kāpehu) Study Abroad info for learners Taha Talks (videos for students) Tūhauora I Wellbeing resources Uniprint Vault Webexpenses Auckland tools
-
Vault
Had an accident or near miss?
Log it here
-
- Communities
- Community AI Steering Committee Ally Network EBS Community of Interest EdTech Champions Health & Wellbeing Research Internal Evaluation Neurodiversity Professional Team Professoriate Proud@OP Student Support Website Advisory Group Web Champions Working under the Rainbow Project Learner Capability Trade Training Centre
- Committee Academic Committee Animals@OP Diversity and Equity Doctor of Professional Practice Committee Kaunihera Whakahaere - Leadership Council Internal Evaluation Learning & Teaching Leadership Team Library Committee Mental Health and Wellbeing Advisory Group Otago Polytechnic Board of Directors Pastoral Care Code Committee Programme Approvals Committee Research and Postgraduate Committee Research Ethics Committee Staff Subcommittee
- Think Tanks Mātauraka Our learners achieve educational success Pūtea Our financial success Tākata Our people, our team, our community Tiriti Our active commitment as a Treaty partner Tūroa Our commitment to be a sustainable and responsive organisation
-
Create a community
Do you have a community, committee or project that you'd like represented here?
Communities
-
- About OP
- Keep up to date All news All events All notices All blogs Share your info Create a news article Create an event Create a notice Create a blog
- Community and Partnerships Alumni and friends Education Foundation Operational information Academic calendar 2025 Academic calendar 2026 Current vacancies Dunedin campus map Our policies Topical FAQs
- Who we are About OP Commemorative sites Māori Strategic Framework OP merchandise Our history Our strategic priorities Pasifika Action Plan Pasifika Strategic Framework (2025-2030) Vision and Values Working for us OP job opportunities Wellbeing Calendar Working at OP
-
New Zealand: 0800 762 786
contact us
International: +64 3 477 3014
Akapapa – The Journey Home
Author: Ingrid Svedlund Campbell
Supervisors: Alexa Forbes Helen Mataiti
20 August 2025
Campbell, I. S. (2025). Akapapa – The journey home [Master's thesis, Otago Polytechnic]. Research Bank. https://doi.org/10.34074/thes.7169
Abstract
This thesis explores sustainability in counselling and professional practice through the lens of lived experience, focusing on the impacts of spiritual abuse and religious trauma on personal identity and professional frameworks. Using autoethnography, poetic inquiry, and thematic analysis, the research investigates how practitioners can foster sustainable practices that prevent burnout, promote ethical safety, and disrupt cycles of harm. This work contributes to the growing field of trauma-informed, culturally grounded approaches by examining how sustainability can be reimagined within professional counselling and therapeutic spaces. At the heart of this study is an exploration of spiritual abuse as a barrier to sustainability, disrupting self-care, rest, boundary-setting, and ethical practice. Drawing on Māori and Pacific health models, the thesis redefines healthy relationships, both interpersonal and professional, demonstrating how relational frameworks support sustainability. Through a deeply personal and critically reflective lens, this research examines the "mosaic self", embracing the complexities of identity, bias, and self-awareness as essential to ethical and sustainable professional practice. The thesis also explores grief and loss as transformative forces, framing them as essential companions on the journey of self-discovery and sustainable practice. Concepts of rupture and repair are examined, offering insights into navigating conflict, discerning safe relationships, and fostering interdependence. The research emphasises the interconnectedness of individuals, communities, and leadership, highlighting the delicate balance between connection and solitude in maintaining sustainable engagement with the work. Ultimately, this study presents a framework for sustainable practice, integrating creativity, faith, indigenous values, and trauma-informed methodologies. It offers practical tools for practitioners, charitable organisations, and professional communities seeking to cultivate resilience, longevity, and ethical leadership. The research concludes by underscoring the significance of self-reclamation, identity, and belonging as pillars of sustainability. This study is a call to action for counselling practitioners, organisations, and leaders in therapeutic spaces to embrace a holistic, ethical, and creative approach to professional and personal sustainability. By challenging unsustainable work practices, deconstructing inherited trauma narratives, and fostering relational accountability, this research contributes to the evolution of culturally responsive, ethically sound, and regenerative professional practice.
Keywords
sustainability, ethical leadership, counselling, spiritual abuse, religious trauma, self-reclamation, interconnectedness
Licence
A copy of the thesis is publicly available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
This licence applies except where otherwise indicated, especially for images.