Care for Clergy and Church Leaders

Vaughan Park Care for Clergy and those in Church Leadership

Vaughan Park Anglican Retreat and Conference Centre appointed the Revd. Iain Gow as Director in December 2015. His wife Linda, a registered Clinical Psychologist, has expressed an interest in providing psychological services to clergy and those in leadership and their families in the Anglican Diocese of Auckland who may find such a service helpful.

Trained in New Zealand and with post graduate training in the UK in systems theory and practice, Linda has 30 years experience working as a clinician and manager in both the public and private sectors in New Zealand and England: in the health system and related sections such as ACC, education, social welfare and justice. She understands the stressors inherent in organisations as well as the importance of personal emotional resilience.

Her work has equipped her to provide expert facilitation, consultation, coaching, supervision, assessment and therapy to individuals, couples, families, groups and organisations including the church. A clergy spouse for 27 years with her own personal faith and understanding of the Anglican church, Linda is uniquely placed to offer a holistic approach to clergy and lay care.

In her clinical work, she also has a particular interest in the integration of mainstream psychological therapies with Christian beliefs and practices and is offering a workshop on Mindfulness and Christianity on Friday 10 November 2017 at Vaughan Park. http://www.vaughanpark.org.nz/?sid=989

Linda is also able to provide bespoke residential personal retreats and respite. These will be available on request and will generally run from Monday to Wednesday for a modest fee which includes two nights’ accommodation and meals.

She has availability to see individuals, couples and families on an appointment basis at Vaughan Park on Mondays and has been providing this service since July 2017.

There is no appointment fee but a Koha would be gratefully received to support the development of a fund to enable clergy and those in church leadership to make use of this service where funding may be a barrier.

For further information or appointments please contact Linda on 021753239 or email gowx4@yahoo.co.nz.