About Us \ Our Intention to be Inclusive

Our Intention to be Inclusive

We respect and value the diversity of human experience on all fronts, from age and gender to forms of spiritual practice. This does not mean we accept all behaviour indiscriminately, but that we seek to widen rather than narrow our appreciation of human difference.  We encourage people to go below the surface differences to the deeper levels of the human search for meaning and value in life. Some of the areas that particularly focus our attention on inclusivity, instead of exclusivity, are spirituality, counselling/psychotherapy, ethnicity and sexual orientation. 

In the field of spirituality, we in New Zealand encounter not only many denominations of the Christian faith, but also people of Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, Bahai, Hindu and other faiths, all of whom have had experiences which lead them to feel strongly about some of their core beliefs. We also meet a range of people with sincere humanistic beliefs based on ethical principles, and others exploring a spirituality based in creation itself; and of course many people who are simply confused! Rather than adopt a limiting position of holding that only one religious tradition holds ultimate truth, we recognise that we have been shaped by the Judaeo-Christian tradition, but hold ourselves open to dialogue with others who are also on a spiritual journey. 

In the field of counselling, psychotherapy and healing, we again find ourselves in the midst of plurality, where each modality claims its own truth.  We teach the core disciplines in which we ourselves are grounded, while being open to other creative and effective ways of enabling people to heal themselves. 

Recognising the significance of the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand’s history, which established a unique bicultural (or bilateral) society, we seek to find ways to be respectful of both Maori and Pakeha cultures. At the same time, we see that Pakeha society is becoming increasingly multiethnic, and European culture is losing its dominance. We therefore seek to offer training which is person-centred, flexible, respectful of core ethnic values, and adaptable to different cultural settings. 

On the issue of sexual orientation, we are not merely neutral in our attitude, but committed to respecting the natural continuum of difference in this field. We aim to be accepting towards people whose preference may range from homosexual to heterosexual, whether practising or celibate, within a framework of respectful and caring relationships. 

We acknowledge that seeking to be inclusive is a difficult path to tread, when members of the same group may have had extremely different experiences of a given subject. Nevertheless, we declare our commitment to seeking ways to be positively inclusive of differences as we meet to share our common goals.

All students entering into our programme need to be advised that any condition they have that may adversely affect their learning may make them unsuitable for our training.

People for whom English is a second language, need to have at least level 4 NCEA English.