Toni McErlane

I have been working as a Mediator, Therapist and Nonviolent Communication (NVC) Facilitator in NZ since 2012. I trained in Counselling, Mediation and NVC in the US while I was living there. My private practice supports individuals, couples, families and workplaces, to develop the skills and capacity to navigate conflict skilfully and create collaborative outcomes. My specialty is supporting self-responsible communication to support authentic and mutually considerate conversations and strategies that ideally meet the needs of everyone involved.

I enjoy supporting and facilitating my clients to express themselves in ways in which others are able to understand their needs without getting defensive. I encourage specific need-based requests rather than demands, and guide people towards objective statements rather than generalised evaluations. I provide safe boundaries and structure that support progressive conversations and satisfying agreements.

I have facilitated mediation and communication trainings for professionals in NZ and China for the last 5 years, and have been asked to facilitate Conflict Resolution workshops for teams of social organisations working in the Congo. I taught Nonviolent Communication (NVC) to women in Sonoma County Prison for 3 years as part of the Bay Area Nonviolent Communication Prison Education team. It was this work in the women’s prison and the profound positive impact it had for the women that inspired my choice to study counselling.