Our story
The name Whakamātūtū has been gifted to us by Te Āti Awa kaumātua and chairman Kura Moeahu. It means to recover or restore one’s health. The inner design element of our logo reflects the integrated nature of recovery and of our service and the outer one reflects the forward momentum of people’s healing journeys.
Whakamātūtū has been born out of a strong desire to help people recover from depression, anxiety, and other common forms of mental distress. Our driving force is the lived experience of our founders and the thousands of people who submitted to the Mental Health Inquiry in 2018.
As we built the programme, we consulted extensively, talking to others with lived experience, mental health professionals, mana whenua, other mental health services, academics, and researchers. We visited similar centres operating successfully in Germany and received ongoing support from their founders.
We based our programme on the best evidence and practice we could find here and internationally. Below are some of our key influences:
Now, we want you to be part of our story,
as a participant or a whānau member.
We look forward to welcoming you into our programme.