What happens when Te Ao Māori and Western clinical psychology meet in some of the country’s highest-risk environments?

In this episode of Inked Psycho, cultural consultant and therapist Mate Webb shares his remarkable journey—from carver to postgraduate CBT practitioner working in a specialized child sex offender treatment unit.

Mate explains how holding indigenous wisdom and clinical practice side by side creates a powerful framework for real rehabilitation.

We dive into what Western clinical frameworks often overlook—from wairua and matakite to collective identity—and why his approach centers on "leaving the taiaha at the door and bringing a feather."

Whether you are a psychologist, counsellor, social worker, student, or curious about the intersection of culture, faith, and healing, Mate’s insights offer profound lessons for practice in Aotearoa and beyond.

In this conversation:

• From woodcarver to forensic treatment unit: 18 years at Te Piriti

• Learning CBT and being told to "park the Māori stuff"

• Te Whare Tapa Whā & the double-hulled waka (tikanga takirua)

• "Leave the taiaha at the door, bring a feather": Leading from humility

• Wairua, makutu, and matakite: Why seeing a spirit isn't necessarily schizophrenia

• Utu, muru, and understanding collective identity

• Mentoring the next generation of psychologists in Aotearoa

• Walking between Catholic faith, Māori worldview, and clinical ethics

• What genuine rehabilitation requires after prison release

#Psychology #IndigenousPsychology #MentalHealth #Aotearoa #Counselling

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What if the problem isn't who you are?

Narrative therapist Dr Donald McMenamin has spent 30 years and thousands of conversations helping people separate themselves from their problems and step into more nourishing stories about who they can be.

In this episode, we talk about his "two islands and a boat" metaphor, a kid at risk of expulsion who went from E's to A's, and why Donald believes problems are like bullies: they want all the air time.

We also get into restorative practice in schools, what people actually come to therapy for, why he cut his caseload from 30 clients a week to about 6, and how his faith, his family and optimistic worldview help shape the way he works and lives.

If you're a counsellor, therapist, student or just curious about how stories shape identity, this one is for you.

In this conversation:

💎 The person isn't the problem. Externalising problems, "two islands and a boat," and identity as a library of stories.

💎Identity needs an audience. Communities that notice and witness a new story.

💎Assuming an ethical self. People move toward the good. This is a gift you can give as a therapist.

💎Restorative over punitive. The school examples, from expulsion hearings to the undercover teams.

💎Maturing as a practitioner. Learn the scales, then play the jazz. Be yourself but not naively. Relax into the work and trust that something will turn up.

💎What people come for: Listening, skills of living, identity, restoring relationships.

💎Suffering and hope. Difficulty doesn't get to define you, and we can be present with each other in pain.

💎Sustainability and the arc of a career. Caseload, fees, portfolio work, and retiring into "play" (woodturning, singing, tramping, possibly priesthood).

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Dr. Rebecca Sargisson is a behavior analyst whose career in research has taken her from chicken labs to war zones to climate psychology in the Netherlands.

A candid, surprising conversation about risk, behaviour change, and why humans are a lot more like dogs (and pigeons) than we'd like to admit.

In this conversation:

🔹 Why an entire UN landmine-detection program had to be shut down

🔹 Bees, elephants, and giant rats: the strange animals being trained to detect landmines and disease

🔹 Why playgrounds have gotten "too safe", and what kids lose because of it

🔹 The behaviourist case that your attitudes don't shape your behaviour- your behaviour shapes your attitudes

🔹 Why demographics barely predict who cares about the environment

🔹 How AI is quietly eroding critical thinking in university students

A wide-ranging conversation about risk, behavior change, and what actually drives human (and animal) decision-making.

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