Nayland College's newest counsellor intern is a friendly face around the school who is always open for a chat.

A former primary school teacher in Christchurch, Kelsey Pitcher decided to take the plunge to take two years out of her teaching and come to Nayland as part of a placement, while she completes her Master's of Counselling at the University of Canterbury. As part of her studies, she is required to do a year-long placement in an agency or school, and Kelsey decided to spend her last year at university based in Nelson. 

She lived in Christchurch for eight years, but is happy to be in Nelson because of the  added bonus of spending time with her family who live here.

26 year-old Kelsey is a relatable, friendly and caring person who will be working at Nayland for two days a week up until the end of the year. Her role will be to provide support to students when they want someone to listen or offload to, or even just to have a friendly face to chat to. 

"The first step is always the hardest, and it takes strength to acknowledge that you need help,” she said. She wants to dissuade students from the idea that counselling is scary or formal and to understand that it is completely up to the student, in terms of what they talk about and how long they talk for.

Kelsey plans to try and help as many people as she can while she is here and her aim is to form relationships with the students and have positive encounters so that they feel that they can trust and talk to her. She wants to make the most of her time at Nayland and is really liking it so far. “I really enjoy it, I love how everyone is friendly and supportive... I just feel very welcomed”.

Outside of counselling, Kelsey enjoys spending time with friends and family, boxing, and also doing anything in the great outdoors that is a good stress release. She likes to be active, whether that be attending Tuesday trainings at Victory boxing or doing boot camps.  This is when she and a few other ladies come together and work out with the help of a personal trainer every week. 

Just to keep the trainings fresh, the location changes every week, from the Tamaki St steps to the Richmond hills. A sort of adrenaline junkie, Kelsey has done a skydive at Motueka, bungee jumped in Hamner and wants to go further by bungee jumping in Queenstown!

Kelsey plans to continue with her counselling after she has completed her master's degree, and hopes to combine her love of teaching with counselling. Looking to the future, she plans to help people with her new skills overseas, but she also wants to have fun and travel in the coming year to Europe, to places such as France and Italy.

If you would like to see Kelsey for a completely confidential talk, she is available to talk to on Mondays and Tuesdays. All you have to do is go to the counselling cottage and put in an appointment slip, which can be anytime during the hours of 9am-3pm, including all class periods and lunchtimes.