Ko Kahurānaki me Moumoukai ngā maunga
Ko Tūkitūki me Nūhaka ngā awa
Ko Tākitimu me Māhuhu-ki-te-rangi ngā waka
Ko Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Kahungunu, Rongomaiwahine me Ngāti Rakaipaaka ngā iwi
Ko Nūhaka me Kahurānaki ngā marae
Ko Henare, Rongo, me Kaimanu ōku tīpuna
I whānau mai au ki Heretaunga
Ko Mel Lucking tōku ingoa.
This is where I come from. This is the land that shaped me. These are the people I carry.
My whakapapa comes with me in all that I do.
Hono mai
Kia Ora, I am Mel,
I whakapapa to Rongomaiwahine, Ngāpuhi & Ngāti Kahungungu (indigenous Māori tribes native to New Zealand) on my fathers side & Ireland & Wales on my mothers side. I was born in Heretaunga (Hastings) in Aotearoa (New Zealand) but spent most of my time growing up in Christchurch and is where I consider home. I grew up in humble beginnings in as what some would call the "hood" and experienced trauma, dysfunction, addiction and mental health in my whānau (family).
I am a Mama to three and currently in the process of preparing for long term travel through Asia with my family before moving to Perth, Australia where I plan to create a new home base.
I am passionate about helping those with similar stories to mine, I know what it's like to feel unloved, abandoned and hopeless. I spent most of my teen and early adulthood battling addiction, unresolved trauma and mental health issues.
It was from this journey that led me into this career.
healing, unlearning and becoming. healing, unlearning and becoming. healing, unle
I'm not your typical therapist ... this isn’t surface level self help. In my world we go deeper.
Through holistic therapy, integrative therapeutic practices, energy work, and body focused practices using intuitive bodywork, traditional Māori healing(rongoā, miri miri, and wairua-led guidance), and breath, we untangle the patterns, wounds, and subconscious blocks keeping you stuck ... so you can stop just coping and start fully living.
My work is rooted in decolonising our relationship to healing through stepping away from performative self-help, and returning to a more natural, embodied state of transformation. This is about coming home to your body, your truth, and your wairua.. My approach is grounded in Indigenous wisdom, with the intention of restoring the sacred connection between mind, body, wairua, and whenua. This is not a clinical space it’s a journey of reclamation.
This is your space to release, to reclaim, and to integrate every part of yourself.
As a trauma-informed therapist and bodyworker who has walked this path myself, I understand that real healing requires more than insight. It requires breaking patterns, confronting your stories, and building emotional resilience from the ground up. Overcoming trauma and addiction in my own life reshaped the way I approached everything. I refused to let my past dictate my future. Healing wasn’t just about feeling better but it was about stepping into the version of me who could do more, create more, and live fully.
I’m not just here to hold space for your healing. I’m here to challenge you to go deeper and from an embodied place of "I've walked this path too" . My intention is to help you move beyond your past, rewrite your patterns, and step into the life you actually want because transformation isn’t just about releasing darling it’s about rising and living a life aligned with YOUR highest potential and empowerment.
Alongside lived experience, I also bring professional depth.
I hold a BA in Psychology & Anthropology, a certification in breathwork, postgraduate studies in counselling, and ongoing research into Māori healing and reclamation through postgraduate anthropology. My approach blends academic insight with indigenous wisdom, bridging both worlds in service of your healing with this integrative approach.
All of my services are designed to support deep, somatic healing whether we work together online through therapy, or in person through Mahu Wellness, my healing space in Alkimos. Mahu offers intuitive bodywork, energy work, and plant-based healing rituals and products grounded in rongoā and ancestral wisdom.
Every part of the work I offer is designed to meet you where you are and walk with you toward where you’re meant to be.
If you’re done avoiding and ready to step into the work, you’re in the right place, let's get to work.
