From a Psychologist who truly understands

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Image used with the kind permission of Mackenzie Thorpe

Serving individuals 10years+ across New Zealand • Telehealth sessions • Registered Educational Psychologist

Online, low-cost access to a psychologist, for all those experiencing literacy difficulties.

Discover how your strengths can enable you to thrive, while your literacy difficulties can become better understood and supported.

About Ana

My journey into psychology started at Sussex University, where I completed my undergraduate thesis on dyslexia. During my Master's in Educational Psychology at Massey University, I completed study in literacy difficulties, intervention design, and child wellbeing. In my Post Graduate Diploma in Developmental and Educational Psychology I learnt how to design pragmatic assessment that then guides effective intervention. 

Registered as an Educational Psychologist with the New Zealand Psychologists Board, I've worked with the Ministry of Education for 5 years. I then continued on to do general practice work through The Child Psychology Service, which I continue to do.

I'm not just a psychologist who has trained in literacy difficulties, I am dyslexic myself. This gives me a unique perspective: I can truly appreciate the power of the thinking strengths associated with dyslexia whilst I also deeply empathise with the challenges it presents for an individual’s educational pathway and how it can affect someone’s life experiences. It also means I have a vested interest in exploring many of the technological supports that continue to be developed for people with dyslexia.

Why This Matters for You

You want a psychologist who

Prioritises understanding of your strengths, and does not focus just on your struggles

Establishes a strong relational basis for assessment and intervention

Has extensively studied the theory and research on literacy difficulties and is informed by lived experience.

This isn't just your typical cognitive testing. It's an opportunity to learn about your strengths whilst developing a clear understanding of which literacy skills are weak, what language or learning factors are constraining progress and what instruction is most likely to help next. Together this information allows for a positive and effective intervention plan.

Assessment That Reveals Thinking Strengths

Practice Principles

Strength-Based

Assessment data highlights where you shine, supporting your self-esteem and providing a clear positive pathway forward

Ecological

Your relationships, roles and activities across all contexts guide the assessment and intervention plan

Research-Driven

Evidence-based literacy theories and current research guides every step of your journey

Solution-Focused

We uncover what already works for you and build on those strengths to create lasting progress

Skill-Building

We develop a shared understanding of your literacy and psychological skills so that we can then see how to build on them

Collaborative

Your support team works together, so we can weave our knowledge together for the best possible outcomes for you

Services

Online Dyslexia Assessment Process

Initial Consultation

One-hour meeting with parents/caregivers via Zoom. We'll:

  • Determine if online assessment will work for you

  • Gather background information

  • Identify contact information for key individuals across home and school

  • Discuss needs-based vs. diagnostic assessment options

  • Schedule both your assessment and feedback meeting

The Assessment

2 to 5 hours of online literacy, language and cognitive assessment, to explore ‘what exactly is breaking down in the reading system right now’. Planned breaks are included throughout the assessment, which are particularly comfortable as conducted in your own home via telehealth.

Note: Online assessment is appropriate for individuals 10+ years without significant anxiety or complex co-occurring difficulties. I am passionate however about providing assessment and intervention services for younger students, and supporting those with complex needs, but this work requires meeting face-to-face in my Queenstown office.

Feedback Meeting

Using visuals, we’ll discuss your thinking strengths, the nature of your literacy difficulties and next steps, ensuring you feel positively understood, confident and empowered.

Written Report

A concise report, as free from psychological jargon and statistics as possible, describing:

  • The ecological context for the individual

  • A strength-based perspective

  • The nature of the literacy difficulties

  • Priority literacy, cognitive, oral language and/or psychological skill interventions

  • Support strategies that prevent significant literacy learning difficulties limiting access to learning

  • Accommodations to help you thrive

  • Signed NZQA Special Assessment Conditions form (if applicable)

*Assessment of co-occurring difficulties
Reading difficulties often occur alongside other difficulties; be them behavioural, cognitive, sensory, emotional and/or social. As needed, we can explore other difficulties and if required further diagnostic assessment can be initiated (in which case I would likely connect you with an appropriate service and professional). Please note that work to explore co-occurring difficulties would requires additional time so would incur additional costs, to the standard assessment package detailed below.

Schedule An Assessment Consultation

Your report maybe just the beginning of our relationship. I offer immediate online support for:

Direct Skill Development

☑️ Specific literacy skills can be targeted and taught using low-cost, online and research-based programmes. These programmes can easily be delivered according to research-based (i.e., proven) criteria for ‘effectively accelerating literacy learning’ i.e., 20 mins/day, 3+ times weekly, for 20 sessions.

☑️ Cognitive skills that directly impact the process of literacy learning.

☑️ Psychological skills that enable more effective coping.

Home-School Collaboration
Implementing strength-based individual education programmes (IEPs) that embrace whakawhanaungatanga (and bringing the team together), look to ‘broaden and build’ off what is already working well and allow for a small number of collaborative learning goals to be established and monitored.

Intervention Support

Schedule a consultation for intervention
Hourly Rate Full Assessment Package
Standard Pathway NZ$230 NZ$2,300
Low-Cost Pathway NZ$130 NZ$1,300

Cost

Making Assessment Accessible: A Social Entrepreneurial Model

Psychology services shouldn't be out of reach. I use a cross-subsidy model where standard-rate clients help fund a sustainable low-cost pathway for literacy assessments (the low-cost pathway constitutes 50% of my monthly caseload).

The low-cost pathway can be accessed by anyone who needs it. You can also seek out further financial support from local charities (like Pivotal Point), churches and schools who may directly contribute towards costs.

Additional costs:

●       Cognitive and literacy-based assessment materials: Approximately NZ$100

●       Additional assessment work and ongoing referrals is charged for by the hour.

Payment options:

●       Payment options are discussed at the end of the initial consult:

●       Full assessment fee to be paid in one amount up front.

●       'Pay as you go' arrangements can be made available if necessary.

●       Direct payment from insurance companies not accepted

General Psychology Practice Fees:

●       General psychology work, outside of that targeting literacy difficulties, is $180/hr

schedule a consutation

Additional Information

A Strengths-Based Perspective: A Central Principle of Educational Psychology

Strength-based practice is key to supporting engagement across students, families and schools.

People with dyslexia, according to one research-based framework, typically demonstrate thinking strengths across:

Material reasoning

spatial abilities

Interconnected thinking

seeing relationships and connections

Narrative thinking

storytelling and personal memory

Dynamic thinking

predictive, inductive and big-picture thinking

The Diagnostic Picture

Dyslexia is a language-based reading difficulty that directly affects reading and spelling, and sometimes impacts writing, maths, and social-emotional development. In New Zealand, it's defined as a a difficulty with accurate or fluent reading, writing, and spelling skills which develop incompletely or with great difficulty, often due to phonological processing difficulties.

The latest diagnostic manual (DSM-5) classifies dyslexia under Specific Learning Disorders. It's a pattern of learning difficulties characterised by persistent problems with accurate or fluent word reading, poor decoding, and poor spelling despite targeted intervention. The DSM-5 diagnostic process removes the historic link between specific literacy learning difficulties, intelligence and cognitive processes (as long as individuals do not exhibit general intellectual disability).

Important: Reading difficulties can vary in their presentation and exist on a continuum.

  • Not all reading difficulties represent the classical definition of dyslexia. There are many more reasons as to why individuals struggle with literacy development.

  • Your assessment will identify the specific nature of your literacy difficulties. It can also, if requested, provide clarity as to whether a significant and persistent reading difficulty it fits a diagnostic profile for dyslexia.

What Clients Say

“It has been really fantastic getting an insight into [my child’s] learning, and we are excited about the next steps”

“She really enjoyed the experience.”

“Thank you for seeing us so quickly.”

“You’ captured [my child] perfectly”

How Effective is Online Assessment

Research since COVID-19 continues to establish the validity of telehealth for both assessment and intervention for children with Specific Learning Difficulties:

  • Lampis et al. (2024): Valid and reliable assessment of children's learning skills via telehealth (79 children studied)

  • Capodieci et al. (2023): Significant improvements in reading fluency and writing accuracy through telehealth intervention (73 children)

  • Casalini & Pecini (2024): No outcome differences between face-to-face and telehealth dyslexia intervention

  • Walker et al. (2023): Telehealth feasible and acceptable across most cognitive domains

Ready to connect?

Let's Understand Your Literacy Journey Together

Whether you're a young person curious about how your brain works, a parent seeking answers and support for your child, or an adult ready to understand lifelong challenges, I'm here to help.

Get in Touch

I'll respond within 24 hours, Monday to Friday (NZST)