Strength-based speech &
language therapy services.
Whole-person care in
everyday communication.
Pacific Rim Speech provides assessment and therapy services for school-aged learners and adults. Our services focus on helping people find their voice in everyday spaces. Our mahi/work specializes in families and adults navigating speech, language, literacy, and social communication difficulties. This also includes rehabilitation following injury or trauma-related life events.
Our home clinic is a space where you can come as you are for therapy that meets you where you’re at. We are based out of Ōtautahi/Christchurch and also offer school-based visits in the surrounding area.
Our website is currently scroll-based only for access ease.
If you have any questions or would like to book an initial honohono/connecting call to chat about our services, please fill out the connect form below.
Keep scrolling to see more about our mahi/work and us.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Merci/Mahsi cho/Ngā mihi/Fa'afetai
Questions?
Let’s connect.
Kia ora!
If you are a Counsellor, Psychologist, or other service provider sending a referral, please email: services@pacificrimspeech.nz
We regularly work with ACC Lead Providers, teams, and ORS school-based teams. Our services are provided by trained, experienced, and registered Speech-Language Therapists/Pathologists.
“I think that a good storyteller brings hope, hilarity, comfort, inspiration and peace.”
-Richard Van Camp (Tłı̨chǫ Dene Author & Storyteller)
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We value building a safe space for meaningful connections and therapy goals to grow, respecting and upholding the shared Māori and Indigenous view that people are ‘born capable’.
Like many cultures across the Pacific Rim, we incorporate story or narrative intervention into much of our work. Whether we create new stories or build stories from real experiences, research tells us this is a rich approach to meeting a variety of social communication and language-based goals.
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A wee bit more . . .
Kia ora! I’m Nicole. I hold a Bachelors in Media Communications from Simon Fraser University (Canada) and a Masters in Speech-Language Pathology from University of Canterbury (NZ). My studies and career have also included psychology, theatre, and improv comedy.
I also lean into additional training that includes trauma-informed care, multisensory learning, and neuro-affirming approaches to intervention.
This includes how cognition and language impact navigating visual and verbal information, sensory demands and tools, problem-solving, and perspective-taking in daily activities. -
Planning & organization of information
Personal event narrative language & reminiscent style strategies
Perspective-taking, emotional vocabulary, & problem-solving through narrative/story work
Regulation, voice and self-monitoring for communication readiness
Communication & comprehension following significant injury or events (including word-finding)
Neurodivergent preferences, flexibility & social communication
Certified Structured literacy intervention
Childhood apraxia of speech
Collaborative assessment, such as FASD or AutPD services in school settings
Did you know?
Speech-language Therapists (SLT’s) often work in teams with other Rehab providers (OT/PT), Educators, Dieticians, Counsellors, and Psychologists. SLT’s are the only health provider trained and qualified to assess and deliver speech, cognition & language, voice, and swallowing services across the lifespan. This registration is not required in NZ but mandatory in countries such as Canada and Australia. *We are registered in Canada and voluntarily registered in New Zealand.
Research tells us that each classroom has multiple students with communication difficulties and/or disorder who would benefit most from direct speech therapy services provided by SLT’s. Access to adequate healthcare services means learner needs are both accurately identified and safely, effectively, and adequately supported. This can increase learner motivation and engagement, reduce negative experiences with curriculum and peers, and support a stronger foundation for literacy and communication success as adults.
