Auckland · Glenfield & Orewa
Stress, burnout and sleep that will not come
Wired at eleven at night and flattened at seven in the morning. Shoulders that never come down. We treat the physical end of stress and poor sleep — alongside your GP, not instead of them. Our stress and sleep Auckland team sees people at both clinics when stress has turned physical.
The physical side of it
Anxiety and poor sleep are not only in your head. They show up in a jaw that aches by mid-morning, a neck that will not release, breathing that has crept up into the top of the chest, and a heart rate that takes hours to come down after nothing much happened.
That physical end is the part we work with. Acupuncture and massage are calm, hands-on sessions that many people find relaxing during stressful times.
We are not psychologists and we do not pretend to be. What we offer sits alongside counselling, therapy and whatever your GP has prescribed.
What we see
Different patterns call for different approaches.
A mind that starts working the moment the light goes off. We look at what keeps your mind running at night and what is worth trying.
Asleep fine, awake for two hours in the small hours. Worth raising with your GP and looking at properly.
Eight hours in bed and still exhausted. If this is the main complaint, see our chronic fatigue page as well.
The stage after stress, where you are no longer anxious so much as flat, foggy and unable to care. Recovery is slower than people expect and it is worth starting properly.
Jaw clenching, tension headaches, a churning stomach, shallow breathing, shoulders permanently up. Each is worth looking at in its own right.
Thyroid problems, iron or B12 deficiency, blood sugar swings and the perimenopause all produce symptoms that look exactly like anxiety. Worth ruling in or out before assuming.
If things are bad right now
We treat the physical side of stress and sleep. If you are having thoughts of harming yourself, if you cannot keep yourself safe, or if things have deteriorated quickly, please get proper support now rather than waiting for an appointment with us. In New Zealand you can call or text 1737 free, any time, to talk to a trained counsellor. In an emergency call 111. Your GP is the right first call for medication, referrals and anything that needs a diagnosis.
Who treats it
Most people use two of these together. Acupuncture and massage is the commonest pairing.
Releases the neck, jaw and upper back that stress has been loading for months, and is deeply calming in its own right. Often the first appointment people actually look forward to.
Works on the ribcage, diaphragm and upper back, which is where months of shallow, high chest breathing settle.
For the physical drivers — thyroid, iron, B12, vitamin D, blood sugar and hormonal change — that can produce anxiety symptoms and are worth identifying rather than assuming.
What to expect
It will not make a difficult job easy or a hard year disappear. What we offer is time to slow down and an honest view of what is worth trying.
We review after a few sessions and tell you honestly whether it is worth continuing, rather than booking you in for another ten.
Between appointments
Get up at the same time every day, including weekends. Wake time anchors the whole system far more effectively than bedtime does, and it is the single change that makes the biggest difference to broken sleep.
If you would like to start meditating, our practical guide to meditation covers mindfulness and the relaxation response.
Daylight early, caffeine before noon, and alcohol treated honestly — it gets you to sleep and then fragments the second half of the night. Our guide to sleeping positions and choosing a pillow covers the physical set-up.
Slow breathing, out for longer than in, for a few minutes. It is free and easy to try.
Your first visit
A long conversation, then treatment. Nothing you have to talk about that you would rather not.
How you sleep, what stress looks like in your body, what is going on, what you are taking and what you have already tried.
A check on the things that mimic anxiety — thyroid, iron, B12, blood sugar, hormonal change — and whether testing is worth doing.
Acupuncture, massage or hands-on treatment, whichever suits. Most people find the session relaxing.
Two or three changes that matter, and an honest view on how many appointments to try before deciding whether it is helping.
Common questions
Anything else? Call 09 444 3231.
Visiting us
| Monday – Thursday | 7:00am – 7:00pm |
|---|---|
| Friday | 7:00am – 6:00pm |
| Saturday | 10:00am – 5:00pm |
| Sunday | Closed |
| Monday – Friday | 8:00am – 7:00pm |
|---|---|
| Saturday | 10:00am – 5:00pm |
| Sunday | Closed |
Related conditions
Book online at Glenfield or Orewa, or call 09 444 3231. If things are urgent, call or text 1737 first.
