Melissa Viviers
Founder & Director, Trauma Insight Solutions
Registered Psychologist
Trauma-Informed Practice Specialist
Workshop Facilitator & Keynote Speaker
Melissa Viviers is a Registered Psychologist, keynote speaker, and the founder of Trauma InsightSolutions. She is known for her high-impact, straight-talking delivery style that blends behavioural science, trauma-informed practice, and human-first strategy. Melissa teaches teams how to understand what’s actually driving behaviour so they can respond with clarity instead of chaos.
Across New Zealand, she supports front line teams, health and social-service providers, alternative education settings, and workplaces navigating complex human challenges. Melissa is recognised for transforming workplace culture by helping people see beneath the surface, decode stress responses, and build systems grounded in compassion and accountability.
Melissa also offers professional coaching for leaders and staff, strengthening emotional regulation, confidence, workplace wellbeing, and trauma-informed leadership capability. Her work is candid, practical, and deeply values-driven, bringing insight, humour, and transformative understanding into every space she enters.
Alongside organisational training, Melissa provides ACC Sensitive Claims therapy using EMDR as a key modality, supporting clients through relational, practical, and evidence-based trauma recovery.
Rodger McLeod RPdN, RCompN, PgCerts
Forensic Mental Health Nursing
Adult Teaching
Clinical Supervision
Health Leadership
Rodger McLeod brings over 46 years of experience across nursing, mental health, addictions, intellectual disability, acute services, and aged care, with a career grounded in strengthening people, services, and community wellbeing. He has held senior leadership roles including CEO of Dalcam Healthcare, General Manager of Westella, and Senior Manager of Acute Mental Health and Addiction Services, leading large, complex organisations with responsibility for up to 90 staff and budgets exceeding $9 million.
Within Trauma Insight Solutions, Rodger’s work focuses on workshops, leadership development, and professional coaching for organisations operating in high-pressure, people-focused environments. He brings a strong clinical and ethical lens to topics such as trauma exposure, decision-making under stress, professional boundaries, leadership responsibility, and sustaining workforce wellbeing, particularly for leaders who hold significant emotional and operational load.
Rodger is experienced in clinical supervision, coaching, adult education, and workforce capability building, and is known for his ability to translate complex systems, data, and clinical realities into practical insight, utlising Results-Based Accountability (RBA) to support clarity, innovation, and meaningful outcomes.
Alongside his health leadership career, Rodger has served in the New Zealand military, including roles as a platoon commander and captain, further shaping his understanding of leadership, responsibility, and performance under pressure.
Rodger is deeply committed to creating services, and leaders, that are ethical, grounded, and effective, and to supporting organisations to think clearly, lead safely, and deliver outcomes that genuinely improve lives.
Dr Alexa Curtis DClinPsych, MNZPsS, MEMDRNZ
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Alexa is an experienced clinician who supports individuals through a range of assessments for ACC and ADHD, as well as providing brief therapeutic intervention.
Alexa brings many years of experience in mental health and wellbeing, with training in several evidence-based therapeutic approaches, including CBT, EMDR, and solution-focused therapy. She has also conducted research with Massey University on non-verbal indicators of emotion, exploring how training and experience shape our ability to recognise emotional expression.
Her professional background includes work with the Department of Corrections, ACC, and the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care, where she provided wellbeing support to survivors during investigations.
Alexa’s therapeutic style is warm, authentic, and compassionate. She takes a strengths-based, holistic approach and is deeply mindful of the impacts of trauma.
Outside of work, Alexa enjoys spending time with her two grandchildren and her muchloved dogs and cats. She is also passionate about travel and music. Alexa is based in Levin, Horowhenua.
Professional Memberships:
- New Zealand Psychologists Board (NZPB)
- New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS)
- New Zealand EMDR Association (EMDRNZ)
Jacqui Thompson
Registered Nurse
Jacqui is a NZ Registered Nurse and has been working alongside health consumers and other health professionals for over 35 years.
After nearly 20 years as a Diabetes Nurse Educator and Clinical Manager, she set herself some fresh challenges in 2024, taking up a role as an Active Families Advisor under Te Whatu Ora contracts, an Independent Nurse contractor carrying out clinical assessments for insurance purposes. Also, she joined multi-disciplinary teams under the ACC Sensitive Claims Service as a Registered Nurse.
All three roles enable her to combine her experience, clinical and educator skills to assess, support, guide and advocate for clients.
Jacqui is very focused on helping her clients gain knowledge and confidence in their own health and well-being, enabling them to live their best possible life.
She achieves this by sharing evidence-based, sustainable, and practical ways to manage your health, with support from your health providers and whānau.
Jacqui is known for providing gentle, compassionate, and non-judgemental care to her clients, with a slice of humour and ‘realness’ added when appropriate.
Continuing professional development remains important to her, and she is currently completing a Diploma of Nutrition and contemplating starting a Health Coaching qualification in 2026.
Jacqui has lived and worked in the mighty Manawatu and beyond for most of her life and has strong professional connections and networks in these communities.
Kristen White
Registered Dietitian
Kristen is NZ Registered Dietitian with over 20 years’ experience helping clients feel better in mind and body with food. She offers practical advice to help women nourish themselves and their families and is passionate about guiding people towards a more peaceful and balanced relationship with food. You can read more about Kristen on her website www.kotarewellness.nz
Kirsty Robinson
Registered Social Worker
Kirsty Robinson is a Registered Social Worker with extensive experience in family violence and social service delivery.
Currently serving as a Senior Social Worker at Health Hub, Kirsty is deeply passionate about providing trauma-informed support to individuals and families in need. Alongside Kirsty’s fulltime role, she contributes to social work education as a guest lecturer, tutor, and marker at Massey University. With a solid background in both government and non-government sectors, Kirsty excels in front-line practice, supervision, and teaching.
Kirsty is dedicated to empowering social workers through external supervision, fostering resilience, and creating spaces for reflective practice. Kirsty brings a holistic, strengths-based approach that encourages growth, accountability, and positive, lasting change.
Mikayla Brown
Administration Support
Mikayla provides administration support at Trauma Insight Solutions, working closely behind the scenes with Melissa and Phoebe to ensure systems, communication and operational processes run smoothly. She assists with invoicing, client reminders, website enquirers and a range of administrative tasks that enable the team to deliver consistent, high-quality care.
With a calm and organised approach, Mikayla prioritises people, clear communication and reliability, creating a positive and seamless experience for clients and clinicians. Alongside her role at TIS, Mikayla is in her final year of her Master of Counselling and works part-time as a School Counsellor, bringing a strong understanding of wellbeing, professionalism and care into her work.
Phoebe Snowdon
Administration
Phoebe works behind the scenes at Trauma Insight Solutions, where she plays a vital role in supporting both the team and the people who reached out to us.
She is often the first point of contact for clients, a moment that can feel daunting and vulnerable. Phoebe approaches this work with respect, clarity, pride, and care. Fully aware of how difficult that first step can be, Phoebe prefers not to be publicly visible and we respect her choice to do this meaningful work without being in the spotlight.