Mel Jay
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 Jones 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 the North Island of Aotearoa (New Zealand) but spent most of my time growing up in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) in the South Island 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 single Mama to three and 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.
My work is founded upon decolonising healing and making healing accessible to anyone who needs it, hono mai.
I’m a therapist, creator, beauty lover and multi-faceted woman who believes we’re not meant to live in one lane.
For over eight years, I’ve worked across therapy, body-based healing and ritual beauty, weaving together depth, expression and lived experience. My work is shaped by the understanding that healing doesn’t require you to shrink, soften or abandon parts of yourself — it asks you to integrate them.
I’m not your typical therapist, and this isn’t surface-level self-help. In my world, we go deeper — but we also honour beauty, creativity, pleasure and self-expression as part of the journey. Through holistic therapy, integrative practices and body-focused work, I support people to untangle the patterns that keep them stuck so they can stop coping and start living in a way that feels aligned, embodied and true.
My approach is informed by Indigenous wisdom and grounded in practices such as mirimiri, rongoā and wairua-led guidance, alongside breathwork and somatic awareness. While I hold university qualifications and professional training, this is not a clinical or cold space — it’s a relational, intuitive and deeply human one. I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all healing. Every person is met where they are, and the work unfolds in a way that honours their unique journey.
Alongside my therapeutic work, I’m the founder of Ritual Beauty — a space where beauty and self-care become intentional rituals rather than routines. Ritual Beauty was born from the belief that adornment, touch and self-care can be powerful acts of presence and choice. Whether through lashes, brows, or ritual-inspired products, this work exists to remind us that beauty doesn’t sit outside healing — it can be part of how we reconnect with ourselves.
My perspective is also shaped by lived experience. Walking through trauma and addiction in my own life changed everything about how I understand transformation. Healing, for me, was never about fixing myself — it was about reclaiming my agency, rewriting patterns, and becoming someone who could create, love and live fully. That experience continues to inform the way I hold space for others: grounded, honest, and embodied.
Alongside lived experience, I bring professional depth. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Anthropology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling, certification in breathwork, training in mirimiri and intuitive bodywork, and ongoing postgraduate research into Māori healing and reclamation. My work bridges academic insight and Indigenous wisdom — not to explain healing, but to honour it.
At the heart of everything I do is the belief that you are allowed to be complex, expressive and evolving. My hope is that through my work — whether in therapy, ritual beauty, or shared reflections — you feel permission to embrace all parts of yourself and begin again, as many times as you need.
If you’re ready to move beyond avoidance and step into your own becoming, you’re in the right place.
You've done the self-work. You've read the books. You've had the breakthroughs. And yet ...
the same emotions and patterns keep surfacing?
Most coaching helps you reframe your thoughts. Most traditional talk therapy helps you unpack your past. In my signature 1:1 offer The healing self program I use an integrative approach that helps you break free from the patterns that are keeping you stuck.
Unlike traditional coaching, which focuses on mindset shifts, this approach goes deeper using a therapy foundation that guides you into the subconscious, the nervous system and the emotional imprints still shaping your present with a qualified and trained therapist.
Taking the best techniques from both frameworks and using an ethical approach guided by the NZAC code of ethics to create a trauma responsive and culturally respectful healing therapy space.
