Online therapy in New Zealand: seeing a psychologist by video

What online psychology is, and who it suits

Online psychology (you'll also see it called telepsychology, online therapy or e-therapy) is the same work a psychologist does in a clinic, delivered over a live, encrypted video call. You and your psychologist see and hear each other, talk, work through exercises and review progress in real time. It is not an app, a chatbot or a self-help course. The session is with a person, and at Mindwell that person is a psychologist registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board.

It tends to suit people who find getting to a clinic hard: shift workers, parents at home with a sleeping baby, people in towns with no psychologist nearby, people who can't take half a day off work for a 50-minute appointment. It also suits people who feel more comfortable talking from their own space, and people who would rather not sit in a waiting room where someone they know might walk in.

For some problems the home setting is a real advantage. Someone working on contamination fears can practise touching their own kitchen bench with their psychologist watching. Someone with social anxiety can rehearse a difficult phone call from the room they will actually make it in. Someone with panic attacks can learn to ride out the sensations on the same couch where they usually happen.

Online psychology is not the right fit for everyone, and the section below on when in-person care is better says so plainly. For most adults dealing with anxiety, low mood, OCD, trauma, grief or stress, though, it is a well-tested way of getting the same treatment with less friction.

How an online session works

At Mindwell, sessions run through Carepatron's secure video, which works in your web browser. There is nothing to download and no account to create. When you book, you receive a confirmation email with your video link and a calendar invite. At the appointment time you click the link, allow your camera and microphone, and your psychologist joins you.

A session is 50 minutes, the same as a standard in-person appointment. The first session is mostly about understanding you: what has brought you here, how long it has been going on, what you have already tried, and what you want to be different. Your psychologist will usually share their initial thinking and talk through a plan with you. Sessions are typically weekly or fortnightly after that.

Between sessions you may be asked to try things out: notice a pattern, practise a skill, run a small experiment. This between-session work is where much of the change in therapy happens, and it is the same whether you meet in person or by video.

• Before: find a private spot, check your connection, and have the link ready a few minutes early.
• During: talk as you would in a room together. If the picture freezes, say so; most glitches resolve in seconds.
• After: give yourself a few minutes before going back to your day. Therapy can stir things up, and there's no drive home to give you that breathing space.

Does online therapy work?

Yes, for the conditions psychologists most commonly treat. Three large meta-analyses, pooling more than a hundred studies and over 10,000 participants between them, compared live video or therapist-guided online therapy with in-person therapy and found the difference negligible; the effects were strongest for CBT for anxiety, depression and PTSD. The evidence is thinner for some less common conditions, and these are averages: a minority of people do better in a room, and a good psychologist will say so if that seems to be you. More of the research, and the honest caveats, are set out in our guide Is online therapy effective? What the research shows.

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What you need for a session

Less than you might think. You need three things.

• A private space. A bedroom with the door shut, a parked car, a spare office at work. Headphones help if the walls are thin. If privacy at home is hard, say so; your psychologist can help you work out options, and a bookable room at your local library is one people often overlook.
• A device with a camera and microphone. A laptop or desktop is easiest because the screen is bigger, but a tablet or phone works fine. Prop a phone up rather than holding it, so you can relax.
• A stable internet connection. Video needs a steady connection more than a fast one. Home broadband or a good 4G or 5G signal is enough. If your Wi-Fi is patchy, sitting closer to the router or switching to mobile data usually fixes it.

Close other video apps before you start, and plug your device in. If you're using a work laptop, check that its security software doesn't block camera access. That's about it.

Privacy and confidentiality online

Everything you tell a Mindwell psychologist is covered by the Health Information Privacy Code 2020, the same rules that apply to your GP. Information is shared only with your consent, or where the law requires or allows it, for example if there is a serious risk to your safety or someone else's. Your psychologist will explain the limits of confidentiality at your first session, exactly as they would in a clinic.

The video itself runs through Carepatron, which encrypts client data. You join from a link; there is no public meeting room to wander into.

The main privacy risk online is usually at your end, not the psychologist's: a flatmate overhearing, a shared family computer that stays logged in, a browser that remembers your intake answers. Use headphones, close the tab when you finish, and use your own device if you can. Our guide to privacy in online therapy goes into more detail, and our privacy policy sets out what we hold and why.

What online therapy can help with, and when in-person is better

Mindwell's psychologists work online with many of the difficulties adults bring to psychology, including: anxiety, including panic, social anxiety and health anxiety; OCD, including ERP; depression and low mood; trauma and PTSD, including EMDR; emotional dysregulation and DBT skills; grief; burnout; sleep; relationship and attachment patterns; chronic pain; and eating and body image concerns.

There are situations where private online psychology is not the right first step, and we would rather say so than take a booking that doesn't serve you.

• If you are in crisis or at risk of harming yourself. Call 111 if you are in immediate danger, or 1737 to talk to someone now. Your local Health NZ crisis team can see you urgently, which a private video practice cannot.
• If you need a team rather than one person. Psychosis, severe or long-standing eating disorders with medical risk, serious substance dependence, or conditions needing regular medication review usually go better with a community mental health team: psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse and GP working together. Your GP can refer you.
• If your difficulties relate to an injury, including sexual abuse or assault. ACC funds treatment through its own registered providers. Mindwell is not an ACC provider; ACC's Find Support directory lists Sensitive Claims therapists.
• If you are under 18, or living outside New Zealand. Mindwell sees adults who are in New Zealand. Young people have dedicated services, and psychologists registered here are not able to practise into other countries.

If you're unsure which of these applies to you, email team@mindwell.co.nz and describe what's going on. We'll tell you honestly whether we're the right place, and point you somewhere better if we're not.

What online therapy costs in New Zealand

Private psychology in New Zealand is not cheap, and prices are rarely published, which makes it hard to know what's reasonable. The sources that have looked put clinical psychologists in Auckland at roughly $180 to $240 a session in late 2025, one Christchurch practice at $180 to $250 for 50 minutes with a higher fee for a longer first appointment, and a 2022 Consumer NZ survey found psychologists charging $150 to $200.

Online sessions don't come with a built-in discount; you're paying for the psychologist's time either way. What you save is the travel, the parking and the hours off work, which for someone driving in from Te Puke or Rolleston can decide whether they go at all.

Mindwell charges one fee for every session with every psychologist: $199 + GST ($228.85 incl. GST) for 50 minutes, paid when you book. There is no higher first-session fee. A card processing fee of 2.9% + 60¢ applies. Many health insurers cover psychology up to an annual limit, commonly somewhere between $750 and $2,500 depending on the policy, and we give you a receipt to claim. Our fees page has the detail on payment, insurance and cancellations, our guide to online therapy options in NZ compares the types of service, and the public system through your GP remains free.

Online psychology across New Zealand

Wherever you live, the public route usually starts with your GP, who can refer you to your local Health NZ community mental health service or connect you with free brief support through the Access and Choice programme in the practice itself. The Government's target is for 80% of people reaching specialist mental health services to be seen within three weeks. What differs from place to place is the geography, and that is where online sessions change the picture. Mindwell's psychologists work only online, so every one of them is available anywhere in the country.

Auckland

Auckland's public services are split across three Health NZ districts, Waitematā, Te Toka Tumai Auckland and Counties Manukau, each with adult community mental health centres you reach through your GP; the after-hours urgent line for central Auckland is 0800 800 717. For private therapy, the barrier in Auckland is less distance than time: a clinic in Ponsonby is an hour from Howick in traffic. Online therapy takes that out of the equation. Mindwell's psychologists are available to adults anywhere in Auckland, from Albany to Pukekohe, for an early or lunchtime session without the drive.

Wellington

Wellington, Porirua, Kāpiti, the Hutt Valley and the Wairarapa share one public service, MHAIDS, whose 24/7 contact centre Te Haika (0800 745 477) is the front door for crisis and for moderate-to-severe need; GPs refer for community care. If you live in Masterton or Featherston, an in-person specialist appointment can mean a trip over the Remutaka Hill. Online sessions with a Mindwell psychologist happen in your own lounge, whether that's in Greytown, Paraparaumu or Wainuiomata.

Christchurch

In Canterbury, the public pathway runs through the Mental Health Single Point of Entry at Hillmorton Hospital (0800 920 092, 24 hours), which accepts referrals from your GP and from you directly. Christchurch has a fair number of private psychologists, but people in Rangiora, Rolleston, Ashburton or Timaru often face a long drive for a 50-minute appointment. Mindwell's psychologists see adults anywhere in Canterbury by video, at the same $199 + GST ($228.85 incl. GST) wherever you log in from.

Hamilton and Waikato

Health NZ Waikato runs a single point of entry for non-urgent adult referrals (07 834 6902), accepting referrals from GPs, from whānau and from people themselves, with a separate crisis team on 0800 50 50 50. The district is large, stretching from the Coromandel to Taumarunui, and private psychologists cluster in Hamilton. From Thames, Te Awamutu, Tokoroa or Te Kūiti, that's a long way to drive for an appointment. Online, a Mindwell psychologist is exactly the same distance from Hamilton East as from Taumarunui.

Bay of Plenty

Hauora a Toi Bay of Plenty's Adult Community Mental Health Service runs from Tauranga and Whakatāne and is for adults aged 18 to 65 with severe and complex needs, usually by GP referral; the crisis numbers are 0800 800 508 (Tauranga) and 0800 774 545 (Whakatāne). Many people with anxiety, OCD or low mood sit below that threshold and are left looking privately. The region is spread out, and Katikati, Te Puke, Ōpōtiki and Murupara are all a drive from the main centres. Mindwell's psychologists are available to adults across the Bay online, small towns included.

Otago and Southland

Health NZ Southern covers Otago and Southland, with adult community mental health teams in Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown, rural teams in Oamaru, Balclutha, Gore and Clyde, a free community line (0800 443 366) and a 24/7 emergency line (0800 467 846). Specialist care is concentrated in Dunedin and Invercargill. If you're in Wānaka, Alexandra or Te Anau, a face-to-face psychologist can mean hours on the road, and more in winter. Online sessions with Mindwell happen on your schedule, with no road to think about.

Rural and remote New Zealand

Around one in five New Zealanders lived in rural areas in 2022, and the Rural Health Strategy is blunt about what that means: "the further someone lives from a health service, the less likely they are to access health care." A rural GP is often the only mental health contact for an hour in any direction. Online psychology suits this well. If your home connection is patchy, a phone with good signal or a quiet room at the local library will do. Mindwell's psychologists are available to adults from Kaitāia to Rakiura, wherever there is a connection.

Wherever you are on this list or off it, the next step is the same: book a session, or read how it works first.

How to get started

1. Read about the problem you're facing. Our services pages explain what treatment involves for anxiety, OCD, depression, trauma and more, so you know what you're walking into.
2. Choose a psychologist, or let us match you. Our team page lists each psychologist's focus areas and approaches. If you have no preference, booking the first available appointment is the fastest route.
3. Book online. Booking is open 24 hours a day and takes a few minutes. You pay at booking, and first sessions are typically available within 7 days. No GP referral is needed.
4. Complete the short intake form. A consent form and brief questionnaire arrive by separate email and take about five minutes.
5. Join your session. Click the link in your confirmation email at the appointment time. Your psychologist takes it from there.

If you have a question first, use the "Ask a question" form on our homepage or email team@mindwell.co.nz; we usually reply within one business day. How it works has the detail on each step, and what to expect in a first session covers the part most people are nervous about.

Related support: How it works · Fees and payment · Is online therapy effective? · Our team