Walter has been a valued member of the New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists (NZAP) for more than 20 years. Over this period he has been actively involved at both national and local branch levels.
He served on local branch committees for a number of years until 2010; his roles included Newsletter Editor on the Executive Branch Committee and member of the Regional Supervisors’ Group. At a national level Walter was Chair of the Public Issues Committee from 2005-2006, he served as Chair of the Online Communication Committee between 2006-2012 and as Chair of the National Supervision Committee from 2009-2010.
Walter held a vision for online communication within the Association well before most others. It has been due to his initiative, diligence and persistence that we now interact through email, digital records and audiovisual means. He has further developed his thoughts by writing a monograph which is available on Amazon, “Archetypes of Cyberspace”.
Walter has been an active member of the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Psychodrama Association (AANZPA) since he started training in Psychodrama in 1979. He is a valued trainer, supervisor and staff member in the Christchurch Institute for Training in Psychodrama where he was one of the founding members in 1986.
He has served on the committee for the Federation of Training Institutes in New Zealand and contributed to the Psychodrama community in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia for a number of years through writing articles for the AANZPA Journal, offering workshops at conferences and assisting with web matters.
An important thread in Walter’s work has been couple therapy. For many years seeing couples has been a big part of his psychotherapy work. As an Imago Relationship Therapist he has developed an approach influenced by Harville Hendrix and Maya Kollman that integrates several models of couple therapy with psychodramatic encounter.
Walter has a propensity for exploring the evolutionary edge of the development of the human psyche and for engaging with innovative concepts and learning. He has a methodical and thoughtful approach to his work that is appreciated by many.
On behalf of the Association the Canterbury Branch wishes to acknowledge and honour Walter’s considerable contribution to NZAP and the wider field of psychotherapy.