23/04/2021
Last year in the midst of Covid I approached my family to help name my private practice. The name Fofoga was chosen as it has different meanings in Samoan.
Fofoga is the respectful term for face and for voice. It also means 'ie toga or fine mat.
It means 'face' as in the way that you meet someone face to face. It means 'voice' as in what you use to be heard and how you express yourself.
Fofoga is also the word for the feathers on the 'ie toga or fine mat.
In Samoan culture 'ie toga is passed through different families and communities through many significant occasions (funerals, weddings, ifoga, saofai).
The fofoga of the 'ie toga follow us through the journey of life experiencing joy, sorrow, happiness, sadness, celebration and mourning.
Fofoga therapy helps to face into something that can be painful or during a difficult period in your life.
It can be a place to voice your struggle in confidence and share what you've been carrying. In this talanoa something has the potential to shift, to open up and be heard and allow healing to begin
**Here is a photo of my friend Karlene and I during our Psychotherapy training gluing new fofoga to an 'ie toga that was gifted as a taonga at AUT Psychotherapy department. We are two of a very small handful of Pasifika psychotherapists.
