Abby McCormack - Te Āwhina Mahi Consulting

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Abby McCormack - Te Āwhina Mahi Consulting

Social Work Services and Professional Supervision. www.teawhinamahiconsulting.org Ehara tāku toa I te Takitahi, engari he toa takitini. To stand in mana.
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My strength is not as an individual but as a collective. Ko Abby McCormack taku ingoa
E mahi ana Tauwhiro. Ko Pokai whenua te maunga e te nei take ngakau ( the Port hills is where my heart stands)
Ko Otakaro te awa te mahea nei aku māharahara ( the Avon River elevates my worries)
No Otautahi ahau
No Airangi, Ingarangi, Te Tai Poutini õku tipuna. (My ancestors are from Ireland, England and the Wes

t coast). Ko McCormack toku whanua
Ko Alexandra raua Ko Nathan aku tamariki. Abby graduated from CPIT in 2009 and holds a Bachelor of Social work and full Social work registration with Social Work Registration Board of New Zealand. Abby holds a membership with Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social workers (ANZASW). Abby has completed Reflective Supervision Training with Margaret Morrell’s and enjoys continuing training around supervision models. She has had experience Supervising Social Work Students and Social work practitioners. Abby is passionate about
- Inclusion and accessible practices
- Self Advocacy and courageous conversations for ourselves not just our clients.
- Widening the scope for Self care and prevention of burn out.
- Learning appropriate Cultural responsiveness as a Pakeha Social worker

Her experience as a Social worker has been across many fields since graduation. Vast experience alongside Addictions, Parenting supports, Disability services, School based Social work. She has worked predominately within the Otautahi community, but also im the West Coast and Upper South Communities. My goals for my practice and services are to enhance the education and supports provided to Social Workers across Aotearoa for sustainable work place practices through Supervision and ongoing professional Development. Manaakitanga: To provide and encouraging work environments where everyone is welcome, integrity is demonstrated and respect is always shown. Kaitiakitanga: To provide a safe and supportive environment that includes accessible participation and effective communication. Courage: To be brave, to have mental and moral strength, to persevere and to move through difficulties with ease and grace. Nga Tūmanako: To support hopes, dreams and aspirations whilst leading by example. Aroha: To extend charity, compassion, empathy, care and kindness. Authenticity: To be tika and pono to Kaupapa. Whakapakari: To support others to aspire to be the best they can be through education, ethics and professionalism.

18/08/2026

Starting Early for Frocktober 🎀👗

This year, I’m starting my Frocktober fundraising early — because some causes deserve more than just one month of attention.

I’m stepping into my dresses, my heels and my purpose to raise awareness and funds for ovarian cancer research and support. 💙🤍

This one is deeply personal.

I’m doing it in memory of the wahine in my community and whānau who have faced ovarian cancer and didn’t survive. For the women whose lives were cut far too short. For their families, their friends, their mokopuna and everyone left carrying their love and their loss.

Every dress worn.
Every dollar raised.
Every conversation started.

It all matters.

Because ovarian cancer can be difficult to detect, and too many women are diagnosed too late. We need better awareness, better support and better outcomes for the wāhine who come after us.

So… Frocktober 2026, I’m coming for you!👗💙

I’ll be sharing the dresses, the stories, the fun and the fundraising along the way.

If you’d like to support my Frocktober journey, every donation — big or small — helps.

For the wāhine we remember.
For the wāhine we love.
For the wāhine still here.
And for the wāhine yet to come. 💙

https://www.Frocktober.org.nz

17/08/2026

🤍💙SHOWING UP FOR YOURSELF. 💙🤍

Sometimes the person you keep waiting for…
is you.

You can be the one who chooses you.
The one who keeps the promises you make to yourself.
The one who leaves when something no longer feels right.
The one who rests without earning it.
The one who speaks kindly to yourself when life feels heavy.

Being the person you need doesn’t mean having it all figured out.

It means asking:

What do I need today?
And then, where you can, giving yourself some of it.

More self-trust.
More boundaries.
More softness.
More courage.
More *I’ve got me.*

Because showing up for yourself is not selfish.

It’s self-respect.

🧡Abby

01/08/2026

Another revolution around the sun. ☀️🎉

Birthdays have a way of making us pause.

Not just to count the years, but to notice the life that's been lived within them.

The moments that stretched us.
The people who shaped us.
The losses we carried.
The joy we almost overlooked.
The courage it took to simply keep showing up.

So often we're the first to celebrate everyone else and the last to let ourselves be celebrated.

But here's your reminder...

💥 It's okay to take up space.
💥 It's okay to receive the love.
💥 It's okay to say "yay me" without guilt.

Celebrating another birthday isn't about pretending life has been perfect. It's about honouring the fact that you're still here—still learning, still growing, still becoming.

Every year is another revolution around the sun.
Another chance to love a little deeper.
Laugh a little louder.
Forgive a little more.
And live a little more intentionally.

So if today is your birthday—or if you're celebrating someone you love—don't rush past it.

Pause.
Reflect.
Celebrate.

Because making another trip around the sun is never something to take for granted.

🧡 Here's to another year. Another chapter. Another revolution. 🧡

✨ Happy birthday to everyone celebrating. Yay us.

🧡Abby

26/07/2026

Not everyone you're meant to meet has found your campfire yet. 🔥

We spend so much time wondering why some people leave, why connections fade, or why the right people haven't arrived yet.

But maybe the answer isn't that your fire isn't enough.

Maybe they simply haven't found it.

Your campfire is your kindness. Your values. Your resilience. The way you make people feel safe, seen, and accepted. It's the life you've built through joy, heartbreak, healing, and growth.

Not everyone is on the same path. Some people are still finding their way. Some are meant to warm themselves by a different fire. And some... simply haven't reached yours yet.

So instead of dimming your light to be more appealing or chasing people who keep walking past, keep tending your own fire.

Keep growing.
Keep laughing.
Keep healing.
Keep showing up as your authentic self.

The people who are meant for your life won't be drawn to a version of you that burns to please everyone. They'll be drawn to the steady warmth of who you truly are.

Sometimes the greatest act of faith is believing that your story isn't finished. There are still conversations you haven't had, friendships you haven't formed, and people you haven't met who will feel at home around your campfire.

Until then, keep the fire burning. ❤️🔥

🧡Abby

22/07/2026

There is something deeply healing about women who choose to celebrate one another instead of compete.

Surround yourself with women who inspire you. Women who challenge you to grow, whose wisdom stretches your thinking, whose confidence reminds you to own your own.

Find the women who listen without trying to fix, who hold space without judgement, and who remind you that vulnerability is not weakness. Learn from their stories. Share your own.

Be part of the invisible thread that connects us. The one that catches another woman when she stumbles, celebrates her when she rises, and reminds her she never has to carry life's weight alone.

Choose women who have made peace with both their light and their shadow. Women who don't shrink themselves to make others comfortable. Women who know their worth and give others permission to know theirs.

Walk alongside women who are courageous enough to challenge the status quo, who lead with compassion, who build, nurture, advocate, and create change without waiting for permission.

Because when women genuinely support women, we don't just empower individuals—we strengthen communities, families, workplaces, and generations to come.

May we be the women who admire instead of envy, encourage instead of compare, and leave every woman we meet feeling a little more seen, a little more valued, and a little more powerful.

🤍 We rise higher when we rise together.

🧡 Abby

21/07/2026

Lately, I've been noticing how many people seem worn down. Tired in a way that sleep doesn't quite fix. Carrying pressures, grief, uncertainty, responsibility, and the constant need to keep going.

And maybe that's why this matters: you can be sad and brave at the same time.

You can cry and still be strong.
You can feel overwhelmed and still be resilient.
You can be holding it together for everyone else while quietly needing a moment for yourself.

Crying isn't weakness—it's part of being human. Emotional tears are thought to help the body regulate stress, and some research suggests they may help lower cortisol, the hormone associated with stress. That release can leave you feeling lighter, calmer, and better able to process what you're carrying.

I've been seeing so many people feeling the feels lately, and honestly, I think that's healthy. Numbness isn't strength. Avoidance isn't healing. Allowing ourselves to feel—whether that's sadness, exhaustion, relief, anger, or tenderness—is often the first step toward moving through it.

So if today feels heavy, let yourself feel it. Let the tears come without shame if they need to. You're not falling apart. You're responding to being human in a demanding world.

Then, when you're ready, take a breath and keep moving forward. Not because the pain has vanished, but because courage isn't the absence of emotion—it's choosing to keep going while honouring what you feel.

🤍 Be gentle with yourself. You don't have to be unfeeling to be strong.🤍

🧡Abby

12/07/2026

✨ You can still burn out doing work you love 🧡

Passion doesn't make us immune to exhaustion.

Many of us are so good at finding calm amidst the chaos. We know how to regulate, ground ourselves, and keep showing up. We pause, breathe, reset... and then carry on.

But what if wellbeing isn't just about recovering from stress?

What if it's also about intentionally creating moments that spark joy?

Not because we've earned them.
Not because we're burnt out.
But because joy deserves a place in our everyday lives too.

This week, I'm asking myself:
💛 What lights me up?
💛 What makes me laugh?
💛 What helps me feel fully alive—not just functioning?

Finding calm is important.
Creating joy is essential.

What's one small thing you'll do this week that brings you genuine joy?

04/05/2026

Capacity doesn’t equal obligation.

Just because you *can* hold more, stretch further, give longer… doesn’t mean you should.

In social work — in human work — our capacity is often shaped by compassion, skill, and lived experience. But without boundaries, that same capacity gets mistaken for endless availability.

You are allowed to pause.
You are allowed to say “not today.”
You are allowed to protect the parts of you that make this work possible.

Because burning out helps no one.
And sustainable care starts with you.

This is your reminder:
✨ Your worth isn’t measured by how much you carry
✨ Your impact doesn’t require self-sacrifice
✨ Your boundaries are part of your practice

Hold space. Not everything.

🧡 Abby

SocialWorkersNZ WellbeingAtWork

Address

Christchurch

Telephone

+64212466546

Website

http://teawhinamahiconsulting.org/

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