Therapy helps ride through rough waters
Hayden Thorpe once lived in a nice beach house, had a great job, a loving wife and friends – he thought he had it all.
But the keen surfer knew something was wrong when he dropped into a wave one day.
Instead of the usual endorphins of anticipation flooding through his body, he felt empty.
‘‘I realised I was quite depressed. I didn’t really know why, or what, was going on as everything in my life was going sweet,’’ the Taranaki man said.
Thorpe discovered, through talking with others, that he felt a lack of purpose in his life, which led to the creation of Restoke.
The programme focuses on mental health and wellbeing through tapping into nature, or in this case, surfing.
The eight-week programme, involves five participants at a time, and brings people together to share kai and kōrero after hitting the waves, while also linking them to paid counselling sessions.
The initiative first began in Auckland, but has been operating in Taranaki for the past three years, after Thorpe moved back to the region.
Initially, Thorpe and his wife used to cover the entire cost of the programme, which was about $4000.
However, Clelands Construction and BTW Company have recently become involved, providing sponsorship for wetsuits, while engineering consultancy Beca has donated to the cause for the last two years.
Thorpe, who is a builder, volunteers about five hours a week with the initiative, with Restoke’s next session due to begin in mid-october.
While there were five spots, Thorpe usually had to consider more than 40 applications before making a decision.
‘‘That’s probably the hardest two weeks of the year.’’
Thorpe said Restoke was part of a wider goal he had to promote change regarding how New Zealand deals with mental health issues. He felt there needed to be a better incorporation of initiatives like surf therapy.
Thorpe, along with others, recently established Surf Therapy Aotearoa, as a way to share resources and information, as well as advocating for change.
Anyone interested in supporting Restoke, or who would like to apply to take part in the programme, can contact Thorpe at restokedlife@gmail.com, via www.restoke.co.nz, or call 021 053 0691.
Participants need to be at least 20 years old to apply.
‘‘I realised I was quite depressed. I didn’t really know why, or what, was going on as everything in my life was going sweet.’’ Hayden Thorpe