First Auckland Pacific counselling PhD graduate

The first Pacific person to graduate with a PhD in Education from the University of Auckland’s School of Counselling, Toleafoa Sarah Sala Va'afusuaga McRobie, received her doctorate in the Spring Ceremony on 20 September.

Before taking up her current role as a full-time lecturer in the University’s School of Counselling, Dr McRobie worked as a professional counsellor for 25 years in community, church and tertiary and government institutions, including close to ten years as the Pacific student counsellor at the University of Auckland.

“Although sexual violence trauma is a significant health issue for people in Aotearoa, relatively few Pacific survivors of sexual violence currently access counselling,” she says.

It was while doing her masters in counselling that Sarah created a Pasifika Indigenous Counselling (PIC) model which interweaves two previous models (Fonofale and Teu le vā).

Her study involved looking at Pacific counsellors and psychotherapists’ use of Indigenous values, as expressed through things like proverbs, metaphors and symbols; collective wisdom that has been passed down through the generations.

“For example, 'E fofō e le alamea le alamea' is an Indigenous Samoan proverb that says the remedy for the toxic sting of the alamea (crown-of-thorns starfish) can be found in the starfish itself; so solutions for issues affecting Pacific communities can be found within those communities,” she says.

“One of my main thesis findings was that Western mental health services are Eurocentric and don’t incorporate Pasifika holistic concepts of healing. Consequently, there’s a perception by Pasifika survivors that those services are culturally and spiritually insensitive.”

Another key finding, she says, is that in Pacific culture, sexual violence is considered a spiritual violation of vā and tapu, the holy relational space between the self and God, especially when the offender is a church leader or person of rank in the family or community.

“As a result, there is a spiritual and cultural disconnection, so spiritual solutions are often needed in the healing process as well.”

What inspired her most about her participants’ stories, she says, was the sense of hope in healing.

“Although the Niu-PIC model also highlights the tensions that exist, for example, between spirituality as both a cover up of abuse and a healing tool; and I acknowledge that healing is not an easy process.

“However, I believe it’s time to talanoa [talk] about this tapu [taboo] topic, as well as the stigma, shame and silence that prevents our Pacific survivors from reconnecting with their families, community and churches or accessing counselling and other health support services.”

Forgiveness, or ifoga, in the Samoan context is all important, she says.

“This process can include not just the victim but the alleged perpetrator and their respective families, communities and churches coming together to face the issue and heal together; alongside any separate legal processes these perpetrators might be facing of course.”

Sarah’s thesis was completed against the backdrop of the years-long Royal Commission Abuse in Care inquiry, whose final report was only submitted in July this year, and an acknowledgement from then government that there needed to be systemic change to address sexual violence trauma.

As a New Zealand-born Samoan (with Tongan descent) daughter, Sarah wants to honour the Lord and her late parents Soamauli Saefu Taumata Va’afusuaga (Falea’se’ela) and Sivilaise Saena Seua’i Va’afusuaga (Tuana’i, Tanungamanono, Tiapapata, Vava’u), who migrated to Aotearoa from Samoa in 1952 on the ship Matua.

“What I’ve achieved is a tribute to their lives and the values of faith in God, family and education they instilled in me.

"I also want to acknowledge and thank my husband Steve, my two sons and their families and my wider family, church, community and friends.

"We did it!”

Sarah also pays tribute to doctoral supervisors Professor Susan Kemp, Associate Professor Tamasailau Suaalii-Sauni and Dr Margaret Nelson Agee, and all her academic colleagues and the Student Hub staff across the Tai Tonga, Epsom and City Campuses.

E fofō e le alamea le alamea: An Indigenous Pasifika Counselling model for engaging and healing Pacific survivors of sexual violence trauma by Toleafoa Sarah Sala Va'afusuaga McRobie can be found on the Libraries and Learning Services research space.