Manukura | Laura Tongalea-Nolan

Ka aalo auloa e vaka, to holo hako moe tonu.

When everyone rows together in unison, the canoe will stay true and fast to the course and make it to the fishing ground quickly and efficiently.

Fakaalofa lahi atu kia mutolu oti

Ko e higoa haaku ko Laura Tongalea-Nolan

Ko e tau matua haaku ko Sameli Tongalea mo Tony Nolan

Hau au he maaga ko Avatele, Niue

Nofo au i Tauranga, Aotearoa.

I am a registered DAPAANZ professional with 15 years experience working in the mental health and addictions sector. Over this time I have practised in both primary and secondary mental health settings; residential and forensic facilities, within kaupapa Māori, Pasifika and mainstream organisations. In more recent years I have been focussing more on workforce development and professional supervision. Earlier this year I founded Here Today, a small business focussing on growing the capability and the confidence of those working with individuals experiencing addiction issues.

I am the Managing Director of Here Today, a recently founded business which provides professional supervision, workforce development training and advice to anybody working with individuals experiencing alcohol and drug related difficulties. I relocated from Tāmaki Makaurau to Tauranga Moana in February this year to bring my little family home, however I have enjoyed remaining connected with my sector peers nationally through various groups that I am privileged to sit on. I am currently the co-chair of Drua Pasifika Addictions Network and recently joined the National Committee for Addiction Treatment. I was appointed to the NZ Drug Foundation board this year also and I am really looking forward to being able to contribute to the amazing mahi happening across each of these spaces at a strategic level.

While representation within these governance spaces is important, I find most of my career satisfaction comes from being at the frontline practicing clinically and having contact with our communities seeking out wellbeing support directly. At the moment I get to do this working part time as a senior clinician at Hanmer Clinic, an Intensive Outpatient Programme treatment provider in Tauranga Moana. Keeping my hand in the clinical realm keeps me grounded and connected with the essence of the work that we do within the AOD profession – that is, supporting people to live a life that is well, as determined by them and their families.

One of the highlights of my career has been getting the opportunity to design, develop and deliver a Pasifika addictions programme to incarcerated Pasifika men. Special acknowledgement to Odyssey for the support and encouragement to do this. Access to, engagement with, and retention in addiction treatment is low across the board for Pasifika, but especially so for males. To be able to reach those most in need of this kind of support was a real privilege and I am still in awe at the transformation and reclamation of mana that I witnessed during my time working with this group of individuals.

In 2021 I completed my Master’s research and focussed on exploring the experiences of Pacific Peoples in Twelve Step Programmes (TSP). Given the low uptake of and retention in formal AOD services for Pasifika, I was curious to see what experiences were like in peer led/self governing mutual support groups and whether there might be any learnings that could be applied within formal addiction services.

The findings showed that certain Pacific values such as hospitality, faith and collectiveness were particularly meaningful and resonated strongly with Pasifika participants within TSP. The concept of volition was also considered valuable for participants; particularly for the men, who seemed to respond better to the group setting than the women, who preferred one on one mentoring (ie. sponsor/sponsee relationship).

According to the participants, some of the areas that were identified for improvement were the need for consistently separate spaces for men and women, the need for more Pasifika in the rooms, and the need for increased awareness around TSP being recognised as a viable support option for Pasifika entering recovery from addiction. I would really like to continue researching into this area… perhaps later, during PhD years. For now I have seen a real validation of trusting in our own Pacific ways of doing and being when it comes to our recovery from challenges such as addiction. We know the way!