kindness
matters

Being kind to yourself changes your brain and increases emotional resilience.
Being kind to others changes the world.

DR Anna Friis 

Anna is a psychologist based in Auckland, New Zealand, welcoming therapy clients to her Ponsonby clinic. She also offers online consultations. She is a Certified teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) with a deep personal commitment to these practices as pathways to increased well-being and flourishing. Learning to be mindful and to treat oneself with kindness when meeting life's inevitable challenges is a powerful antidote to depression, anxiety and burn-out, enabling one to live with ease, connection and contentment.    
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"Working with you has changed the most important relationship in my life .. the relationship with myself. For that, I am truly grateful." Vanessa

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Evidence shows mindfulness and compassion practices are balms for many modern day ailments and can increase resilience and wellbeing.  Anna is a regular speaker to both corporate and community audiences, sharing personal, professional and academic expertise.

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Psychologist

 Life can be difficult. Learning new tools to cope with emotional and physical distress can help. If you feel that compassion-based therapy may be right for you,  contact Dr Anna Friis for an appointment (in person and on-line services available)

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COURSES

 Anna offers training in mindfulness and self-compassion in New Zealand and around the world. She is a Certified teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion with the Center for MSC (www.centerformsc.org), and is a Mentor for the programme through the University of California San Diego Center for Mindfulness . She also offers monthly free zoom meditation drop-ins to which anyone is welcome. (Click courses tab for current training options and enrolments)

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MINDFUL SELF COMPASSION

FIVE-DAY INTENSIVE TRAINING MANA RETREAT, SEPTEMBER 15-20, 2025

September 15, 2025 7:00 PM
Mana Retreat Centre, Coromandel
Tuition Fees: $900

This is the full MSC course in an intensive five-day format, co-taught by Dr Anna Friis and Mara Elwood.

The retreat starts on Monday, evening, with an evening meal and a short introductory session. Sessions continue Tuesday to Saturday (morning only on Sat).  Morning sessions 9.30 to 12.30pm, afternoon sessions 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. There will be optional creative sessions offered in the evening by Mara to deepen that days learning. There will be plenty of time to explore the gorgeous grounds and surrounds of Mana Retreat Centre as well, with a morning off from coursework in the middle of the retreat.

Register directly through Mana Retreat.

Mindful Self Compassion – An Introduction and Practise and Mindful Self-Compassion for Burnout

‍with Drs CHRIS GERMER AND ANNA FRIIS,
December 17, 2024 (see flyer for enrolment details).

Book me in

featured blog post

Sunday, January 7, 2024

Life, Death and Everything In-Between: Cultivating a Good Life in 2024

In the space of a few short months I watched, awe-struck, as my granddaughter took her first-ever breath and bore silent witness as a dying stranger took their last. One life began, another life ended. The veil lifted, the bells chimed; I remembered once more that life is miraculous, fleeting, fragile and infinitely precious. Nothing is permanent. Everything is changing, arriving and leaving. With the New Year’s gift of slowed time, and the oxygen and inspiration that comes from travelling in foreign places, I offer my take on making the in-between breaths count; on what makes a life well-lived.

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Monday, January 13, 2020

Unbusy Yourself: There's no Time to Waste

This summer, for the first time in what feels like way too long, I have spent day after day just with myself and my beloved. Real conversations have unfolded. We have had time and space, and felt expansive and safe enough to say things that needed saying, and loving enough to hear them with an open heart. We have learned wonderful new things about each other after all these years together. We’ve had real fun. We noticed how when days slow right down, they become curiously full. Turns out there is a lot going on when we unbusy ourselves. ... click below to read more.

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Wednesday, September 25, 2019

It's Time to Rest

My body hurts. Whispers of new pain have slowly surfaced over the last ten months. Aches and twangs in my neck, tingling in my shoulders, and an unusual kind of twisting in my spine that has affected my hips.  I am in pain because my son has been sick this past year, and I’m his mum.  My body has quietly been soaking up the trauma and sadness, burying it inside, kindly allowing my mind the space it needed to get on with getting on. There has, indeed, been a lot to get on with. Hospital stays, doctors meetings, multiple surgeries. Keeping vigil. Witnessing. Helping my brave boy shoulder some of the shock of a surprise diagnosis and its consequences. Trying to make sense of a world when a young, fit, gorgeous man can have his life turned upside down out of nowhere. Carrying on with life. Having him living back at home. No time to feel it.

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Wednesday, January 16, 2019

LOST AT SEA: MEDITATION ON THE FRONTLINE

A few weeks ago, just before New Year, I spent an hour or so lost in a big sea, swept several kilometres from shore, holding tightly to my paddle board. I felt very small, very fragile, riding increasingly large ocean swells. A decision to test my new board without checking the conditions found me caught in an escalation of off-shore wind and currents – and in trouble. Eventually I got rescued by the local surf life saving crew in an IRB responding to calls from people who had seen the wind blow up and take me away. I lived to tell the tale. And I sure won’t be going paddle boarding in conditions like that any time soon. So, why am I telling you this? Other than an opportunity for a shout out to the local surf life savers (thanks guys, you’re awesome) what was interesting to me was the realisation that I wasn’t panicked, and I think that’s hands down thanks to my meditation practise ... click below to read more.

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LEarn HOW TO

  • Practise mindfulness and self-compassion in your daily life

  • Learn how to handle difficult situations and emotions with greater ease

  • Learn how to motivate yourself with kindness rather than criticism

  • Learn tools to transform challenging relationships 

  • Increase resilience and learn tools to prevent burn-out

  • Practise the art of savouring and self-appreciation

show me how


‍

Dr. anna friis Ph.D

Health Psychologist
B.A. PGDipSci, M.Sc (Hons),
PGDip Health Psychology, PH.D

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