PANZ Whakatū Nelson
The PANZ Whakatū Nelson Campus provides training leading to certification as an AANZPA practitioner of Psychodrama, Sociodrama, Sociometry or Role Training. The Campus curriculum and practice is governed by the AANZPA Code of Ethics and the AANZPA Board of Examiners’ Training and Standards Manual.
Training Information
Enrolment
About training
Training agreement
Training plan
Complaints procedure
Policy manual
The Structure of the Training Process
Training involves attending the year-long programme, other training and personal development workshops, reading, writing, practising with peers, attending supervision and other social activities. Training is open to those who wish to develop their professional abilities without necessarily becoming certificated practitioners in psychodrama.
For some people attending a year or two of training enhances their ability to do the particular work they are focused on. Other people experience a desire to develop a level of sophistication and excellence in working with people using the psychodramatic method. These people work for 5 to 7 years to achieve certification with the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Psychodrama Association (AANZPA) as a Psychodramatist, Sociodramatist, Sociometrist or Role Trainer.
At the end of the training year, each trainee has a 40-minute consultation with members of the training staff to review role development, progress and next steps in their training.
PANZ Whakatū Nelson Training Programme
Cher Williscroft Psychodrama Essential: An introduction to using the psychodramatic method
Nelson. February 22 2025. Cher Williscroft. This one-day workshop will involve active, experiential learning using the psychodrama method. This may include one of the four psychodrama specialities: role training, sociodrama, sociometry and psychodrama. It will benefit those who wish to experience the psychodrama method and draw on its potency in your work This workshop will also assist you to develop your leadership capacity – in play, in work and in relationships – increasing your capacity to rise up to life’s challenges and be uplifted in your spirit.
Cher Williscroft Supervised Practice Group – developing your competent practice
Cher Williscroft Supervised Practice Group – developing your competent practice Feb to Oct 2025
Suitable for those trainees who work in one to one, group or organisational setting: counselling, psychology, supervision, teaching, training, psychotherapy, coaching, group workers or community development, who wish to ensure their competent practice and expand their abilities in a small group setting.
Role Training – doing better in the moment May 2025
May 2 to 4 2025 Nelson: Chris Hosking. Role Training – doing better in the moment. Standalone weekend training workshop. Suitable for anyone in counselling, psychology, teaching, training, psychotherapy, coaching, or anyone who works in a practice that helps others to develop a progressive and satisfying life.
Cher Williscroft Psychodrama Essential: An introduction to using the psychodramatic method
Nelson. November 8th 2025. Cher Williscroft. This one-day workshop will involve active, experiential learning using the psychodrama method. This may include one of the four psychodrama specialities: role training, sociodrama, sociometry and psychodrama. It will benefit those who wish to experience the psychodrama method and draw on its potency in your work This workshop will also assist you to develop your leadership capacity – in play, in work and in relationships – increasing your capacity to rise up to life’s challenges and be uplifted in your spirit.
PANZ Whakatū Nelson Staff
Cher Williscroft
PANZ Whakatū Nelson Director of Training
Cher is a Sociodramatist and Trainer Educator Practitioner (TEP) with PANZ and is Director of Training for the Wakatu/Nelson campus. She currently sits on the Board of Examiners and holds the role of the Practical Assessment Registrar. She has served twice on the AANZPA Executive as Membership Secretary and Secretary.
Cher’s early career was in Community Arts, Community Education, Community Recreation and Community Development, working for Nelson City Council and Nelson Polytechnic.For 8 years she worked in leadership roles at the Sealord Group Ltd as Human Resources Manager and then Organisation Development Manager, where she applied herself as a sociodramatist in the leadership of Maori and Japanese owned commercial seafood organisation.
As Managing Director of her business, Conflict Management Ltd (since 1986), she developed her lifelong interest in conflict resolution working as a mediator, facilitating breakthrough communication in the workplace. In 2004 she developed a successful workshop called
Courageous Conversations running several times each year since 2004 and she continues to teach the conflict resolution methods that she has developed, today in Courageous Conversations Masterclasses. She currently supervises clients in leadership positions.
Cher holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Women’s Studies from Murdoch University in WA
Living in Nelson, by the sea with her partner John, she kayaks, hangs out in nature, and cooks from the garden. She performs in a singing duo, keeps fit, and drafts and constructs her own clothes. Her daughter Maddy and her partner with two mokopuna are the joy of her life.
Claire Guy
PANZ Whakatū Nelson
Claire is a Nelson-based Psychodramatist and TEP. She is known for her spontaneity and authenticity. She has learned through 30 years of experience that laughter and a playful spirit assists the digestion of painful memories and almost unbearable circumstances. She supervises many parents, family workers, counsellors and other practitioners who work with children. One client said to her recently, "Coming to see you is like going to a good movie. First of all, I tell you what is going on; then by some miraculous means we have a laugh together; then I have a good cry. I leave feeling much lighter and happier with myself".
Chris Hosking
Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington Campus
Chris Hosking is an AANZPA registered Psychodramatist and Trainer Educator Practitioner and a Distinguished Member of AANZPA. Chris has served on various committees within AANZPA including the Executive, the Board of Examiners and the Ethics Committee. Chris has been training people in Psychodrama and its various applications for many years working in Australia and New Zealand campus programs as well as being an active trainer in the psychodrama programs in Greece and Japan. Chris has worked as a consultant in Community Development in South East Asia for many years in particular working in the recovery programs in post-war Vietnam and during the uprisings in Myanmar.
Training Interview
When your enrolment is received campus trainers will interview you to ensure you have the necessary pre-requisites for training in Psychodrama in Aotearoa New Zealand. Acceptance into training is at the discretion of the trainers in the campus.