Abby McCormack - Te Āwhina Mahi Consulting

Abby McCormack - Te Āwhina Mahi Consulting Social Work Services and Professional Supervision. www.teawhinamahiconsulting.org Ehara tāku toa I te Takitahi, engari he toa takitini. To stand in mana.
(1)

My strength is not as an individual but as a collective. Ko Abby McCormack taku ingoa
E mahi ana Tauwhiro. Ko Pokai whenua te maunga e te nei take ngakau ( the Port hills is where my heart stands)
Ko Otakaro te awa te mahea nei aku māharahara ( the Avon River elevates my worries)
No Otautahi ahau
No Airangi, Ingarangi, Te Tai Poutini õku tipuna. (My ancestors are from Ireland, England and the West coast). Ko McCormack toku whanua
Ko Alexandra raua Ko Nathan aku tamariki. Abby graduated from CPIT in 2009 and holds a Bachelor of Social work and full Social work registration with Social Work Registration Board of New Zealand. Abby holds a membership with Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social workers (ANZASW). Abby has completed Reflective Supervision Training with Margaret Morrell’s and enjoys continuing training around supervision models. She has had experience Supervising Social Work Students and Social work practitioners. Abby is passionate about
- Inclusion and accessible practices
- Self Advocacy and courageous conversations for ourselves not just our clients.
- Widening the scope for Self care and prevention of burn out.
- Learning appropriate Cultural responsiveness as a Pakeha Social worker

Her experience as a Social worker has been across many fields since graduation. Vast experience alongside Addictions, Parenting supports, Disability services, School based Social work. She has worked predominately within the Otautahi community, but also im the West Coast and Upper South Communities. My goals for my practice and services are to enhance the education and supports provided to Social Workers across Aotearoa for sustainable work place practices through Supervision and ongoing professional Development. Manaakitanga: To provide and encouraging work environments where everyone is welcome, integrity is demonstrated and respect is always shown. Kaitiakitanga: To provide a safe and supportive environment that includes accessible participation and effective communication. Courage: To be brave, to have mental and moral strength, to persevere and to move through difficulties with ease and grace. Nga Tūmanako: To support hopes, dreams and aspirations whilst leading by example. Aroha: To extend charity, compassion, empathy, care and kindness. Authenticity: To be tika and pono to Kaupapa. Whakapakari: To support others to aspire to be the best they can be through education, ethics and professionalism.

💃 FROCKTOBER • DAY 5 💃✨ Happy Monday! ✨A new week. A new frock. And another reason to talk about ovarian cancer.💚 THE FA...
04/10/2026

💃 FROCKTOBER • DAY 5 💃

✨ Happy Monday! ✨

A new week. A new frock. And another reason to talk about ovarian cancer.

💚 THE FACT:
The 5-year survival rate for ovarian cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand is only around 43%.

That means more than half of those diagnosed will not survive beyond five years.

Ovarian cancer can be difficult to detect. Symptoms can be vague, easily dismissed, or mistaken for other things.

So today’s reminder:

🔎 Know your body.
📝 Document changes and symptoms.
❓ Ask questions.
📣 Advocate for yourself and your whānau.
❤️ And if something doesn’t feel right, keep asking.

This isn’t about being dramatic.
It’s about being heard.

For every woman, daughter, mum, sister, friend and whānau member affected by ovarian cancer — we need better awareness, earlier diagnosis and better outcomes.

💚 Day 5. Wearing the frock. Raising the conversation and awarenss.

🧡Abby

💗 DAY 4 | FROCKTOBER 2026 💗My 2nd ever Frocktober — and it still feels just as important.This isn't just about wearing a...
03/10/2026

💗 DAY 4 | FROCKTOBER 2026 💗

My 2nd ever Frocktober — and it still feels just as important.

This isn't just about wearing a frock every day. 👗

It's about awareness.
It's about conversations.
It's about listening.
It's about advocating.

Ovarian cancer can be difficult to detect, and too often symptoms can be overlooked or mistaken for something else.

For me, this campaign is personal. I’ve seen people I love have their symptoms dismissed — and I’ve seen the devastating consequences.

So I'm showing up again.

👗 One frock.
💬 One conversation.
💗 One opportunity to raise awareness.

Because if wearing a ridiculous amount of dresses helps someone recognise a symptom, speak up, make an appointment or ask another question — I'll happily keep frocking.

For the women we remember.
For the women fighting.
For the women still waiting to be heard.

Frocktober #2. Let’s talk about ovarian cancer. 💗

🧡 Abby

👗DAY 3 OF FROCKTOBER 💗🎀Today is personal.I have family and friends whose symptoms were dismissed, minimised or explained...
02/10/2026

👗DAY 3 OF FROCKTOBER 💗🎀

Today is personal.

I have family and friends whose symptoms were dismissed, minimised or explained away — and who later died from ovarian cancer.

That stays with me.

Ovarian cancer can be difficult to diagnose because its symptoms can look like many common conditions. Bloating, feeling full quickly, tummy or pelvic pain, changes in bowel habits, fatigue, needing to wee more often and unexplained weight changes can all be symptoms.

So today, my message is simple:

ADVOCATE.
DOCUMENT.
QUESTION.

💗 Advocate for yourself and your whānau.
📝 Document symptoms — what they are, how often they happen and how long they've been happening.
❓ Question when something doesn't feel right. Ask what else could be causing it. Ask what the next step is. Ask for another opinion if you continue to have concerns.

The Cancer Society NZ specifically recommends going back to your doctor if symptoms don't improve, even if previous tests haven't found a problem, and says you can ask for a second opinion.

You know your body.
Your voice matters.
Your symptoms deserve to be heard.

This Frocktober, I'm wearing the frocks for the women we lost — and advocating for the women who are still here. 💗

Know the symptoms. Know your family history. Start the conversation.

🧡Abby

💚 FROCKTOBER 2026 | DAY 2 💚The stats we need to talk about.Ovarian cancer is often called the “silent” cancer — but the ...
01/10/2026

💚 FROCKTOBER 2026 | DAY 2 💚

The stats we need to talk about.

Ovarian cancer is often called the “silent” cancer — but the reality is that 90–95% of people diagnosed have symptoms. The problem is that those symptoms can be vague, easily dismissed and mistaken for other things.

🎗️ In Aotearoa New Zealand:

💚 1 woman dies every 48 hours from ovarian cancer.

💚 Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of cancer death among women in NZ.

💚 There is currently no reliable screening test for ovarian cancer.

💚 Symptoms can include persistent bloating, abdominal or pelvic pain, feeling full quickly, urinary changes, bowel changes, fatigue and unexplained weight loss.

And here's the bit I really want us to remember:

You know your body.
If something changes and doesn't feel right, don't just put it down to getting older, hormones, stress, IBS or “just being busy.”

Ask questions.
Keep asking.
Get checked.

👗 Every frock I wear this month is a conversation starter.

Because awareness isn't just about knowing ovarian cancer exists.

It's about knowing what to look for — and knowing when to speak up. 💚

🧡Abby

💙 FROCKTOBER 2026 — DAY 1💙👗 One dress. One month. One important conversation.October is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, ...
30/09/2026

💙 FROCKTOBER 2026 — DAY 1💙

👗 One dress. One month. One important conversation.

October is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and today I’m starting my Frocktober journey by talking about why awareness matters.

Ovarian cancer can be difficult to detect early because the symptoms can be subtle, persistent and easy to put down to other things.

Some signs can include:
✨ bloating or a swollen tummy
✨ abdominal or pelvic pain
✨ feeling full quickly or difficulty eating
✨ changes in bowel or bladder habits
✨ unexplained tiredness
✨ changes in your periods or unusual bleeding

The important bit? Know what is normal for you.
If something is new, persistent or feels different, don't simply put it down to being busy, ageing, stress or “just one of those things”.

💙 Your body deserves to be listened to.

Throughout October I'll be sharing dresses, conversations, facts and a little bit of sass — because awareness doesn't have to be boring.

And because behind every statistic is a person.
A whānau.
A story.
A life.

👗 Day 1/31 — let's get talking.

🧡 Abby 👗

✨ The randomness of connection.✨Sometimes the best kōrero happens when we least expect it.A chance conversation.A shared...
28/09/2026

✨ The randomness of connection.✨

Sometimes the best kōrero happens when we least expect it.

A chance conversation.
A shared cup of coffee.
A “hey, I’ve been thinking about this…”
A piece of knowledge offered freely.
A different perspective that makes us pause.

There is something powerful about creating spaces where we can kōrero, share knowledge, challenge thinking and learn alongside each other — without needing to have all the answers.

Connection doesn’t always need to be planned. But sometimes, we do need to intentionally create the space for it.

💬 So… who would be keen to see Connected Conversations groups restart?

A space for social workers and people working alongside whānau to come together, share experiences, exchange whakaaro, ask questions and build collective knowledge.

Because we don’t grow in isolation.
We grow through connection. Through kōrero. Through each other.🤎

Drop a 🙋‍♀️ below or send me a message if you’d be interested in being part of the next Connected Conversations.

THE SCHOOL HOLIDAY BALANCING ACT 🎢School holidays arrive…but the work calendar doesn’t always get the memo.There’s the w...
27/09/2026

THE SCHOOL HOLIDAY BALANCING ACT 🎢

School holidays arrive…
but the work calendar doesn’t always get the memo.

There’s the work deadlines.
The meetings.
The emails.
The responsibility to show up professionally.

And then there’s whānau.
Whatever your whānau looks like. ❤️

The lunches.
The activities.
The logistics.
The “Mum, can you…?”
And that familiar parent guilt whispering that you’re not doing enough of either.

I’m grateful my children are getting older and becoming more independent. They need me differently now. They can do more for themselves.

But somehow… that doesn’t make the guilt disappear.

Because the hours we work and the hours our tamariki are on holiday don’t magically align.

Trying to balance parent, professional, business owner, friend and human can feel like an impossible juggling act.

Maybe balance isn’t about giving everything equal amounts of us.

Maybe it’s recognising what needs us today.

Some days work gets more.
Some days whānau gets more.
Some days we need more.

And that doesn’t make us selfish.
It makes us human.

Perhaps we need less parent guilt and more understanding that the balancing act is real.

Less pressure to be everything for everyone.
More honest conversations about flexibility, capacity and what actually works for our whānau.

Because caring for ourselves isn't something we should have to squeeze into the gaps.

We are part of the equation too.💛

How are you navigating the school holiday balancing act?

🧡Abby

✨️ KINDA CHIC TO… ✨Know what you stand for.As we head towards the election, I’ve been thinking less about 'who' we shoul...
22/09/2026

✨️ KINDA CHIC TO… ✨

Know what you stand for.

As we head towards the election, I’ve been thinking less about 'who' we should vote for and more about 'what kind of Aotearoa we want to contribute to.'

Because voting isn’t just about personalities, promises or political noise.

It’s about values.

🌿 Kinda chic to care about people more than profits.
🏠 Kinda chic to believe housing is a foundation, not a privilege.
🫶 Kinda chic to value the people doing the caring.
🌱 Kinda chic to invest in prevention, not just crisis response.
🤝 Kinda chic to centre whānau and community.
⚖️ Kinda chic to care about equity and dignity.
🧡 Kinda chic to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
🌊 Kinda chic to care about the whenua and our future.
💬 Kinda chic to ask "who benefits, who carries the cost, and who isn't being heard?”

And perhaps most importantly…

Kinda chic to be curious.

Read. Question. Listen. Check the policies. Have the conversations.

You don't have to agree with everyone around the table.

But we can create space to understand **why people value what they value**.

That feels pretty social work to me.

Because the question isn't simply:

“Who am I voting for?”

It’s also:
"What kind of Aotearoa do I want to help build?”

🧡Abby

From “this isn’t working” to “what could work?”Social work in Aotearoa often means working within systems that are stret...
22/09/2026

From “this isn’t working” to “what could work?”

Social work in Aotearoa often means working within systems that are stretched, under-resourced and sometimes simply not designed around the people and whānau we are here to support.

It’s easy to get stuck in the “this is broken.”

And sometimes — it is.

But what happens when we pause and ask:

Why are we doing what we’re doing?
Who is this actually serving?
What needs to change?
What could we do differently?

Moving from "this isn’t working” to "what would make this work?”

From frustration to curiosity.
From compliance to purpose.
From working around the system to challenging the system.

Because social work isn’t just about helping people navigate systems.

Sometimes it’s about questioning the systems themselves.

I’m interested in the conversations that create change — strengthening practice, challenging assumptions, supporting social workers and keeping people, whānau and mana at the centre.

So if you’re a social worker, leader, team or organisation asking:

“Can we do this differently?”

Let’s have the conversation.

Bring the challenge. Bring the uncomfortable question. Bring the “surely there’s another way.”

Because change starts with being willing to ask.

What if we could do this better?

🌿 Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Day🌿Today we celebrate the people who choose to do the human work.Social work is not ...
15/09/2026

🌿 Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Day🌿

Today we celebrate the people who choose to do the human work.

Social work is not just assessments, referrals, reports and services.

It is people. Whānau. Connection. Mana. Hope.

It is sitting alongside someone in their hardest moments and reminding them they are more than their circumstances.

It is listening beyond the words.
Seeing strengths where others might see deficits.
Advocating when systems feel impossible to navigate.
Holding space for stories, identity, grief, change and possibility.

And sometimes… it is fighting the systems.🔥

Challenging the barriers.
Questioning the status quo.
Speaking up when something isn't right.
Pushing for better outcomes, greater equity and systems that actually work for the people they are meant to serve.

Because social work isn't about accepting “that's just how things are.”

It is about asking "how could this be better?”

I’m proud to be a passionate advocate for change—
☕ caffeinated when required (always),
📣 a professional cheerleader when someone needs reminding of their strengths,
🔥 and fighting the system with everything I've got.

Because underneath all of it is the belief that people deserve better.

In Aotearoa, our practice also asks us to continually reflect:

How do we uphold Te Tiriti o Waitangi in the way we work?
How do we honour mātauranga Māori and different ways of knowing?
How do we work alongside whānau rather than simply doing things to to for them?

Social work can be messy.
It can be confronting.
It can be exhausting.

But it can also be deeply human, relational, courageous and incredibly meaningful.

To the social workers, students, supervisors, educators, kaiāwhina and everyone walking alongside people and whānau —

I see you. I celebrate you. I’m bloody proud to stand alongside you.🤍

Keep showing up.
Keep questioning.
Keep advocating.
Keep fighting for change.
Keep cheering people on.

Because he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.

It is people.
It is people.
It is people.

Happy Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work Day.

🧡Abby

Address

Christchurch

Telephone

+64212466546

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Abby McCormack - Te Āwhina Mahi Consulting posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Abby McCormack - Te Āwhina Mahi Consulting:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category