Margaret Agee | |
|---|---|
| Awards | Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University of Auckland |
Margaret Rosemary Nelson Agee ONZM is a New Zealand mental health counsellor and academic. In 2014 Agee was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to mental health education.
Agee completed a Bachelor of Arts and a Master of English at the University of Auckland. [1] While at university she visited a guidance counsellor for help with stress and confidence, and found it so helpful she described developing "an almost missionary zeal" for counselling. [1] The career path for counselling at the time involved working as a teacher first, for around five years. Agee trained as a teacher, and then taught English and social studies at Auckland Girls' Grammar School. [1] Agee was then appointed to Aorere College, where she was first junior counsellor and then head of guidance. [1] She was appointed as a lecturer at the University of Auckland in 1990, where she later completed a PhD. [1] [2] One of Agee's doctoral students is the first Pacific person to graduate with a PhD in counselling from Auckland, Toleafoa Sarah Sala Va'afusuaga McRobie. [3]
Agee lectures in professional supervision, and also researches on loss and grief. [1] Agee has been actively involved with the National Association for Loss and Grief, and was a founding member and serves on the board of the Grief Centre. [4] Agee was a member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement. [4]
Agee has co-edited three books and is on the editorial board of the New Zealand Journal of Counselling. [1] [5]
In the 2014 New Year's Honours Agee was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to mental health education. [6] She is a Life Member of the New Zealand Association of Counsellors. [4]