Hello, I’m Michelle Kasey.

I wonder what brought you here?

 
 

I’m an award-winning Sex & Relationships Therapist, Burlesque Artist and Teacher, and Writer.

I absolutely love my jobs. For the past 8+ years, I’ve guided thousands of people towards more pleasure and connection. Before this, I worked in employment law and HR - a career that feels like a lifetime ago. My own search for sexual healing inspired my career change. 

My own journey of sexual empowerment - beginning in a pole dancing studio and developing over 14+ years as a cabaret and burlesque performer and teacher - has given me a uniquely valuable perspective as a therapist. I bring together my embodied experience as a dancer and performer with therapeutic expertise to guide clients toward their goals and desires. This integration of somatic, trauma-informed, holistic, practical, and playful approaches is at the heart of my work.

Today, I co-own The Velvet Haven Burlesque Schools in Auckland and Wellington, where I teach and mentor others in the art of tease. While performance has taught me freedom of expression, the work I facilitate as a Therapist has transformed my life and the lives of those I work with in the most profound ways.

I’m married to my husband Manu (a Career Firefighter and Breathwork Facilitator), and together we’re devoted to our own practice of conscious relating. I’m also a step-mum to two gorgeous young boys, and these roles deeply inform how I approach connection, empathy, and intimacy in my work.

 
 

As an Artist, I seek to give people an opportunity to experience the erotic as an audience member.

As a Burlesque Teacher, I create spaces and provide tools for people to explore their sensual self expression and evolve their relationship to their bodies.

As a Therapist, I partner with people to bring attention, curiosity and care to parts of themselves that have been judged, repressed and ignored. Be that tender traumas, or their deepest desires.

 

My approach as a Therapist is…

Invitational
Your agency is always at the center. In our sessions, you are the expert of your own experience. I serve as a skilled guide, mirror, and container for exploration. You will never be asked to engage in anything that doesn’t feel like a true “yes.”

Somatic-focused
I work in two directions: mind → body and body → mind. Transformation isn’t just about changing thoughts or beliefs - we also re-pattern the nervous system, supporting holistic and lasting change.

Processing and cultivating
My work addresses both past wounds, outdated patterns, and limiting beliefs, while also cultivating new mindsets, skills, and nervous system capacities. This allows you to experience your self and your relationships in more empowered and expansive ways.

Pleasure meets shadow work
Healing and growth doesn’t have to always be stiff or serious. I believe that pleasure and celebration are vital to inner work. Together, we go deep while also making space for joy.

Trauma-informed
I am trained to work with trauma, ensuring that we work within your ‘window of tolerance’.

 

Qualifications:

  • BA, Major in Psychology The University of Auckland

  • BCom The University of Auckland

  • 1-year Professional Sex, Love & Relationships Certification The V.I.T.A Institute

  • Somatic Attachment Therapy Certification The Embody Lab

  • 1:1 Mentorship with Breathwork & Trauma Release Specialist Nathan Marcuzzi, Somagetic

I am a member of a peer supervision group of leading international Sex & Relationships practitioners.

I believe that doing your own inner work makes you a far more skilled practitioner and have completed hundreds of hours of my own therapy and coaching.