Services
Therapy Services
I offer individual therapy to adults and adolescents (16 years +) based in South Africa or abroad.
I am registered as a clinical psychologist in South Africa only; therefore my scope of practice is limited with international clients. Should you reside outside of South Africa, I will not be permitted to make diagnoses or to treat more serious psychological conditions. In these cases I will carefully assess your needs to ensure that I am able to assist safely and ethically.
My services are available in both English and Afrikaans. Although I am more fluent in English, I was raised bilingually and work comfortably in either language.
I welcome diversity in my practice and strive to work in a manner that is sensitive to diversity issues.
I am available to consult in person (in Greyton, Overberg, South Africa) or online:
Video
This form of therapy is most similar to working face to face. We meet on an online platform such as Zoom (depending on your preferences, provided that it is secure enough for therapy purposes).
Audio
Some clients prefer speaking without having a video image, preferring not to be seen or to see someone else. We can speak on an online platform with video turned off, or via a telephone call.
Therapeutic approach
I am trained in psychodynamic, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and brainworking recursive therapy (BWRT).
I do not typically prescribe a structure for sessions, rather this is an open space for you to discuss whatever may be troubling you. I respond with questions and reflections that help to deepen our understanding of what you are struggling with.
The process is psychodynamic in that we look at how your relationship patterns may contribute to your difficulties, and in that I work on the assumption that it is the therapeutic relationship – as much as any insight/tools that you may gain – that restores wellbeing. I work to provide a space in which you feel supported and safe to explore your thoughts and feelings. The psychodynamic approach is reflective and interested in making connections between past (also early) experience and current difficulties.
My approach is cognitive-behavioural in that we examine the thinking patterns that influence your difficulties. I will encourage you to be more curious about the ways in which you are thinking and to experiment with different ways of thinking – observing how this changes (or does not change) the way that you feel. The CBT approach is experimental and collaborative – the client and therapist work together as equals to discover the thought shifts that work for the individual client.
I also use brainworking recursive therapy (BWRT), which is a structured technique that stops and reroutes the brain's natural response to trauma or distressing experience. BWRT can provide very rapid relief for trauma, grief and other difficulties, and many clients appreciate the fact that it does not involve speaking at length or sharing private details of their difficult experiences.
Further areas of interest that influence my work include:
Attachment theory, which considers how early relationships with caretakers affect our relationships later in life as well as our typical thinking and feeling patterns.
Interpersonal neurobiology and particularly the neurobiology of trauma, which looks at the ways in which we process traumatic experience beyond the level of consciousness, and how we can heal through new experiences of safety and support.
Mindfulness and self-compassion practices, which teach ways of relating to our own thoughts and feelings that can be very liberating.