I was educated in South Africa and have a Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of KwaZulu- Natal. South Africa is very multi cultural and has 11 official languages! Working in this context has greatly sensitized me to the critical role that culture plays in our emotional and relational lives. I therefore always maintain an enquiring mind when working with individuals from culturally different backgrounds to myself. I have also had personal experience with infertility and loss and believe these experiences have added depth to my clinical understanding of mental health challenges. This openness reflects some of my approach to therapy. Psychodynamic therapy typically does not involve a lot of self disclosure and whilst I am never inappropriate, I believe in being authentic and real with my clients in order to assist them with their own process.
I was trained with a primarily Psychodynamic perspective, which assumes that most current problems have their roots in childhood relationships. I therefore have a lot of experience in working with complex trauma. However, my experience has also shown me that not everyone who seeks therapy wants or needs such deep analysis. Over time, I have therefore developed a more eclectic style of therapy which may at times be more direct and open than traditional forms of Psychotherapy. Regardless, my approach to Psychotherapy is always informed by the assumption that the therapeutic relationship needs to feel safe and non judgemental in order to facilitate client growth or healing.
My first goal of Psychotherapy is therefore to create a relationsip of trust and confidence in which an invidicual may be able to talk openly about emotional and relational expereinces that have been difficult or traumatic. Through this process of talking and relating, the main goals of Psychotherapy are to further self awareness, increase the ability to regulate emotions, increase clarity of thought and improve the capacity to think through problems and find different solutions. These problems can vary from how one reacts in a relationship, to how to deal with depression or loss or what should be the next best step in an infertility journey.
In the first session of Psychotherapy I ask a fair amount of questions in order to gain an overall understanding of the problem. In subsequent sessions I will typically ask fewer questions and let the client lead the sessions, making comments and suggestions along the way. I encourage clients not to feel pressure to prepare for Psychotherapy sessions and I never give homework. This is a very brief summary, please feel free to ask me any further questions or concerns you may have regarding my professional approach