Welcome. I’m happy to see you here.

I am warm and empathic, with excellent listening and reflective skills. I generally view it as imperative to define and work towards therapeutic goals. I do not claim to be the expert on your life and therefore value collaborative discussions and meaning-making as well. Hence, I will show genuine curiosity in how you view your challenges. I have been well-trained to also track and highlight the underlying processes, dynamics, themes and patterns that a client brings to the session.
I am fluent in Afrikaans and English.

I successfully completed my Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology (M.Psych) at the University of the Western Cape. I received extensive practical training in psychological assessments, diagnosis, formulation and treatment. Part of my clinical training entailed attending weekly observations of the clinical ward rounds at Tygerberg Hospital’s Psychiatric unit, as well as practical exposure at Valkenberg- and Alexandra Hospital’s forensic and intellectual disability units, and Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital’s Male Acute Unit. My formal mini-thesis focused on identifying barriers and facilitators of reasonable accommodation for students with ADHD at a tertiary institution in the Western Cape. I currently also attend to referrals at various inpatient private clinics in Cape Town.

I was fortunate to do both my internship and community service years at two of South Africa’s leading tertiary psychiatric hospitals – Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital and Stikland Psychiatric Hospital respectively, in the Western Cape. I was involved across several services, including medium-term outpatients, male & female acute, opioid detox- and alcohol rehabilitation wards, adult therapeutic ward, Intellectual Disability Services (IDS), psychogeriatrics, forensic wards (male and female), and also managing a once-weekly community clinic service. Besides individual therapy, I regularly conducted groupwork based on Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Yalom group psychotherapy, and the Psychosocial Rehabilitation recovery model. Working as an essential frontline healthcare worker during the Covid-19 pandemic also equipped me with valuable skillsets such as the use of Mindfulness-based approaches in different populations. This training also allowed me the opportunity to work with people from diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural backgrounds.

Previously I worked on a research proposal on the experience of patients at psychiatric settings during Covid-19. In addition to this, I have also been involved with lecturing medical students and translating various psychometric tests. Recently, with a joint effort from the HOD of Stikland’s Psychology department, we officially translated the well-known Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) to the latest Afrikaans version, which they officially published.

Before I embarked on my Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, I was employed full-time at Hope House Counselling Centre, Cape Town, as a Registered Counsellor for several years. Part of my job description entailed visiting various schools to do our structured early substance-intervention program (compiled using the aspects of cognitive behavioural therapy, Matrix program and Motivational Interviewing techniques) and an anger management program. I did individual counselling at these schools as well as at the Hope House facilities in Kuils River and Table View. I did basic counselling and play-therapy workshops, as well as attending monthly and bi-annual meetings at Stikland Hospital and Claro Clinic.

I believe in empowering people, and assisting them in personal growth to achieve their full potential. As a tutor for first-year Psychology and Philosophy students at the University of the Western Cape I had the opportunity to add value to these students by presenting supplementary tutorial lectures as well as marking tests and essays.

In any profession it is important to broaden your horizons and the scope of understanding your subject matter. During my second year of university, I had the privilege to study abroad in the USA. During those six months I gained valuable insights in various subjects, including philosophy (Ancient Greeks and human nature) and psychological research. I worked as a laboratory assistant in a psychology lab, studying addictive behaviours at the University of Missouri, Columbia, USA.

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