My areas of specialization include:
- Specialist Birth to Three Counselling
- Pregnancy, Birth, Antenatal and Postnatal Counselling
- Loss, Grief and Bereavement Counselling
- Anxiety and Depression Counselling
- Pre-Marital Counselling
- Couple Therapy
- Family Counselling
I have been a Professional Registered Psychiatric Nurse and Midwife for over 20 years, studied Honours in Psychology (UWC) and Masters in Infant Mental Health (Stellenbosch) and managed a Primary Health Care and Baby Clinic.
I am married and have two sons. So many deeper aspects of my life were revisited during my pregnancies and in those early days when my mind was a fog and hour-by-hour survival was the order of the day. This passage of conception, pregnancy, birth and being a parent – forever after – was and is still such a primal journey for me. It has highlighted my losses and subsequent mourning heightened my anxieties at times and left me feeling vulnerable and alone at others. Having children has also filled my life with profound joy and a sense of awe and wonder – like a journey of discovery – each stage a new challenge.
Death and grieving were elements in my journey not only around parenting but with Hospice in the UK and SA, supporting people in the end stages of their lives – assisting and supporting families in improving quality of life.
Living with ADHD in the family has allowed me tremendous respect for those children and adults with ADHD who may struggle with daily routines and social interaction but who have tremendous creative capacity. Through this I am aware of how each person in a family (infants and children included) impact the functioning of a family as a whole in profound ways.
My own therapy has allowed me the opportunity to find, to see and to understand my relationships better – greatly improving the richness of my life experiences. Through understanding my own journey, I believe I have greater ability to walk with others in theirs. The journey is lifelong.
Sometimes we are unaware of the baggage we carry that is not ours but rather a burden of our parents or even their parents. Attitudes and beliefs from the past can be very crippling in aspects of our identity.
Most of the people I see in my Counselling Practice arrive when they are struggling to see a way out of the situation that keeps them from feeling good about themselves and their lives.
The therapy process gently looks at the issues that you choose to bring – in a safe, nurturing space – allowing the stories and experiences of your life to be heard.
I know it is not easy to make that first appointment.
Many of my clients say that it is the first step that has always been the most difficult.
My clients express how much relief they experience after that first session.
For in-person sessions, my rooms are situated in Lakeside near Muizenberg on the False Bay coast in the South Peninsula of Cape Town.
I offer online / Zoom sessions for ease of accessibility – and for clients living out of South Africa.