With a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology (1987) from the University of Stellenbosch, I started my professional career in psychology at Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital in Mitchell’s Plain. I spent eight years as the psychologist managing the Child and Family unit, where as part of a multidisciplinary team, I worked with children, their families and their communities. Many of these children were exposed to significant social difficulties: unemployment, poverty, substance abuse, family violence, sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect.
I founded the “The Gable” Psychology Practice in Wynberg during July 1997. For 5 years my professional interest remained in the area of Child Psychotherapy and Infant Mental Health and included mother-infant interaction, play therapy, family therapy and marital therapy.
A three-year sabbatical period in the Cederberg Wilderness Area http://www.cederberg.co.za followed where I explored Nature Conservation, Home Schooling and DIY.
Since January 2006 I have a practice in Constantia with a focus on individual adolescent and adult psychotherapy.
I now have more than 30 years experience as a psychotherapist. I have seen first hand the developmental challenges faced by infants and children and how the basic template of personality is established as a socially defined construct; I have supported adolescents through the challenges of establishing a sense of Personal Identity, choosing for themselves rather than needing to conform; I have seen early childhood developmental challenges and conflicts forced into the unconscious only to play out in the crises that beset adults transitioning through periods of chaos and I have first hand experience in overcoming the fear of stagnation through a process of Generativity towards a greater sense of purpose and meaning.