I never expected to become a clinical psychologist. I barely considered it until my late twenties, when a sudden and powerful sense of purpose made the path feel clear. I’m grateful to do work that allows me to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, and hope to continue for many years.

I earned my Master’s in Clinical Psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, in 2016. My clinical training included placements at Tara’s Wards 4 and 5, the Personality Disorder Unit, and Charlotte Maxeke’s acute adult psychiatric unit. I then completed a year of community service at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital in Soweto, Johannesburg. Together, these experiences gave me a strong grounding in adult mental health, across a wide range of needs.

Outside work, I enjoy time with my family, reading and writing, exercise, and exploring topics that spark my curiosity.

I would define my personal therapeutic style as one of genuineness and straightforwardness. It is this therapeutic ‘stance’ that I seek to embody in my work with my clients. I have also found that to do so seems to cultivate a sense that I am being authentically me, thus affording me the opportunity to feel connected and attuned to the person I am sitting with.

For those of you who like therapy terms, I work primarily from a psychodynamic perspective, meaning that I am inclined to emphasize the influence of one’s childhood – as well as their on-going relational experiences – as being central to how a person functions in the present day. In other words, I see a person’s psychology moulded out of the saliency of their formative environments and experiences and the therapy is intended to help a person understand how any links to their distal, forgotten or wished away ‘parts’ of themselves might still, in fact, be lingering, and which might be acting as potential stumbling blocks towards them leading a more satisfactory, fulfilling life on their own terms.

In order to facilitate this process of self-discovery, I aim to build a secure and trusting connection with each and every client I see. As a non-directive therapist, I generally follow the client’s lead in terms of what is discussed, and I won’t necessarily control or direct you to areas of your life that I feel you need to be talking about. That being said, if I feel that a particular point you’re bringing warrants further discussion, I might invite you to be curious with me about what it is you’re saying and, perhaps even more importantly, how it’s being said (i.e., how you’re emoting as you’re saying it).