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Our directory of South African psychologists includes comprehensive information about:

• Psychologists in Johannesburg and Gauteng

• Psychologists in Cape Town and Western Cape

• Psychologists in Durban and Kwa Zulu Natal

• Psychologists in Pretoria and Centurion

• Psychologists in Bloemfontein and the Freestate

• and psychologists in all areas of South Africa

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So if you are looking for a marriage therapist in Cape Town or a psychologist specializing in depression and anxiety you can enter this into the search form.. Search for a psychologist here.

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Are you a South African psychologist and would like to be listed in our directory of South African psychologists? The directory of South African Psychologists is open to all person's who's Health Professions Council Registration permits the practice of counselling and/or psychotherapy. This includes Clinical social workers, Registered counselllors, Clinical Psychologists, Counselling Psychologists and Educational Psychologists. Click here to find out more.

Chasing Perfection

Jane van der Riet, a Clinical Psychologist in Rosebank Cape Town, comments on the myriad of messages we receive about ‘improving ourselves’, which can lead to us feeling not good enough in a range of different ways.  Contrary to the idea that psychotherapy is about ‘fixing’ or ‘getting rid of’ our inadequacies, she suggests that we need to take time to understand where these feelings come from, seek experiences of compassion and acceptance of our unwanted parts from others, and allow ourselves to be humanly flawed. Read Chasing Perfection here or visit Jane's profile here.

Self Esteem and Narcissism: Self-concept, Dependency, and the Role of Psychotherapy

Johannesburg and Limpopo based Clinical Psychologist David Wilson writes about Narcissim in socio-cultural context. He differentiates between self regard and Narcissism and speaks about the role of psychotherapy. Read Self Esteem and Narcissism here or browse David's profile here.

Why choose psychotherapy What’s the point?

Dai Heyne, Clinical Psychologist and Core Process psychotherapist in Cape Town poses this pithy question and offers some relationally and experientially focused ideas. Visit Dai's profile here or read the full text of Why choose psychotherapy? here.

Accept It!

Bill Petrie from the The Centre for Authentic Living Blog writes that mind is at the heart of our suffering and makes the case for mindful acceptance of ourselves and our lives. Read the full article here.

Discovering Creative Therapies: The experience and thoughts of Eleen Polson, Psychologist and Closet Artist

"Like some people come out of the closet for different things, I am on a journey to reveal to the world and acknowledge to myself that I am a Creative Person in need of, and able to express myself far more beautifully than I am currently doing." So writes Pretoria Clinical Psychologist Eleen Polson who. In connunction with her colleague, occupational therapist, Jolena Strobos offers CPD accredited workshops in Expressive Arts. Read the full Discovering cretive therapies article here.

Career Counselling: Reiniventing yourself at work. Navigate your way through career transitions

Beverley Whitehead is an Industrial and Organisational psychologist specialising in career counselling in Cape Town. She writes, " Our life and work commitments are seldom static. Our need for growth and development, experience of work-related stress, finding ways to express ourselves authentically, adjusting to major life transitions or simply the natural passage through life (and family) stages invites voluntary and regular renewals of career commitments and directions to accommodate our preferences and the demands of each life chapter." Read the full article here .

Taming the mad monkey mind

"There is no doubt that while the mind is infinitely capable of producing great beauty through its capacity to create and relate, when left to it’s own devices it has a tendency to gorge itself. Whether it be on repetitive rumination, projecting itself ceaselessly into the future, or into the past, the result is that many minds are incapable of being present in the present" writes Clinical Psychologist Jamie Elkon. Read the full text of Taming the mad monkey mind here.

Metaphors of addiction: The cat that got the dancing fiddle

Lana Levin is a Clinical Psychologist practising in Highlands North, Johannesburg. She describes the physiological and behavioural process of addiction, through the use of metaphor. She highlights the interplay between neurological and behavioural process, such that addiction is an everyday, undiscriminating struggle. Medical professionals are as much at risk as anyone else. View Lana Levin’s profile here and read her article Metaphors of addiction: The cat that got the dancing fiddle here

Psychotherapy and Psychiatry - Mind and Body: Dualism or a Dynamic Synthesis

Johannesburg clinical psychologist David Wilson writes "My initial idea was to present a seemingly simple set of arguments and basic ideas for an article to illustrate the challenges of integrating psychological practises with advancing medical and biological technologies. Between this idea and the process of writing this article, I soon realised, with some trepidation, that many complexities and paradoxes exist and need to be identified and tolerated, rather than being reduced to simplistic polemical platitudes." Read Psychotherapy and Psychiatry - Mind and Body here.

A theory of personhood

Cheryl Pruss is a clinical psychologist in Randburg. Here she offers us a critical and evaluative account of her view of personhood and how it impacts her understanding of optimal functioning and the process of psychotherapy. Read A theory of personhood here.

Suicide - The final say

Jenny Perkel, Cape Town Clinical Psychologist and author of Babies in Mind and Streets of Jewels, provides insight into suicide. She writes -.Carmen was 30 years old. She was beautiful, intelligent and successful and surrounded by people who loved her. But a few months ago she took a fatal overdose that left her friends, colleagues and family reeling with shock. “Why did she do it?” they all asked. Well, she’s not around to answer their question. By ending her life she had the final say. And those who knew her and cared about her are left behind with their unanswered questions, and a large dose of confusion, pain, regret, guilt and anger. Read the full article here or visit Jenny Perkels web site.

The Beast that purred like a kitten - There is hope in depression

Cape Town counselling Psychologist Jacques Taylor has a special interest in working with depression. He writes, " why not start by looking at what our bodies are trying to tell us amidst the stressor that impacts on our life. What can you learn about yourself amidst this stressful time? How can you grow as a person despite what life is throwing at you? You need to seriously ask yourself these challenging questions. These aren’t easy questions to answer, not by a long yard." Read The beast the purred like a kitten: There is hope in depression here or read more about Jacques Taylor.

The Black Dog of Depression

Regular contributor Jamie Elkon presents a layman's guide to depression, how to assess it and what therapeutic treatment options are available. Jamie is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice in Cape Town. His practice is in the CBD. Read The Black Dog of Depression here.

Love's great Service: Thoughts and a case vignette of couple therapy

David van der Want is a Clinical Psychologist with a special interest in couple and marriage therapy. He writes, "Very often pain that is being experienced in a marriage is the smarting of an earlier wound, perhaps a wound we acquired as a child in the marriage that created us. And where this is the case a similar process is usually happening for our partner – the pain that he or she is experiencing is the activation of an old wound, a long-ago experience that happened to another person, to the children that we once were." Read Love's great Service: Thoughts and a case vignette of Couple Therapy here.

What is Core Process Psychotherapy? And what does it mean to me?

Susan Groves is a Social Worker in private practice in Plumstead, Cape Town. Susan has a special interest and training in Core Process Therapy. Here she introduces Core Process PSychotherapy and writes about her personal feeling about this work. She writes "I was drawn to Core Process Psychotherapy as it rests on a contemplative foundation. While the training is long and rigorous, what is being cultivated is a sense of rest and being in the therapist. From this state of presence/being knowing naturally arises in the mutual field created between client and therapist." Read What is Core Process Psychotherapy? here or visit Susan's website here.

How does Play Therapy work?A guide for parents

Dr Jana Lazarus and Miranda Wannenburgh of Change Matters (a psychotherapeutic practice in Kalk Bay) write "Few parents know what the inside of a play therapy room looks like during a session – what is happening, what is the therapist doing, and, most importantly, what is your child doing?! Also, how does what happens there work therapeutically, to make your child better? View their profile here or read "How does play therapy work? A guide for parents" here.

Group Therapy

Effective management of stress and burnout

Dr Adelbert Scholtz, Counselling Psychologist in Belville Cape Town shares his view on stress and burnout. He looks at sources of stress, causes of burnout and provides techniques for managing burnout. Visit Dr Adelbert Scholtz's profile or read Effective management of stress and burnout here.

Metaphors in psychotherapy

Dr Aharon Segal, Clinical Psychologist in Craighall Park Johannesburg describes the use of metaphor in psychotherapy. This article defines metaphor, explores it's use as a tool of indirect communication and the potential for the positive use of metaphor in psychotherapeutic relationships. View Dr Segal's profile here or read Metaphor in psychotherapy. (And there's no prize for getting the visual metaphor of the accompanying picture)

Cholesterol levels linked to depression in the elderly

Betty Doyle from the blog Depression Pills.net draws our attention to the link between diet and mental health by reporting on research linking high levels of cholesterol with depression in the elderly. Read Cholesterol linked to depression in the elderly here.

The Return of the King :Psychological work with men

Jamie Elkon is a Clinical Psychologist in private practice in Cape Town. Here's an excerpt from his latest article about shadow work with men. "As men we are particularly prone to the construction of fragile (though often quite stupendous) narcissistic defenses, which wait in ambush for unsuspecting travelers upon our life’s journey. Whether conscious or not, we maneuver others onto the traps we have laid and when they snap shut, we puff up with righteous indignation at the injustice of it all, thereby inexorably repeating and reinforcing the alienation with ourselves and particularly with those we claim to love." Read the full article here.

Mirror, Mirror on the wall, whose body is the most beautiful of them all? Body image and self esteem

Liane Lurie is a Clinical Psychologist in Johannesburg's northern suburbs. She writes for psychotherapy.co.za about our relationship with our bodies Read the full article here.