My fees are R1140 for a 50-minute session, which is in line with current medical aid rates (2024).  I charge the same amount for an initial consultation with a child and their family, which is a 60-80 minute session, depending on the size of the family. My fee is fixed for the first 3 sessions, but is flexible thereafter, given relevant circumstances.

I am open to conducting Psychotherapy via Video Call sessions using Zoom in certain cases. For example, with people who travel frequently or are relocating outside of Cape Town.  I would prefer to begin our therapeutic work face-to-face, so that we have a chance to discuss various aspects of switching to Video Call sessions.

A psychotherapy session is typically 50 minutes, or sometimes, 60-90 minutes for an initial consultation with a child and their family.

No. At this time, I am focusing on work with children, adolescents, adults, couples and as required, with families.

I have found that three initial sessions can offer both therapist and client a chance to see how well the ‘fit’ is between them. A therapist should make you feel comfortable and safe – enough to speak openly about personal and troubling matters – but without a sense of pressure or expectation.

Depending on your medical aid plan, it is possible that your medical aid provider will cover all or some of the costs of your consultation with a psychologist.  Please contact your medical aid to find out if psychotherapy is covered by your plan, and what limitations might exist (in terms of diagnosis, funds or number of sessions available).  I am prepared to assist, for example, in making an application for Prescribed Minimum Benefit (PMB), at your request. Any and all unpaid medical aid claims will need to be covered by the client. The Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) recently published this set of information about this matter: http://www.hpcsa-blogs.co.za/patients-to-get-scheme-permission/

The length of treatment varies greatly, and is difficult to predict before a proper assessment has been undertaken, which usually takes approximately 3 sessions. Following assessment, the therapist and client should discuss a treatment plan, which will include a proposed course of treatment.

The first session is a chance for therapist and client to meet face-to-face for the first time and to establish the ‘frame’ of the therapy. This relates to a meeting time, session regularity, the limits of confidentiality, cost, method of payment, etc. The first session is a chance to begin the therapy process, with a discussion around current concerns.

CBT involves an examination of thoughts, and consideration of their impact on one’s behaviour and feelings.

Through psychodynamic psychotherapy, the therapist can help his clients to think about the meaning they have made, consciously and unconsciously, from previous experiences, and how these meanings affect current difficulties.

Intellectual Disability, formerly known as ‘Mental Retardation’, is defined by limitations in IQ (intellectual functioning) and adaptive behaviour, which covers many everyday social and practical skills. Intellectual Disability originates, by definition, before the age of 18.

Psychotherapy is a collective term for a variety of methods, techniques and styles aimed at removing psychological distress or disturbance. A common feature of most psychotherapies, is that they involve a dialogue wholly different to a conversation with friends or family; limited by confidentiality, considered from an objective stance, by a trained mental health professional.