Journeying Within
Counselling psychologists help you examine your emotional problems and explore the underlying issues that may be the cause. They then support you to make the necessary decisions to improve your personal wellbeing and deal with whatever is holding you back in life.
An Overview Of My Services
Although, I do not think counselling or psychotherapy is necessarily about “fixing” or about changing something defective. I think it is about gaining self-awareness, understanding, acceptance, love, and growth. It is about getting to know yourself better so that you can feel compassion for the feelings and experiences that made you who you are.
It is about discovering, facing, and learning to love parts of us that might be difficult, painful, or scary. It is about taking personal responsibility without feeling shame.
Individual Counselling and Psychotherapy
Individual counselling is a personal opportunity to receive support and experience growth during challenging times in life. Individual counselling can help one deal with many personal topics in life such as anger, depression, anxiety, and relationship challenges.
Counselling is collaborative, which means I want to work together to come up with a therapeutic plan that is the right fit for you and meets your goals.
Couples Therapy/Relationship Counselling
Couples therapy is a means of resolving conflicts that couples have not been able to handle effectively on their own. The aim is to help them gain a better understanding of themselves and their partner so that they may improve communication and minimize conflict. My process is to help couples understand and identify behaviors affecting your relationship. Benefits of couples therapy include – improved communication and reduce the number of arguments, building trust and re-igniting your emotional connection towards each other and re-negotiating your commitments.
Sex Counselling
People of all ages, sexual orientations, genders, religions, and ethnicities may choose to seek the help of sex therapists.
Group Therapy and Support Groups
Therapy groups meet every week at the same time for one or two hours. During that time, the members of the group discuss the issues that are concerning them and offer each other support and feedback.
Regularly talking and listening to others also helps you put your own challenges in perspective. The benefits of group therapy includes helping you relate to others (and yourself) in healthier ways and helps you realize you’re not alone.
Career Counselling and Career Guidance
Career counselling is sought when an individual needs confidential support and advice about possible career movements, developments or changes. The benefits include identifying and addressing problems at work that are holding you back, and formulating a set of attainable goals and a plan of action.
If you are looking for a career change, job-hunting advice or mentoring then I can make your search a bit easier and more centered around your strengths.
Counselling Services in Johannesburg
If you decide you could benefit from talking to a counselling psychologist, your process will begin with a general consultation. You can discuss your issues and background history with Stephen, establish the focus of your treatment, and decide with him how many sessions you would benefit from. You will then normally meet with Stephen on a weekly basis.
Young Adults Counselling
With my background in counselling, sexual wellness and adjustment issues, I work frequently with young adults and the challenges they are affected by. This interest began during my time working at Wits for the student counselling centre (CCDU) and the student counselling unit at Monash South Africa. I particularly enjoy working with students in higher education because of their resilience and energy. It is a delicate developmental stage filled with difficulties and this is when many young people can start to experience mental health issues. However, with help and support and having their stories ‘heard’, many students are able to overcome these hardships and achieve their goals.
Sex Therapy
For over 20 years I have maintained a specialisation in sexual wellness, initially with regards to HIV/AIDS counselling, management and treatment. My interest in the field began in 1995 while working as an intern at an HIV charity in London. The frank discussions on sex and sexuality between the centre users and volunteers inspired me to focus my energies in this often misunderstood area.
Sex therapy, whether for individuals or couples, aims to address a host of psycho-sexual issues that many people experience at varying stages of their sexual development. Through sex therapy, you can explore concerns about your sexual functioning or dysfunction, sexual feelings and intimacy. Sex therapy can be effective for adults of any age, gender, or sexual orientation. It is a strategy for the treatment of a sexual dysfunction that has no medical physiological reason or it can work as a complement to medical treatment.
Issues which may be addressed during therapy may include:
* Non-consummation
* Premature ejaculation
* Erectile dysfunction
* Low libido
* Unwanted sexual fetishes
* Making sense of desired sexual fetishes
* Sex addiction
* Painful sex
* Difficulties with orgasm
* Lack of sexual confidence
* Assistance with recovery from sexual assault
* Problems commonly caused by stress, tiredness, and other environmental and relationship factors
Talks & Workshops
Since the late 1990s I have worked as a trainer and facilitator of various HIV and sex themed training programmes. This led to the development of wide ranging talks and workshops aimed at audiences from diverse backgrounds. I now host and develop workshops for companies, organisations, schools, parents and other professionals. These can cover the following topics:
* Career decision-making
* Coping with failure
* Stress and anxiety – stress management and relaxation
* Time management and balance
* Learning styles
* Thinking about the feelings of others (mentalisation)
* Mental health
* Adjustment issues
* Self esteem
* Personal and organisational values
* Conflict resolution
* Assertiveness training
* Gender, power and health
* Gender and violence
* Healthy and happy relationships
* Communication skills
* Bereavement
* Depression and suicide
* Leadership skills
* Problem solving skills
* Goal setting and motivation
* Caring for the caregiver (aimed at healthcare workers)
* Basic counselling skills
* HIV/Aids (HIV overview, pre-test decision-making, diagnosis, living with HIV and treatment adherence).
* Sexuality issues and gender identity
* Additional psychological talks or workshops can be arranged on request.
Sexuality & Gender
Over the last few years and in conjunction with my exposure to the exciting work of various support and advocacy organisations, I have nurtured a further specialisation in LGBTI+ issues, with the aim of providing affirming treatment options.
Affirming psychotherapy states that sexuality and gender identity are not a mental illnesses, in accordance with global scientific consensus. Further, embracing and affirming sexual identity and gender identity can be a key component to recovery from other mental illnesses or substance abuse.
You may enter therapy for many reasons. And the presenting issues may have little to do with sexual orientation or gender identity while others may be intimately connected to LGBTI+ identity.
Today I work with individuals dealing with wide range of issues around gender identity and sexual orientation, offering treatment that encourages you to accept who you are. I provide therapy that does not attempt to push you towards heterosexuality or cis-gender or to eliminate or diminish your desires and behaviours.
Issues addressed during therapy may include:
* Mild depression
* Anxiety
* Grief
* Identity
* Questioning
* Coming out
* Acceptance
* Stigma
* Family and relationship issues
* Trauma
Physical address
216 Kessel Street, Fairland, Johannesburg.
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