Resources
Informative pages that may provide you with immediate short-term help and answers to questions you might have.
Resources by Topic
The articles cover a wide range of topics and are grouped by subject matter. Explore these areas to read more about various conditions and addictions that life might throw at you.
Addiction
Addiction is described as powerlessness over all mood-altering drugs and behaviours:
Chemical addictions to illicit or “recreational” drugs and alcohol
Behavioural addictions include Addiction to the internet, Sexual Addiction, Workaholism, Compulsive Gambling, Compulsive Shopping, Compulsive Exercising, Compulsive Hoarding, Eating Disorders, Codependency and Self-mutilation.
Alcohol / Drug Abuse
Alcohol or drug dependence (addiction) differs from
Alcohol / Drug abuse.
The four relevant categories pertaining to Alcohol / Drug Abuse:
Adolescent and Childhood
Extensive research has shown the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural therapy in treating children and adolescents. CBT is often used to treat Mood Disorders and Depression as well as Anxiety Disorders. Research also clearly demonstrates its efficacy with PTSD as well as with crisis debriefing.
Childhood Developmental Disorders include Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD), Separation Anxiety Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder and Conduct Disorder.
Depression and Mood Disorders
Mood disorders can be split into two basic categories: those mood disorders that involve depression, and those mood disorders that include both depression and manic episodes (or just mania):
Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders affect 18% of people aged 18 or older in a given year, causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty. Unlike the relatively mild, brief anxiety caused by a stressful event (such as speaking in public or a first date), anxiety disorders last at least 6 months and can get worse if they are not treated. They include Specific Phobias, OCD, PTSD, Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Phobia, and Panic Disorder.
Eating Disorders
Regardless of the type of eating disorder, people are generally focused on food, weight (a specific number) and body image (which is usually distorted).
Eating disorders generally fall into three categories:
Compulsive Overeating (Binge Eating)
Trauma, Bereavement and Grief
The simple fact is that if you are having strong thoughts and/or feelings about an experience, then you have been traumatised to some extent by the experience.
Acute Stress Disorder occurs in someone after the impact of trauma.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) develops after a terrifying ordeal that involves physical harm or the threat of physical harm.
Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away.
Personality Disorders
Personality Disorders are seen as separate from normal neurotic conditions (depression, anxiety etc.) in that they are chronic in nature and involve an enduring pattern of inner experience and behaviour that is seen as culturally inappropriate in modern society. These are the disorders covered:
Cognitive Therapy
As a Cognitive Therapist I am extremely well trained in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), and over the years have upskilled in and added on other Cognitive Therapy modalities such as Rational Emotive Therapy (RET), Schema Therapy (ST), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (AACT) as well as Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (DBT) in order to be able to effectively treat even the most challenging of cases.
Resource Articles
Select from one of the specific articles below to help you understand what you or a loved one might be facing.
Trauma
Have you been traumatised? We all know what traumatic experiences are, and the vast majority of us have survived at least one traumatic experience in our lives. No one can tell another person what a traumatic experience should look like, or what that person should or...
Acute Stress Disorder
Acute Stress Disorder occurs in someone after the impact of trauma. The trauma can be directly experienced or witnessed. Acute stress disorder can even occur in someone where traumatic events that happened to someone else close to them are merely related to them. In...
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
What is PTSD? Post-traumatic stress disorder develops after a terrifying ordeal that involves physical harm or the threat of physical harm. The person who develops PTSD may have been the one who was harmed, the harm may have happened to a loved one, or the person may...
Bereavement / Grief
What is grief? Grief is a natural response to loss. It’s the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. Causes of loss include: death of a loved one a relationship breakup loss of safety after a trauma death of a pet loss of health...
Compulsive Overeating
What is compulsive overeating? While no one is sure what causes compulsive eating, we do know that many compulsive eaters report feeling depressed. Another common thread is that many binge eaters also report having been sexually abused. While these issues are common...
Bulimia Nervosa
What is bulimia nervosa? Bulimia is best described by episodes of binge eating followed by various methods of trying to control one’s weight. These methods might include self-induced vomiting (purging), excessive exercise, abuse of laxatives or abuse of diuretics....
Anorexia Nervosa
What is anorexia nervosa? Anorexia is an eating disorder generally occurring in young women and characterised by a distorted body image, a fear of obesity, weight gain and an unwillingness to eat. The drive to become thinner or weigh less is actually secondary to the...
Self-mutilation
What is self-mutilation? Self-mutilation or self-injury is the act of deliberate, repetitive, impulsive, non-lethal harming of one’s body. Many people who self-harm do not even know they are doing it. For example, some people pinch themselves until they create a scar...
Compulsive Exercising
What is compulsive exercising? Exercise is a vital activity for all human beings, and statistics show clearly that the average South African does not exercise enough. Nevertheless, some people exercise to the point that it is actually destructive, and find it hard to...
Compulsive Hoarding
What is compulsive hoarding? The term is used in different clinical and non-clinical contexts to describe a broad spectrum of behavioural abnormities, including: the acquisition of, and failure to discard, a large number of possessions that appear to be useless or of...
Compulsive Shopping
What is compulsive shopping? As with all behavioural addictions, compulsive shopping differs from heavy shopping in that it sits on the other side of a thin grey line in terms of ‘how much is too much?’. As with all addictions, though, the easier diagnostic element...
Codependency
People who are codependent in their relationships are often dealing with issues surrounding denial, low self-esteem, compliance and control. They may have trouble identifying and expressing how they feel, or they remain in unhealthy situations because of a misguided...
More Resources
Emergency Numbers
A list of relevant South African help numbers if you need Urgent Assistance.
FAQs
The most commonly asked questions about therapy, fees and medical aids.
My Scribblings
Links to therapy-oriented dissertations and book articles I have written
Free Assessment Tools - Tools for Health and Wellness
How anxious are you? Are you getting enough sleep? What’s your Cardiovascular Risk? These tools on TFHAW will help you evaluate your situation.
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