Storme Brand is an HPCSA-registered counsellor (Reg. PRC0023531) based at Jbay Therapy Hub, 16 Oosterland Street, Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. She has been in private practice since 2012 and offers in-person sessions locally and online counselling across South Africa and internationally. She specialises in trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, relationship difficulties and life transitions.
I was born into a Zimbabwean family. When I was young, my family immigrated to South Africa and settled in Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, where I grew up and finished school. Later I moved to Gauteng – Edenvale, then Bedfordview, where I spent over a decade working alongside a psychiatrist, Dr Adrienne Miles, before eventually moving to Jeffreys Bay where I have my practice today.
Much of my extended family has since left Zimbabwe for different parts of the world. Aunts, uncles, cousins – scattered across continents, building lives in places they did not grow up in, staying connected through voice notes and video calls and the particular kind of love that survives distance. I know what that looks like from the inside. I know the grief of it, and the resilience of it, and the things that do not translate.
That background is not incidental to the work I do with South Africans and Zimbabweans abroad. It is part of why I do it.
Outside of all of that, I am most at home outdoors. I value direct relationships – the kind where people say what they mean. That is what I try to bring into sessions as well.
I completed my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology through UNISA in 2008, and my Honours in Psychology in 2012. During my studies I did community service work with women through the Ruth Pregnancy Crisis Centre, providing counselling around pregnancy and loss. My Lifeline internship followed – two years on the crisis lines in Benoni, learning what it means to sit with someone in a very dark moment and not flinch.
After more than a decade in private practice, I undertook a formal Diploma in Narrative Therapy through Coram DEO in 2020, and I am currently completing the supervised practice component. Narrative therapy is the approach I had always been drawn to in my work; the diploma was about deepening something I already believed in.
I do this work because I believe most people are more capable of working through hard things than they give themselves credit for. My role is not to fix anything. It is to sit alongside someone while they find what they already know.
My primary approach is narrative therapy – a way of working that pays attention to the stories people carry about themselves and their experiences. Where did that story come from? Is it yours, or was it handed to you? Does it still serve you?
I draw on other approaches alongside narrative therapy depending on what each person needs. There is no fixed protocol I am moving through. The direction in a session comes from what matters to you, at the pace that works for you.
Sessions are one hour. I work with individuals, couples and families. I also work with organisations dealing with workplace trauma or staff wellbeing.
Most of the people I see are dealing with one or more of the following:
Trauma – including the kind that builds slowly, not only single critical incidents
Anxiety – including high-functioning anxiety that others around you may not see
Depression – including the low-level kind that makes everything feel heavier than it should
Grief and loss – of people, relationships, places, versions of yourself
Relationship difficulties – in partnerships, families or at work
Life transitions – career changes, emigration, becoming a parent, divorce and separation
Workplace trauma and work-related stress
I also work with people navigating the intersection of HIV and mental health – an experience that carries stigma, grief, relationship strain and identity questions that are not always well-supported in mainstream counselling settings.
I want to be honest about what I do not work with. I am not the right fit for people in acute crisis, experiencing active suicidal ideation, or requiring clinical-level or inpatient psychiatric care. If that is where you are right now, please contact SADAG on 0800 567 567 (free, 24 hours) or Lifeline on 0861 322 322. I am glad to help you find an appropriate referral.
HPCSA Registered Counsellor – Registration no. PRC0023531 (verify at hpcsa.co.za)
Honours Degree in Psychology – UNISA, 2012
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology – UNISA, 2008
Diploma in Narrative Therapy – Coram DEO, 2020 (currently completing supervised practice)
My HPCSA registration means my sessions are recognised by most major South African medical aids. I provide invoices with ICD10 codes after each session; you submit to your medical aid directly.
I have been in continuous private practice since April 2012. The twelve years I spent prior to that in a psychiatric setting gave me a clinical foundation that still shapes how I approach referrals, the limits of counselling, and when to suggest someone needs more than I can offer.
As part of my HPCSA registration, I am also required to meet annual ongoing professional development training and develop my own skills and knowlage with the latest knowledge in my field.
A significant part of my practice is online, via Zoom. I work with clients across South Africa and with South Africans living abroad – in the UK, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Namibia, Botswana, Mauritius and Canada.
I also work with Zimbabweans abroad. My own family came from Zimbabwe; many of them have since emigrated to different parts of the world. That is not professional background – it is personal. I understand the cultural context, the particular weight of that specific leaving, and what it means to try to maintain identity and connection across borders.
I work with digital nomads too – people for whom finding a consistent therapist has been the obstacle because they keep moving. Consistency matters in therapy. I stay.
If you are based outside South Africa, my registration is with the HPCSA and I practise under South African law. I am not registered with professional bodies in other countries. I am glad to talk through what that means for your situation before we begin.
The easiest way to reach me is WhatsApp on +27 79 019 8437. You can also email stormebrand@gmail.com.
If you are not sure whether what you are dealing with is something I work with, or whether online counselling is the right format for you, reach out anyway. We can talk it through honestly before anything is decided. There is no commitment in making contact.
Yes. Storme Brand is a registered counsellor with the Health Professions Council of South Africa, registration number PRC0023531. You can verify this at hpcsa.co.za.
Both are registered with the HPCSA but have different scopes. Psychologists can conduct formal psychological assessment and diagnosis and typically work with more complex clinical presentations. Counsellors work with the emotional and psychological difficulties most people experience – trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, relationships, life transitions – in a therapeutic relationship. For most people seeking this kind of support, a counsellor is an effective and appropriate choice.
Storme Brand has been in private practice as a registered counsellor since 2012. Before that she spent twelve years working in a psychiatric practice in Bedfordview, Gauteng. She holds a Diploma in Narrative Therapy from Coram DEO (2020) and is currently completing the supervised practice component.
Yes. Storme offers online counselling via Zoom to clients across South Africa and internationally, including South Africans and Zimbabweans in the UK, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ireland, Namibia, Botswana, Mauritius and Canada, and to digital nomads across time zones. Her own family has roots in Zimbabwe and has emigrated widely, giving her direct personal familiarity with the expat experience.
Most major South African medical aids recognise her sessions. She provides an invoice with ICD10 codes after each session; you submit to your medical aid directly. If you are unsure whether your specific plan covers counselling, contact your scheme before booking.
Narrative therapy is a non-blaming, respectful approach that treats people as the experts on their own lives. It explores the stories people carry about themselves and their experiences – where those stories came from, whether they are accurate, and whether they still serve the person. Storme holds a Diploma in Narrative Therapy from Coram DEO and is currently completing supervised practice in this approach.
The first session is mostly about orientation – understanding what is going on for you, what you are hoping for, and whether working together feels like the right fit. You bring what you are ready to bring. The pace is yours throughout.
