I’m based in Jeffreys Bay, which puts me in an interesting position. My physical practice is in the heart of the Kouga Municipality – close enough to Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) for clients who are willing to make the drive, and genuinely local for people in Humansdorp, St Francis Bay, Hankey, Patensie and the surrounding towns and farms.
But I also work with clients entirely online, across South Africa and beyond. And for many of my Eastern Cape clients, the best approach is a blend of both.
Building a therapeutic relationship is much easier face to face. The first session is where trust begins to form – where you get a sense of whether this is a counsellor you can be honest with, and where I start to understand your particular situation rather than just the presenting problem.
For clients who live within reasonable distance of Jeffreys Bay – including Humansdorp, St Francis Bay and Gqeberha – I often suggest beginning with one or two in-person sessions. Once that foundation is in place, continuing online can work very effectively. You get the benefit of a genuine therapeutic relationship, without needing to make the trip every week.
For clients further afield – in Kareedouw, Patensie, Hankey, or on farms across the Kouga – online from the start is often the most practical option, and it works.
The Kouga region is large and the population spread across it is wide. For many people living in smaller towns or on farms, the practical question isn’t which counsellor to see – it’s how to get to any counsellor at all, without it disrupting a working week or requiring a long drive on a rural road.
Online counselling doesn’t solve every problem, but it does solve that one. A session can happen from home, from an office, or from wherever gives you reliable connectivity and some privacy. For farming communities especially, where driving to town is a deliberate commitment of time and logistics, being able to access consistent support online makes a real difference.
My practice centres on trauma – understanding where it comes from, how it shows up, and how to move through it. Trauma doesn’t always announce itself. It can develop through difficult relationships, through crime, through prolonged stress and anxiety, or through losses that were never fully processed.
I work with clients on:
I draw on two main approaches, depending on what’s most useful for the person in front of me: narrative therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). For clients carrying the slow-build kind of stress that comes with rural life or long-standing relationship difficulties, narrative therapy is often useful for examining the stories that have built up over time. For more immediate, practical concerns – managing anxiety day to day, or shifting specific patterns that have become unhelpful – CBT often provides more direct, structured tools. Most people benefit from a combination, adapted to what’s most useful for you. See the About page for more on how I work generally.
My practice is in Jeffreys Bay, at Jbay Therapy Hub. In-person sessions are available for clients who can reasonably access the area. An initial in-person session is always my preference when geography allows – it makes everything that follows easier.
Online sessions run via Zoom, 60 minutes, with payment made before each session. You’ll need a device with a camera, a reasonable internet connection, and somewhere private. For clients in rural areas where connectivity can be variable, we can make a plan if a session needs to be rescheduled due to load-shedding or poor signal.
I am HPCSA registered and sessions are covered by most major medical aids. See the pricing page for current session fees.
Online counselling is not appropriate for everyone. If you’re experiencing suicidal thoughts, severe mental illness requiring clinical care, or serious substance dependency, in-person support from a suitable professional is the right step. If you’re unsure, please reach out and we can talk through what makes the most sense for your situation.
If you’d like to find out more about in-person sessions in Jeffreys Bay or online sessions across the Eastern Cape, you’re welcome to WhatsApp me directly or book through the website. There’s no pressure in reaching out.
Storme Brand is a Registered Counsellor with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA Reg. PRC0023531) – you can verify this at hpcsa.co.za. Counsellors and psychologists are both registered with the HPCSA but have different scopes – see the About page for more.
Yes – both are available. For clients within reasonable reach of Jeffreys Bay, starting in person and continuing online often works well; for clients further afield, online from the start is common and effective. See the sections above for more detail.
Most major South African medical aids recognise sessions with an HPCSA-registered counsellor. An invoice with the relevant ICD-10 codes is provided after each session. See the pricing page for current session fees.
A combination of narrative therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), adapted to what’s most useful for you – see the section above for more detail.
Yes – and this is something I work with regularly for clients across the Kouga region. If load-shedding or poor signal disrupts a session, we reschedule rather than treat it as a problem. Starting with an in-person session, if you’re able to make the trip even once, can also help build the relationship before moving to online sessions.
