Online counselling for Johannesburg and Pretoria - a familiar face, just not in the same room
If you’re in Joburg or Pretoria and looking for a counsellor, you already know the first challenge: getting there. Between the N1 at 5pm, back-to-back meetings and the general weight of city life, carving out an hour to sit in a waiting room can feel like one more thing to manage.
Online counselling removes that particular barrier. You can have a private, confidential session from your office, your home, or wherever gives you a quiet half hour – without losing time to traffic or travel.
A counsellor who knows Gauteng life
I lived and worked in Gauteng for many years. My practice first opened on the East Rand in 2012, and during my studies I worked alongside a psychiatrist in Bedfordview while living in Edenvale. I also completed my community service hours through Lifeline in Benoni – an experience that shaped how I work with people who are carrying a great deal, quietly. See the About page for more on this background.
I understand what the city asks of people. The pressure to perform, the long days, the commutes, the way Gauteng can feel both relentlessly busy and deeply isolating at the same time. I moved my physical practice to Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape, but I work with clients in Johannesburg and Pretoria every week via Zoom.
You don’t need a new counsellor who needs you to explain the context. I already know it.
What I can help you with
My focus is on trauma – and trauma is more common than most people realise. It isn’t always the result of a single dramatic event. Trauma can come from relationships that were difficult for a long time, from experiences of crime, from loss, or from the accumulated weight of stress and anxiety that eventually becomes too much to hold on your own.
I work with clients dealing with:
- Trauma and its effects on everyday life, including crime-related trauma and the hypervigilance that often follows it
- Anxiety and the way it shows up in work, relationships and health
- Depression – including high-functioning depression that others around you might not even notice, and loneliness that can exist even in a busy, social city
- Relationship difficulties – whether that’s a partnership, a family dynamic or a working relationship
- Life transitions – changing careers, moving cities, loss, or just a persistent sense that something needs to shift
How counselling helps - narrative therapy and CBT, working together
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 the high-pressure, high-pace environment that characterises a lot of Gauteng working life, CBT is often useful for the practical side – managing anxiety, burnout, and the specific thought patterns that build up under sustained pressure. Narrative therapy is often useful for the bigger questions – what story you’re telling about who you are in relation to your work, your city, and your sense of what success or a good life actually looks like. 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.
How it works
Sessions take place via Zoom. You’ll need a stable internet connection, a device with a camera, and a private space where you won’t be interrupted. That’s it. Many of my Gauteng clients join from their offices during a lunch break, or from home in the evenings.
Sessions are 60 minutes. You can book directly through the website, and payment is made before each session. I am registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and my services are covered by most major medical aids. See the pricing page for current session fees.
Is online counselling right for your situation?
Online counselling works well for many people, but it isn’t the right fit for every situation. It is not appropriate if you are currently experiencing suicidal thoughts, severe substance dependency, or symptoms of serious mental illness that require in-person clinical support. If you’re unsure, please reach out and we can have an honest conversation about whether this is the right step.
Frequently asked questions
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.
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 – the anxiety connected to emigration, and to the decision-making process around it, is something I work with regularly. See the Anxiety Counselling page for more, and the regional pages for South Africans in the UK, Australia and New Zealand, and the UAE and Saudi Arabia if you’ve already made the move.
For most situations, yes – research consistently shows comparable outcomes. What matters most is the quality and consistency of the relationship, which online sessions support just as well as in-person ones for most people.