Trauma counselling - Jeffreys Bay and online across South Africa
Trauma does not always announce itself clearly. It is not only the dramatic, single incident – the hijacking, the accident, the assault. It can also be the slow accumulation of a difficult relationship, a childhood that was hard in ways that are difficult to name, or years of sustained stress that have left a mark.
If something from your past is still shaping your present – the way you respond to certain situations, the way you feel in your body, the stories you tell yourself about who you are – that is worth exploring. You do not need a formal diagnosis to seek support, and you do not need to be certain it qualifies as trauma.
What trauma is - and what it is not
Trauma is the result of experiences that were overwhelming – too much, too fast, or too sustained for the nervous system to process in the ordinary way. It leaves traces: in the way the body responds, in patterns of thinking, and in how we relate to other people and to ourselves.
Those traces are not a sign of weakness. They are a normal response to abnormal or prolonged circumstances. Many people who come to counselling for trauma have lived with its effects for years without connecting them to a specific experience – assuming this is simply how they are, or that what happened was not significant enough to still be affecting them.
Both assumptions are usually wrong.
Trauma counselling is not the same as crisis support. Crisis support is for people in acute danger. Trauma counselling is for people who are now safe but carrying the residue of past experiences that are still affecting daily life. If you are in crisis right now, please contact SADAG on 0800 567 567 (free, 24 hours) or Lifeline on 0861 322 322.
A background built for this work
Trauma is the area of counselling I understand most deeply, both professionally and through direct exposure over many years.
Before opening my practice I spent twelve years working alongside a specialist psychiatrist in Bedfordview – a daily, close-range view of mental health presentations across the full clinical spectrum. That experience gave me an early and clear understanding of where the edges of counselling are, what clinical intervention looks like, and when to refer.
Before that, I trained on the Lifeline crisis telephone lines in Benoni, learning what it means to be with someone in acute distress and to hold space when someone is at their worst. During my studies I provided counselling to women through the Ruth Pregnancy Crisis Centre – supporting people through pregnancy-related grief, loss, and decisions made under difficult circumstances.
That background – combined with over twelve years in private practice with trauma as a primary focus – informs how I approach this work: carefully, without rushing, and with an honest understanding of when a different level of support is needed.
What I work with
The after-effects of crime, assault, or abuse – physical, verbal, or sexual
Childhood experiences that are still affecting adult life
Relationship trauma – the kind that builds through repeated patterns over time
Vicarious and secondary trauma from exposure to others’ suffering through work or relationships
Workplace incidents and occupational trauma
Complex trauma – prolonged or repeated traumatic experiences
Trauma following pregnancy loss, abortion, or infertility
Trauma connected to a significant medical diagnosis or treatment
The cumulative effect of long-term stress, chronic difficulty, or sustained hard circumstances
If you’re not sure whether what you’re experiencing relates to trauma, reach out and we can talk it through. You don’t need a diagnosis or a label to start a conversation.
How this work is done
My primary therapeutic approach is narrative therapy – a way of working that does not ask you to relive or repeatedly retell what happened in detail, but instead focuses on the impact: on the traces the experience has left in how you think about yourself, how you relate to others, and how you move through the world.
Narrative therapy is non-pathologising and deeply respectful of the person’s own experience and expertise. It does not treat you as broken or damaged. It asks what happened to you, and what you have made of it, and what else might be possible.
I draw on other evidence-based approaches alongside narrative therapy depending on what each person needs. Trauma work requires pacing – we move at a speed that is manageable, which may feel slower than you expect at first. That pace is not a delay. It is how the work stays safe and effective.
Sessions are one hour. I work with individuals and, where relevant, couples and families affected by shared traumatic experience.
A note on counsellors, psychologists and psychiatrists
For many people dealing with trauma, a registered counsellor is the right first point of support. HPCSA-registered counsellors are trained to work therapeutically with the psychological and emotional impact of trauma. A psychiatrist or psychologist is needed where formal clinical assessment, diagnosis, or medication is required.
My years in a specialist psychiatric practice mean I understand clearly where that line is. If your situation requires a higher level of clinical support, I will tell you honestly and help you find the right resource.
Common questions about trauma counselling
You do not need a formal diagnosis or a dramatic event to be affected by trauma. If past experiences are still affecting how you feel in your body, how you respond to situations, or the way you think about yourself – that is worth exploring. Many people live for years with the effects of trauma without connecting them to a specific experience. If something from the past is still shaping the present, that is reason enough to seek support.
No. Narrative therapy, which is my primary approach, does not require you to retell or relive events in order for the work to be effective. We focus on the impact – the traces the experience has left in your life – rather than the details of what happened. You control what you share and when.
Complex trauma refers to trauma that results from prolonged, repeated, or multiple traumatic experiences rather than a single incident – typically within a relationship or environment from which there was no easy exit, such as a difficult childhood, an abusive relationship, or sustained occupational exposure. It often has a broader impact on identity, relationships, and daily functioning than single-incident trauma. I work with complex trauma with appropriate pacing and care.
Trauma counselling specifically addresses the after-effects of experiences that were overwhelming or damaging, with particular care given to pacing and safety. It requires attention to what is explored and when, and to ensuring sessions remain manageable. That said, trauma does not exist in isolation – it affects relationships, self-concept, anxiety, and daily functioning, all of which become part of the work.
Yes. Many people find that working in their own space – on their own device, in an environment they control – makes it easier to engage with difficult material. The therapeutic relationship transfers well to Zoom. We take the same care with pacing and safety in online sessions as in person.
No. Trauma does not have an expiry date, and neither does the possibility of working through it. Many people come to trauma counselling years or decades after the original experience – sometimes because a new event has activated something old, sometimes because they are finally in a position to address it. The length of time does not diminish what counselling can offer.
A psychologist can conduct formal psychological assessment and diagnosis and typically works with more complex clinical presentations. A counsellor works therapeutically with the emotional and psychological impact of trauma in a relational setting. For many people dealing with trauma, a counsellor is the appropriate and effective level of support. Where clinical assessment or medication is needed, I will say so and help with referral.