My Counselling Story
Certified. Passionate. Supportive.
I am a Registered Counsellor, located in the green town of White River, Mpumalanga. I was born and raised in the multicultural universe of South Africa. From personal experience, I know that it's all too easy to encounter setbacks in life. And you might find band-aid solutions for now. But band-aids don't heal the wound - they simply hide them for a little while. No quick-fix band-aid solution can replace meaningful and consistent effort to shed light on experiences that affect our capacity to cope. The essence of my work is to help clients:
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Identify, express, process (or even reprocess) the past and.or current events that shape your/your child's current challenges
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Identify resources and barriers that affect your/your child's opportunities for growth
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Adopt healthier coping habits to get through current and future challenges
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Navigate through change, including how you respond to moment-to-moment internal emotions
My Approach
I believe that there is no 'one-size-fits-all' approach in counselling and that each individual is unique and has their own way of dealing with life. A counselling model is only as useful as its applicability to the client's unique circumstances. I believe in a wellness model that helps our clients empower themselves by focusing on what works for them and not on a systematic approach that provides a generic procedure for working on a treatment. Thus, all client's counselling experiences may differ in duration, frequency, and theoretical framework in order to find a balance between the counselling and the client's goals.
I typically use bio-ecological system models to familiarize myself with a client's perspective, support system, background, and general context. I believe that the way we think, feel, and respond is a product of interrelated factors like our genetics, our interaction in different social environments (care-giver, church, school, work, friends, teachers), and the broader political and sociocultural conditions across our lifespan.
My aim for clients is to change their relationships with difficult feelings and emotions. I believe that it's okay to feel angry, jealous, shame, guilty, and judgmental; to get rid of difficult emotions is an attempt to get rid of a piece of what makes us human. As Susan David would say: "beauty is inseparable from fragility". Almost 90% of the time, how we respond to and interpret these difficult emotions determines how well we cope. Thus, I assist my clients to embrace difficult emotions, alongside positive/'easier' emotions. When clients face challenging emotions or experiences, I encourage them to take small, realistic steps that will help them adapt, manage, and make healthier choices that will be beneficial to themselves and others. For this, I use theories & techniques from Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Play therapy, Art therapy, and more.
Another perspective that shapes my approach is diversity and inclusion. It is likely that many of my clients have cultures, histories, generations, and upbringings that are different to mine. And various life experiences can influence the extent to which clients feel comfortable expressing their full identity in different environments, including the counselling environment.
Whilst I am trained to provide services in multicultural settings, I am aware that I will not always have the knowledge to help every single client. I do my best to learn about different aspects of my client's identity in my own time so that my client is not burdened with using their counselling time to explain different concepts to me. And if there is something I still do not understand, I will be honest about it and inform my client/or the client's parents (where applicable). I also encourage my clients to let me know if there are any parts of their perspective that I have not understood correctly.
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If there is anything about my identity or approach that prevents my client from expressing themselves, I fully encourage them to let me know at our first session or at any point during our counselling journey so that we can discuss what might strengthen their counselling needs. Based on our discussion and my observations, if either/ both of us feel that I am not the right professional for their current goals, I will be happy to discuss a referral.
Affiliations, Associations
And Memberships
Johannesburg Parent & Child Counselling Centre (JPCCC)
Counselling, training, development agency
Cohesion Collective (CoCo)
Equity, diversity, and inclusion training and advisory firm
Health Professional Council of South African (HPCSA)
Board of Healthcare Funders (BHF)
"Forced, false positivity is not resilience. It's denial. We need to be in the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Only then, can we take the steps necessary to create future possibilities."
-Adapted from Susan David (PhD)
Tue , Wed: 08h00 - 12h00; 14h00 -20h30
Thu, Fri: 08h00 - 12h00; 14h00 -18h30
Sat: 08h00 - 12h00
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Nayana S. George
Registered Counsellor
(HPCSA)
Take Control of Your Future
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