My name is Debbie, and I hope to be “The Shrink On Your Couch!”
I am a psychologist and coach with a busy private practice in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Over the past 2 decades, I have spent thousands of hours working with individuals and couples, both online and in person.
These years have been magical and abundant for my clients who have benefitted, but also for me.
It’s such a privilege to be a trusted witness to peoples’ lives.
Increasingly, though, I’ve become aware of a major problem that traditional psychology doesn’t directly address:
Whether in treatment, or not, we all have to do our own work.
The ‘golden hour of psychotherapy’ can frame and guide that work.
But at the end of the day, we each have to be our own guru.
Or nothing will feel rewarding.
This is true for people who seek psychotherapy, and for people who don’t, or can’t.
Some clients arrive in treatment bewildered and overwhelmed, and beg for “tools and skills” to cope.
But if I jump right in with a presentation on such strategies, they’d likely feel dismissed and disappointed and utterly lost.
What they really need is to unburden themselves in conversation, and be heard and understood by someone gentle and relatable.
And then to use that session as a springboard to go home and dig deeper.
And this is why I created The Shrink On Your Couch. To encourage everyone interested in self-development and actualisation, or battling addiction, compulsion and relationship strife, to get their heads and hearts in the long-term self-healing game.
With or without a weekly therapy appointment.
To get curious about their patterns on repeat.
And
To get personally invested in overcoming them.
At their desk.
On their couch.
With a notepad and a pen.
With a YouTube video, a book, an article or a podcast.
My Vision For You
My vision, on this platform, is to create quality content that you can engage with, and be challenged and inspired by, without needing to leave your couch!
In the comfort of your own home or office, wherever you are in the world.
I write extensively and produce videos about trends and themes that emerge and re-emerge with my clients.
And I create and develop transformational programs for those wishing to go even deeper, and immerse themselves in strategies for effective living.
Who I work with:
Couples
I help couples, ravaged by toxic conflict and disconnection, to find their way back to each other, in a meaningful, sustainable and life-altering way.
Individuals
I help individuals seeking radical self-actualisation, by inspiring them to master the arts of mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and living well amongst others.
Bariatric Surgery Patients
I help weight-loss surgery patients, terrified of the return of compulsive eating after surgery, to overcome and conquer their emotional eating, so that they can be assured and confident that their investment of money, energy and courage will pay off.
Please join me as I work towards making Psychology, and my therapy room, come alive for YOU.
Allow me onto YOUR couch as we debate and explore the skill and art of living.