Dr Wendy is moving!
Dear Valued Patient, From 1 January, Dr Wendy will be relocating to Medispa, 99 Kloof Street, as the practice is expanding and requires more space. The new location is just one block away. Parking is available at the Mount Nelson – enter via the Nelson boom gate off Kloof Street and say you’re going to […]
What And Why Is Group Therapy?
While we think of therapy as a three-way discussion between a patient, a therapist and her sofa, increasing numbers of people are turning to group therapy, which involves small groups, and sometimes requires physical interaction. Group Psychotherapy (GP) refers to a number of psychotherapeutic interventions involving a group of simultaneous participants. This generally involves several […]
Is Anxiety A Smart Idea?
The tortured wunderkind with broody brow is a look. From mad-scientist depictions in movies, to everyday encounters in clinical psych waiting rooms, high stress and high IQ seem to travel together. Is worry the exclusive privilege of genius, or can the cognitively compromised stake their fair claim to a full-blown generalised anxiety disorder? Research shows […]
What’s the Beef With Bullying?
Chloe says Zoe is super-hoey. Chloe made a TikTok of Zoe kissing Joey. It was an innocent creep-shot. But then it went viral. And got likes. Now Zoe’s checked out of school for two whole weeks and barely leaves her bedroom. Bullying is a serious issue, affecting the mental health of its victims, and stemming […]
“Stance “ and how to get more of it
Introduction Confidence has always been an enigma to me . Why is confidence so easy to lack? Perhaps it is a legacy of the past. Schools and institutions may have crushed your spirit or well meaning parents sent out subtle messages of assault to your inner sanctum . Grown ups don’t actually have all the […]
Stress and its effects on the body
Research shows that up to 70% of patients who visit their primary care provider do so because of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, stress and burnout. Stress is defined as a process in which environmental demands strain an organism’s adaptive capacity resulting in psychological demands as well as biological changes that increase the risk […]
From Mortal to Mental: Closing the gap in mental health treatment for people living with HIV
To prioritize mental health in the context of HIV we must first place into perspective the HIV pandemic’s treatment trajectory. It is 2023 and I live and work in Cape Town. Clients with HIV face first world challenges now such as adjustment disorders, existential crises related to a new diagnosis, the breakup of a relationship; […]
Would you swap your antidepressant for a mushroom?
By Claire Tweedy May 24, 2022 30% of people with depression don’t respond to treatment with antidepressants. It often takes a long time to respond to such drugs. This causes some people to stop taking them after a while. Psilocybin — the ingredient in magic mushrooms that makes people hallucinate — has been shown to […]
Managing Depression: Moving Beyond The Prozac Era
A short history of serotonin The serendipitous discovery of clinically useful antidepressant medication occurred about 60 years ago. So, what are monoamines? Monoamines are essentially chemicals in your brain, for example serotonin, dopamine and noradrenalin. These are the transmitters most implicated in psychiatric disorders from depression to bipolar and to schizophrenia. Neurons communicate with each […]
An overlooked workforce: How these mental health paramedics can ease depression & anxiety in SA
By Zano Kunene October 11, 2022 South Africa has a workforce of more than 2 000 mental health workers who are specially trained to provide basic mental health services in communities without psychologists. Registered counsellors can work in hospitals, prisons and schools. But a lack of job opportunities means very few of these practitioners are […]
