Fighting fairly and how to fight right
Healthy conflict is part of any close relationship and happy couples are not couples that don’t fight. Rather they are couples that fight right. Couples are eager to display their fighting skills during couples counselling. After they start to blame, criticise and...
Raising a responsible child: Too young to decide?
By Joanna Kleovoulou, Clinical Psychologist and Director of PsychMatters Family Therapy Centre "I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. But I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill,...
The Healing Art of Art Therapy
By Esther Van Der Walt, Clinical Psychologist. There is an ancient Greek legend that tells the tale of Asclepius, a physician who identified his own wounds and then created a sanctuary to heal others. As clinical psychologist who often works in the art therapy...
Stop the Smacks
By Tammy Epstein, Educational Psychologist at PsychMatters Family Therapy Centre Have you ever wondered if smacking damages your child emotionally? The short answer is yes. But, if you’re anything like me, you’ll want to know why. You may be thinking that you were...
How To Keep The Love
How to keep the love, by Joanna Kleovoulou (Clinical Psychologist and Director) Once upon a time... lived Snow White with her seven dwarfs. Fast forward... And the prince found Snow White sleeping comatose for decades. He bent down on one knee, caressed her cheek and...
A real Merry Holiday
The ending of another year often leaves us feeling frantic to get to complete our over-extended to-do-lists, "wrapping" up of not only a long list of presents but also work responsibilities and family commitments. Before we can blink our eyelids, the festive holidays...
Making single parenting work
Single parenting is not a new phenomenon, but rates are increasing worldwide. South Africa has the world’s highest rate of single parent households (over 60%). Single parents are the norm, not the exception. Typically, a SA child has a living, but absent, father, and...
Self-esteem: What’s the Big Fuss?
Let's start of by undertanding what self-esteem is - it's the collection of beliefs and feelings that we have about ourselves which influences our motivations, attitudes, actions and affects how we adjust in the world. Patterns of self-esteem start very early in life....
Building self-esteem through self-care
By Dr. Debbie Norval from Skin Renewal, locoated on 9 Park Street,Bedfordview, Jhb. We’ve all heard the saying “beauty is not skin deep” and that if you feel good on the inside you will look good on the outside. But it’s not as simple as that in real life. In fact if...
When Two Becomes Three
By: Melanie Hamaty, Clinical Psychologist While the birth of a baby brings great joy into a couple’s life, it is also taxing on any relationship. The first few weeks can be overwhelming, especially for new parents. The world revolves around coping with little sleep,...
Lost your way, mid-year? 7 Tips to find your direction
By Joanna Kleovoulou, Clinical Psychologist Discovering what you really want in life, or how indeed to achieve it, is not always easy. It may even evade you. As the year sets in to the next half, dreams and goals have been put aside in order to just get through the...
When its your time to listen
By Chael Nel, Clinical Psychologist In relationships, when couples say they can’t understand why their partners think in a specific way, they often refer to the fact that they disagree with how their partners think. ‘Disagreeing’ and ‘Misunderstanding’ are two...