About me
I believe in the resilience of young and old and the innate presence of mental health in us all. Circumstance and traumatic life events can be extremely tough, and it normally impacts any one of us emotionally. We often have truly painful thoughts and feelings during such stormy times. These thoughts and feelings can influence our behavior and decisions more than we want it to. And when times are so tough it is quite human to get stuck in a struggle with hurtful experiences, relationship cycles and self judgements. This in turn can impact the bonds and dreams that we have. It can leave us out of sync with our direction in life, feeling anxious, down, disconnected, self-critical and unable to enjoy life’s precious moments.
To serve and assist my clients during difficult times we make use of the science of positive psychology.
This means my client and I work together not from a deficit base but from a resilience base. We strive to create an honest no judgement zone to work from. From this platform we work together to make a practical difference to the decisions and actions we take (or find difficult to take) in daily life. Hand in hand with this is our work to reawaken a general keen sense of awareness and engagement. We are intentional not just with outer compassion but with our inner compassion, systematically addressing self-criticism and shame.
I am a registered counseling psychologist and have been in private practice for more than 20 years.
I mainly use Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) for adults and adolescents. For children, I use Play therapy as a model. I strongly believe in working in a team with parents and caregivers when assisting children.
I enjoy being actively involved with peer group consultations, supervision groups, and continuous training.
I am greatly influenced by the ACT-community, CFT-studies as well as the International Play Therapy Study Group. The most important influence though is that of my clients, the younger and older, with whom I share a stressful and satisfying path of lifelong learning.
I believe in the resilience of young and old and the innate presence of mental health in us all. Circumstance and traumatic life events though can be extremely tough, and it normally impact any one of us emotionally. We often have truly painful thoughts and feelings during such stormy times. These thoughts and feelings can influence our behavior and decisions more than we want it to. And when times are so tough it is quite human to get stuck in a struggle with hurtful experiences relationship cycles and self judgements. This in turn can impact the bonds and dreams that we have. It can leave us out of sync with our direction in life, feeling anxious, down, disconnected, self-critical and unable to enjoy life’s precious moments.
To serve and assist my clients during difficult times we make use of the science of positive psychology. This means my client and I work together not from a deficit base but from a resilience base. We strive to create an honest no judgement zone to work from. From this platform we work together to make a practical difference to the decisions and actions we take (or find difficult to take) in daily life. Hand in hand with this is our work to reawaken a general keen sense of awareness and engagement. We are intentional not just with outer compassion but with our inner compassion, systematically addressing self-criticism and shame.
I am a registered counseling psychologist and have been in private practice for more than 20 years. I mainly use Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT) and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) for adults and adolescents. For children, I use Play therapy as a model. I strongly believe in working in a team with parents and caregivers when assisting children.
I enjoy being actively involved with peer group consultations, supervision groups, and continuous training. I am greatly influenced by the ACT-community, CFT-studies as well as the International Play Therapy Study Group. The most important influence though is that of my clients, the younger and older, with whom I share a stressful and satisfying path of lifelong learning.
Christa Visagie
BRIEF BIO
I believe in positive psychology. I have the hope to practice compassion and bold actions as I learn and share as a person and a psychologist. I am registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and have been in practice for over 20 years.
The focus of my services is psychotherapy with children and their families. My professional development has been concentrated on building my knowledge and experience in this field and I therefore attend local and international conferences selected for this purpose. This includes for example, annual conferences of the Association of Play Therapy (affiliated to the American Psychological Association), and Association of Contextual and Behavioural Science (ACBS). Further experience includes Monster Busting (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) for older children and adolescents and assisting children and families by means of Filial therapy. I have a strong interest in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).
My professional activities include being a member of the ACBS (Association of Contextual and Behavioural Science), member of the special interest group on Compassion focused Therapy, and ACT- peer supervision group in Pretoria. I am an active member of the International Play Therapy Study Group. I presented to this audience on “The Neurobiology of Play, Some Core Concepts” in June 2008 and on “Therapist Use of Self in Play Therapy” in June 2015. I am a member and volunteer to the South African Depression and Anxiety Work Group as well as the Healthcare Worker’s Care Network during Covid19.
I am passionate about making the science of psychology practical. I try to work toward this in sessions and by hosting workshops for parents and the public on subjects such as: “Building Backbone: Discipline in Action for adults and children”, “Play, serious business for young and old” and for Teachers and Caregivers: “Managing of Childhood Trauma” and “Courage and Care, the science of Compassion”.
Supervision and mentoring services to psychologists who work with families and children is a satisfying part of my practice.
Lastly, on a personal note, emotional suffering is surely not unknown to me. However slow, I am a runner. I am learning art and creativity, and I do yoga.
Christa Visagie
BRIEF BIO
I believe in positive psychology. I have the hope to practice compassion and bold actions as I learn and share as a person and a psychologist. I am registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and have been in practice for over 20 years.
The focus of my services is psychotherapy with children and their families. My professional development has been concentrated on building my knowledge and experience in this field and I therefore attend local and international conferences selected for this purpose. This includes for example, annual conferences of the Association of Play Therapy (affiliated to the American Psychological Association), and Association of Contextual and Behavioural Science (ACBS). Further experience includes Monster Busting (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) for older children and adolescents and assisting children and families by means of Filial therapy. I have a strong interest in Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT).
My professional activities include being a member of the ACBS (Association of Contextual and Behavioural Science), member of the special interest group on Compassion focused Therapy, and ACT- peer supervision group in Pretoria. I am an active member of the International Play Therapy Study Group. I presented to this audience on “The Neurobiology of Play, Some Core Concepts” in June 2008 and on “Therapist Use of Self in Play Therapy” in June 2015. I am a member and volunteer to the South African Depression and Anxiety Work Group as well as the Healthcare Worker’s Care Network during Covid19.
I am passionate about making the science of psychology practical. I try to work toward this in sessions and by hosting workshops for parents and the public on subjects such as: “Building Backbone: Discipline in Action for adults and children”, “Play, serious business for young and old” and for Teachers and Caregivers: “Managing of Childhood Trauma” and “Courage and Care, the science of Compassion”.
Supervision and mentoring services to psychologists who work with families and children is a satisfying part of my practice.
Lastly, on a personal note, emotional suffering is surely not unknown to me. However slow, I am a runner. I am learning art and creativity, and I do yoga.