Offering Counselling, Workshops & Training In Pretoria Since 2010

Offering Counselling, Workshops & Training In Pretoria Since 2010

VitanovaPTA

About VitanovaPTA

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far VitanovaPTA has created 187 blog entries.

Anticipatory Grief

By |2022-09-06T09:31:00+02:00September 6th, 2022|

Most of us know what it feels like to lose a loved one to a terminal illness. Grief is unpredictable and loss can feel like white noise or earth-shattering pain. Living with a parent, partner or child diagnosed with a terminal illness literally rips the ground from beneath our feet. Knowing how, but not how much longer, can take us on a journey of acceptance, denial, depression, indescribable fear and complete dissociation from the current reality. Loss, no matter the circumstances, is life altering.

Grief Beyond Grief: A Dive into Secondary Loss

By |2023-05-15T13:52:33+02:00January 25th, 2022|

. In our lives, a loss, such as the death of a loved one, serves as the pebble in our pond. When we lose something or someone significant to us, the grieving process does not end with the mourning of that singular loss. Rather, the singular loss triggers a chain of events known as secondary losses, which often cause us to feel as if we've lost everything and that the sorrow will never end.

Better Together: The Benefits of Group Therapy

By |2023-05-15T13:53:09+02:00December 15th, 2021|

Let's be honest, deciding to see a therapist is not something that comes easily to everyone. To truly benefit from the process, one must be willing to be honest and completely open with their therapist as well as themselves. As a result, you will often find yourself revealing things about your experiences and your thoughts that you would not normally share with your friends or family, let alone a complete stranger.

When innocence is stolen

By |2021-07-05T15:05:43+02:00July 4th, 2021|

TRIGGER WARNING: CHILDHOOD SEXUAL ABUSE | Sexual abuse victimizes a person,  and the partner can play a crucial role in the recovery and healing process of the abused. The love and support of a partner, friends, and family, can encourage the process of healing. It is crucial for those surrounding the abused, to understand the mixed signals they convey daily. The abused can; in many instances, turn to their loved ones for help, but in the wink of an eye, turn against them.

Understanding Some Of The Common Symptoms Of Trauma

By |2021-07-04T22:20:35+02:00June 14th, 2021|

Different people react differently to traumatic experiences and also deal with these situations differently. For some, an event might cause a lot of emotional turmoil, and intervention is needed for that person to start their way on the road to recovery. For others, that same event might only cause minor frustrations and they can easily move on with their lives.

11 Things that will help you hold the space for someone

By |2021-06-07T16:26:10+02:00June 7th, 2021|

Everyone in our lives can need a caring, non-judgmental, and empathetic room at some point in their lives. When the time comes, the relationship you already have will serve as a basis for constructing this "container" in which you keep space for the other individual. If you accept the challenge, your desire to be of service to the other person will be the first building block for holding that sacred space.

Selfsorg vir beraders, sielkundiges, maatskaplike werkers en terapeute

By |2021-06-01T16:26:45+02:00June 1st, 2021|

Ons as beraders, sielkundiges, maatskaplike werkers en terapeute het een van die grootste voorregte; om saam met iemand deur hul emosies, hul vrese en onsekerhede te werk en te wandel ten einde die lig aan die anderkant van die tonnel saam te ontdek of te kan ontgin, maar dit is ook ‘n ontsaglike verantwoordelikheid. Die gene wat hul lewens aan hierdie beroepe wei sal almal weet – hierdie is ‘n uitputtende roeping. Om daagliks, uur na uur saam met iemand deur hul diepste seer, hul donkerste vrese en hul grootste teleurstellings te werk, eis sy tol.

The importance of counselling

By |2021-01-07T15:14:01+02:00January 7th, 2021|

I often get asked the question "Why should I go to counselling" as if there is a textbook, one size fits all answer. There is no straightforward way to sum up the importance of counselling, because in my eyes the benefits of counselling is personal in nature and therefore, infinite.

Untangling Trauma

By |2020-12-03T19:30:49+02:00December 3rd, 2020|

One must not be fooled by the discrete and subtle nature of some traumas. The common misconception that a hijacking or a mugging that ended without any physical injuries is “a fortunate result” must be substituted with a new paradigm. We must imagine the soul itself stabbed with a knife, bleeding and screaming for help. Maybe then the true meaning of trauma will finally sink in.

Hold that space!

By |2021-01-07T10:11:26+02:00November 23rd, 2020|

There is nothing I have so keenly needed on my own journey than someone just sitting down with me in the mud; in the hurt and in the breaking. There has been nothing so comforting and endearing as someone just really seeing me. Acknowledging me, my feelings, my thoughts and my behaviours. Being so attuned to my every movement in that moment that I feel overwhelmingly heard and understood.

From the counsellor’s couch

By |2020-12-03T19:33:29+02:00November 23rd, 2020|

Admitting to yourself that you need professional help can be quite daunting.  After you have finally plucked up the courage to make the appointment, you might find yourself wondering about – even researching – the person that is about to hear your life story.  Can you really trust them?  How much should you say?  Are they really all a little crazy? – I mean they chose a profession where they listen to people’s problems all day!!  Will he / she be analysing me the whole time?

True Love or Trauma Bond – Are You Trauma Bonded?

By |2020-03-30T13:16:34+02:00March 30th, 2020|

A trauma bond can be thought of as running on a never-ending hamster wheel, where periods of intermittent reinforcement (love, promises and kindness) are combined with periods of physical, emotional and psychological abuse. The more you want to get off the hamster wheel, the more you feel confined to the wheel and trapped in the movement to keep running. The cycle becomes toxic as the need to regain the feelings of infatuation that were felt at the beginning of the relationship, leads the victim to repeatedly forgive their partner in order to return to the good feelings associated with the relationship.

What is the goal of counselling?

By |2024-12-23T22:53:56+02:00March 16th, 2020|

It is heartbreaking that many people judge the psychology world by the picture that Hollywood has painted for us. In countless movies the psychologist is portrayed as a know-it-all guru who traps people in an extended, dependency driven relationship. There is a big fluffy couch where the patient will lie down and share their story, while the distracted ‘shrink’ continuously asks “how do you feel about that” and bluntly stops the session the moment time is up. In many movies the client never resolves issues and is just told to come back next week. In light of this I am overjoyed to tell you that most counsellors sees this portrayed image and goes out of their way to break and correct this view of the counselling world.

4 steps to setting healthy boundaries

By |2019-11-22T11:10:21+02:00November 22nd, 2019|

At the end of the day if I want to gain my self-respect, self-worth and independence back it is important for me to establish boundaries and enforce them. It is healthier to set boundaries than it is to put up walls or constantly be resentful towards others for taking advantage of me. It is my responsibility to teach others to respect me and my boundaries and to be patient with myself while doing this.

My shame to an adventure of a lifetime – an article on Guilt and Shame

By |2019-11-12T08:17:36+02:00November 11th, 2019|

This shame and guilt led me to question everything in my life and led me to being more vulnerable to myself and to others. Brene Brown states; “The ability to hold something we've done or failed to do up against who we want to be is incredibly adaptive. It's uncomfortable but it's adaptive.”

A very personal account of a journey to surviving infidelity – Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

By |2019-10-25T05:59:08+02:00October 25th, 2019|

The concept of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is generally quite well known in society these days. The problem was that although I could relate to the PTSD symptoms identified in research, most of the articles only mentioned people who experienced or witnessed a terrifying event such as assaults; murder or natural disasters. At the time I was unaware of PTSD for people who experienced infidelity and didn’t realise it actually existed. Even when I researched Infidelity PTSD, it was difficult to find any article’s mentioning it until I discovered one, written by Mitzi Bokmann (2019) that I could relate to. As I read through the PTSD symptoms, I realised that I experienced all of the symptoms and maybe by writing this article I can help others relate to it as well.

Parents; do you speak love?

By |2019-05-02T18:59:21+02:00February 11th, 2019|

It is well known that no two children are the same, not even when from the same parents. The same is true for the love language of your child. Every child perceive, understand and show love in different ways. What is important for one child, may not even be noticed by another child. And that is exactly where miscommunication and misunderstanding easily happens. 

Tieners, Stress en Temperament

By |2019-07-07T12:54:51+02:00January 16th, 2019|

Alle mense het ‘n sekere vlak van stress of uitdagings nodig om optimaal te kan funksioneer. Sonder enige uitdagings gaan niemand hul volle potensiaal besef en bereik nie. Party kinders kan egter stress beter hanteer as ander. Spanning en angs kan ‘n destruktiewe effek op ‘n tiener se emosionele gesondheid hê en kan selfs lei to angs versteurings. Indien jy as ouer bekommerd is dat jou kind ‘n angs versteuring ontwikkel is dit beter om professionele hulp in te kry sodat hy of sy die regte hulp ontvang.

2019 – My jaar van minder?

By |2019-07-07T12:55:49+02:00January 10th, 2019|

Oppad terug van vakansie af, het ons almal so om die beurt, ‘n bietjie gedeel waaroor ons opgewonde voel vir die jaar wat voorle. Na ek my kans gehad het, vra my man my ‘n baie interessante vraag: “Dit klink alles great, An…maar wat gaan jy hierdie jaar minder doen?”

CONTACT INFO

PRETORIA

615 Vampire Street, Elarduspark, Pretoria
Phone: 071 297 9992 | 082 541 4357
Email: info@vitanova.co.za

RECENT ARTICLES

NEWSLETTER

© Copyright 2011 – 2025 | Vita Nova Counselling Centre | All Rights Reserved

Go to Top