Samuel Waumsley
M.A. Clin. Psych. (UCT)
Registered Clinical Psychologist in Cape Town
Psychotherapy in-person/ online therapy/ online psychologist
Enquiries: samuelwaumsley@gmail.com
Phone: 0843502102
Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm
Mental health areas of experience:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Panic feeling
- Esteem
- Intergenerational narrative
- Attachment dynamic
- Metacognition
- Emotional resonance
- Life narrative
- Subconscious reaction
- Existential reflection
- Calm assertiveness
- Dream interpretation
Mental health:
Therapy is a formal way of addressing core personal stories that we carry and the symptoms that they manifest in us. Our mental health depends on our conscious and unconscious appraisal of our position in the world and how we understand this. I chiefly work with:
- Symptoms of anxiety: Anxiety is associated with the fight, flight, freeze, or friendly! reflex. As human beings we have a strong response to danger and stress that is highly attuned, automatic and that neurochemically is processed faster than we can register the stressor consciously. When one's anxious we can panic and really 'not remain calm' - freezing, rushing, becoming angry or agitated (with ourselves unhelpfully often or others) in high stress situations, sometimes that's chronically activated.
- Signs of depression: Depression is at its core arguably a feeling and problem to do with hopelessness. It can involve our sense of self in life and our experience in the world. It can be useful to consider depression as, in addition to a suffering experience of gloom, also clearly bringing a challenge to the self. Often there is something actually wrong in our life or in life so far that's felt subjectively and subconsciously deep down that bothers and depresses us. Sometimes we all need help in some form to break free from negative conclusions.
What is psychotherapy about?
Psychology is a language. Feelings and thoughts are like data we receive from our personally-callibrated sensing of the world. In recognising our patterns of behaviour and responses more clearly, we seek in therapy to understand ourselves more, and in life become more authentically ourselves. Our actual physical, personal and social environments are obviously also fundamental to our well-being and are essential to what therapy often needs to address in terms of difficuties and stressors. Our past and present life narratives also transect in complexity -which can be useful to unpack and talk through in a safe space, so as to find greater clarity and consciouness in the moment.
Sessions are psychodynamic in orientation, also drawing on relational, existential, narrative and gestalt therapy perspectives. In-session techniques employed include Socratic dialogue, free-association, intersubjectivity/ transference reflection, as well as dream interpretation.