Beware!

Our counselling services are confidential. Neither information shared in the counselling process nor the fact of your participation in personal counselling will be shared with anyone else as per our agreement and the policies on this site, except by your request, or as required by law.

Confidentiality goes in two ways. If you tell people you are Dr Barbara’s client, they will know that you are meeting with her.

When you complete the form before the session, you don’t waste the paid session to do paperwork. This process saves you money and time.

The form is your consent to go into an agreement to address specific matters in your life. Dr Barbara can only assist you with the information you provide, within the scope of professional practice that she has been trained and registered for.

By completing the form you prepare yourself to think about your expectations, needs and the outcomes you desire. You can feel free to talk about what you wrote and even about what you forgot to add. You don’t have to worry about where to start or what she might ask. You know what the issues are that you want to put forward.

In the process of expressing your expectations, the communication process can flow and both of you will be able to assess when you are well and satisfied to move forward. She focuses on solutions that will empower you to deal with the matters at hand as well as future challenges.

Trauma counselling helps individuals to better understand the specific painful concern you are experiencing, after a traumatic event. Dr Barbara helps you to deal with the here-and-now of your specific situation, identify your strengths and to determine the directions you need to take to address the concern and to become well.

Trauma counselling facilitates a greater understanding of difficult emotions, relationships and behaviours, and increased ability to manage and overcome the challenges related to the trauma.

Although there are no guarantees of what you will experience, trauma counselling focuses on solutions to specific problems, better relationships, and significant reductions in feelings of distress.

Counsellors and people involved in the area of 'people helping', regardless of experience, need supervision. Dr Barbara Louw assists clients with the development of skills, meaning, personal health and professional growth.

Excellent quality supervision relationships are characterized by mutual respect, trust, honesty, fairness, humour, encouragement and teamwork. A professional's ongoing personal and professional development, self-care and accountability grow from this relationship.

Agreements may be time-limited or ongoing. The terms and nature of the supervisory relationship will be negotiated during the first session.

Supervision is not counselling, mentoring, coaching, training or line management.

Personal counselling involves you and Dr Barbara working together to achieve your goals for change. The counselling process can vary depending on your needs, personality and the particular concerns you bring forward.

The most important factors in the effectiveness of counselling are your honest and active engagement in the process and the value of the relationship where you feel understood. Dr Barbara uses a gentle and steady approach to encourage change, where necessary.

There is no problem too small or too large to address. You do not need to be in a crisis to benefit from personal counselling. If you sense that it might be helpful to confidentially explore and reflect on your situation or difficulties with someone trained in listening to and facilitating those reflections, then please make an appointment.

Dr Barbara Louw uses a narrative pastoral counselling approach with the understanding that the past and present experiences to influence the future. This is a Christian counselling model that carries the unique promise of the hope and power of Christ. The present painful situation can be addressed with narrative pastoral crisis involvement and counselling where the problem-saturated stories are viewed from several perspectives. Emotions, such as anger, pain and hopelessness, will surface as the painful stories and humiliation are shared.

Pastoral counselling is directed towards the healing, sustaining, guiding, reconciling and nurturing of a client whose troubles and concerns arise in the context of daily interactions and ultimate means and concerns.

Mentoring means you interact with someone who is not your direct report.  Dr Barbara Louw takes a collaborative role in decision-making or problem-solving. She takes time to listen and allow you to evolve a whole new level of interpersonal skill. She helps you to increase your understanding of other groups, reducing cultural, gender and generational issues.

She has vast experience, knowledge and the academic background to be a source of knowledge and skills. She can guide decisions about workplace issues, personal goals and ongoing professional development. A well-designed mentoring programme sets up methods for measuring these results.

The terms and nature of the mentoring relationship will be negotiated during the first session.  

Coaching helps you feel more empowered to make a difference and improve your effectiveness. This process strengthens your ability to use a range of influencing and leadership styles. Dr Barbara Louw helps you understand more about your life’s challenges and make better-informed choices about your future.

Our coaching process is a developmental approach help you develop your personal capabilities, interpersonal skills and capacity to understand and empathise with others.

There are many different models of coaching and we don’t consider the ‘coach as expert’. Dr Barbara is the coach that facilitates a process empowering you to formulate dreams, meet expectations and exceed goals in your personal and professional lives.