About

Paardevlei Therapy Centre is situated in the beautiful Paardevlei Sanctuary on the R44 close to Strand and Somerset West. The Paardevlei Therapy Centre was inspired by a vision to create a multi-disciplinary health team with an integrated approach to healing Trauma. The centre was opened in February of 2018.

We are proud to say that we work closely as a multi-disciplinary team and place high priority on understanding how each team member approach Trauma and how each modality adds to better holistic healing of the patient. We constantly interact to collaborate and learn from each other about our way of working with Trauma.

At Paardevlei Therapy Centre it is of utmost importance for us as multi-disciplinary team to treat our patients from an integrated Physical and Psychological/body and mind approach. The latest research shows that Trauma and Injury affects body and mind. Our specialist approach place trauma at the core of our work.

The main focus and purpose of treatment and interventions are to optimize physical and psychological well-being and increase resilience for the patient to return to and maintain their highest level of functioning.

At Paardevlei Therapy Centre we have a dynamic team of Psychologists specialising in Psychotherapy, Trauma Therapy, Child and Family therapy, Geriatrics, Couples and Divorce Counselling and Mediation. The team further consists of an Industrial-Organisational Psychologist. We work closely together to treat our patients from a holistic multi-disciplinary team approach.

We offer the following therapies:

At Paardevlei Therapy Centre it is of utmost importance for us as multi-disciplinary team to treat our patients from an integrated Physical and Psychological/body and mind approach. The latest research shows that Trauma and Injury affects body and mind. Our specialist approach places trauma at the core of our work. Trauma can be defined as any experience that is perceived as threatening and overwhelming.

Trauma occurs when the instinctive survival responses – fight/flight/freeze/faint – of the Autonomic Nervous System are activated. The highly aroused Nervous System is unable to calm down, and stress hormones like adrenaline are released long after the traumatic situation has passed. The body continues to respond as if it is under threat, often for many years after the traumatic event. It is the ‘stuck energy’ of this fight/flight/freeze response that can lead to many of the often persistent symptoms that people complain about. Chronic stress has the same effect on the body over time.

Physical Trauma: accidents, falls, sports injuries, physical abuse, attacks, armed robberies, hijackings, smash-and-grab, rape etc.
Medical Trauma: operations, invasive medical or dental procedures, chronic illness, trauma at birth etc.
Emotional Trauma: loss of loved one, witnessing a traumatic event, work stress, sexual and emotional abuse etc.
Relationship Trauma: divorce, separations, domestic violence, bullying and other forms of victimization.
Developmental Trauma: childhood abuse, neglect, losses, abandonment, birth trauma, ongoing rejection etc.