Edenvale Psychologist

Giselle Mazansky is a psychologist in Edenvale

 

Individual Psychotherapy

I offer individual psychotherapy to adolescents (aged 15 onwards) and adults. Individual therapy sessions are 50 minutes in length. The duration of therapy will be determined based on the problem/difficulty at hand, and is mutually agreed upon between client and therapist. I work from a psychodynamic perspective, which means that I believe one’s current difficulty/presenting problem is often a reflection of difficulties that have not been successfully worked through in the past. Therapy however, is an individual and unique service and will be catered according to each person’s needs. I also provide life skills and coping mechanisms to help clients deal with ‘current day’ difficulties as well as parent counselling and support.

Couples Counselling or Marriage Therapy

Whether you are married or in a committed relationship, Couples Counselling or Marriage Therapy can be a safe space where couples come together to work through issues within their relationship. Couples may choose to come for therapy to help them work through a particular issue, a life transition (for example a recent engagement; a child moving out of home; etc…) or they may want to enrich the relationship by gaining fresh insights into themselves and their partners. Often communication styles between the couples will be worked on as well as helping each partner within the relationship gain insight into their own, and each other’s, contribution to the relationship and/or difficulties.

Family Therapy

A family may choose to receive family therapy if the family as a whole is experiencing difficulties or if a member of the family is experiencing a problem, and the family is seeking help to support that member. Individual members of the family may already be in, or thinking about receiving, individual therapy, but the family unit may also benefit from a therapeutic space. Family therapy is a space where each member of the family will have the opportunity to communicate what they are feeling and how they are experiencing the difficulty. Communication styles will generally be worked through in order to help individual members better understand each other’s perspectives and experiences.

Cognitive Assessments

I offer emotional and cognitive assessments for children (school age and up) and adolescents. Children are often referred for emotional and cognitive assessments if they are presenting with difficulties at school or at home. Assessments can be a very useful tool to assess children’s individual areas of strength and weaknesses as well as emotional functioning. This information can help inform the type of therapeutic interventions that can be made in the future.

Trauma and Grief Counselling

Unfortunately we live in difficult times in our country and people often fall victim to some kind of trauma or loss. I offer trauma and grief counselling to clients who have experienced some kind of trauma (eg: a hijacking; robbery; etc…) or a loss (eg: death of a loved one).

• Trauma Counselling: If you have experienced a trauma it is very important to seek help as soon as possible to help you process what has happened and what it meant for you. You are advised to receive trauma counselling if you are experiencing some of the following symptoms of trauma: Re-experiencing/flashbacks of the traumatic incident; hypervigilence or hyper-awareness; nightmares; depression; fear to return to the site of the trauma etc… You may also wish to seek trauma counselling if someone close to you was the victim of a trauma and you feel you need a safe space to work through the feelings evoked in you as a result.
• Grief Counselling: If you have experienced some kind of loss, such as the death of a loved one, it is valuable to receive counselling and support to help you work through the loss. While the therapy is catered to the individual’s needs, I generally follow the five stages of grief outlined by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross being: Denial; Bargaining; Depression; Acceptance and Hope.