Adult Therapy
My goal is to provide transformative therapy that empowers you to lead a more fulfilled life.
Adult Psychotherapy:
Reconnect with Your Best Self
Life can present us with obstacles that affect our well-being, from anxiety and depression to challenges with self-confidence or relationships. Whether you’re facing significant mental health concerns or looking to enhance personal growth, I’m here to guide you through a supportive, evidence-based process.
In our sessions, we’ll work collaboratively to understand your unique situation, establish achievable goals, and track your progress regularly to ensure you’re moving toward the life you want to live. Whether it takes a few sessions or several months, my priority is to help you achieve success in unpacking complex emotions and thoughts and achieving cognitive and behavioral skills to solve life’s curve balls as well as manage your personal issues and enhance general wellness.
Here’s a brief explanation of some of the disorders I work with:
Substance-Related Disorders
- Alcohol/Drug Abuse: Recurrent use of alcohol or drugs leading to significant impairment or distress, such as health issues, interpersonal problems, or legal trouble.
- Alcohol/Drug Dependence: A more severe form of substance use disorder where individuals develop a physical or psychological need for the substance, experiencing withdrawal symptoms without it.
Eating Disorders
- Anorexia Nervosa: A serious eating disorder characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight, leading to extreme food restriction and unhealthy weight loss.
- Bulimia Nervosa: An eating disorder involving cycles of binge eating followed by compensatory behaviors, such as purging, to prevent weight gain.
- Compulsive Overeating: This involves overeating and normally (non-age appropriate) weight gain due to a host of temporary or permanent psychological and situational factors.
Anxiety-Related Disorders
- Anxiety Disorders: A group of mental health disorders that cause excessive fear, worry, or anxiety in everyday situations, impacting daily functioning.
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Chronic, excessive worry about a variety of life situations, lasting at least six months and causing significant distress.
- Panic Disorder: Recurrent, unexpected panic attacks—sudden periods of intense fear that peak within minutes and can include heart palpitations, sweating, and shortness of breath.
- Social Phobia (Social Anxiety Disorder): Intense fear of social situations where individuals may be judged, leading to avoidance of social interactions.
Mood Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder: A mental health condition marked by extreme mood swings, including emotional highs (mania or hypomania) and lows (depression).
- Major Depressive Disorder: A mood disorder causing persistent sadness, loss of interest, and a range of emotional and physical problems that impair daily functioning.
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): A type of depression related to changes in seasons, typically occurring in the winter months.
Attention Disorders
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD/ADD): A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, affecting daily functioning and relationships.
Trauma-Related Disorders
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A mental health condition triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, leading to flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety.
Psychotic Disorders
- Schizophrenia: A severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves, leading to symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking.
- Schizoaffective Disorder: A mental health condition featuring symptoms of schizophrenia along with mood disorder symptoms, such as depression or mania.
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A condition where individuals experience unwanted, recurring thoughts (obsessions) and feel compelled to perform repetitive behaviors (compulsions).
Dissociative Disorders
- Dissociative Disorders: Conditions involving disruptions in memory, identity, or perception of the environment, often linked to trauma.
- Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): A disorder in which two or more distinct identities or personality states are present, often as a coping mechanism for severe trauma.
Sexual Disorders
- Erectile Dysfunction: The inability to maintain an erection sufficient for sexual performance, often linked to physical or psychological factors.
- Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder: A condition characterized by a lack of interest in sexual activity, leading to distress in individuals or their partners.
Sleep Disorders
- Insomnia: Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, which can result in daytime fatigue and other functional impairments.
- Narcolepsy: A neurological disorder marked by excessive daytime sleepiness and sudden sleep attacks, often accompanied by cataplexy (muscle weakness triggered by strong emotions).
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
- Somatic Symptom Disorder: A condition where a person experiences significant distress or impairment due to excessive thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to physical symptoms that are not fully explained by a medical condition.
- Illness Anxiety Disorder (formerly Hypochondriasis): Preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness, often accompanied by excessive health-related behaviors despite little to no physical symptoms.
Neurodevelopmental Disorders (Relevant to Adults)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A neurodevelopmental disorder that affects communication, social interaction, and behavior, with varying levels of severity. Many adults with ASD may struggle with social relationships and sensory sensitivities.
Other Disorders
- Adjustment Disorders: Emotional or behavioral symptoms in response to a stressful event, causing distress beyond what is typically expected for the situation.
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder: A mental disorder where individuals obsess over perceived defects or flaws in their appearance, which are often not noticeable to others.
- Pathological Gambling: An addiction to gambling, characterized by an inability to control the urge to gamble, leading to significant financial and social consequences.
- Compulsive behavioral problems not currently diagnosed in the DSM-IV: There are a number of behavioral compulsions / behavior addictions that are unhealthy when performed to excess, and that contain the twin behavioral addiction concepts of powerlessness and unmanageability, that are not currently “diagnosed” in the DSM-IV. I work a lot with these behavioral addictions, including compulsive sex (sexual addiction), pornography addiction, shopping addiction, compulsive stealing, digital addiction, and a host of others.
Personality Disorders
- Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD): A disorder characterized by unstable moods, behavior, and relationships, with symptoms such as impulsivity, fear of abandonment, and intense emotional reactions.
- Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD): A pattern of grandiosity, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others, often leading to troubled relationships and fragile self-esteem.
- Antisocial Personality Disorder: A disregard for the rights of others, often manifesting in deceitful or harmful behavior without remorse, associated with a pattern of violating social norms and laws.
- Histrionic Personality Disorder: Marked by excessive emotionality and attention-seeking behavior, individuals may feel uncomfortable when not the center of attention and may display exaggerated emotions or provocative behavior.
- Avoidant Personality Disorder: Characterized by extreme social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy, and hypersensitivity to criticism, individuals often avoid social interaction despite a strong desire for connection.
- Dependent Personality Disorder: A pervasive and excessive need to be taken care of, leading to submissive, clingy behavior and a fear of separation, often resulting in difficulty making decisions without reassurance from others.
- Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD): A preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and control at the expense of flexibility and efficiency, leading to difficulty delegating tasks and becoming overly focused on details or rules.
- Paranoid Personality Disorder: A pattern of pervasive distrust and suspicion of others, leading individuals to interpret others’ motives as malicious or deceptive, often without sufficient evidence.
- Schizoid Personality Disorder: Characterized by detachment from social relationships and a limited range of emotional expression, individuals with this disorder often prefer solitary activities and show little interest in forming close relationships.
- Schizotypal Personality Disorder: A pattern of discomfort in close relationships, along with cognitive or perceptual distortions and eccentric behaviors. Individuals may have odd beliefs or magical thinking and may struggle with fitting into social norms.
Emile du Toit - South Africa
You can find a comprehensive list of diagnoses that I am adept at working with on my South African website. As well as more than 50 supporting articles and resources.
I believe though in not placing anyone in a “box.” Each client is unique, and our work together will allow you to explore and unpack your unique thoughts, beliefs and values, creating space for freedom and happiness.
Wellness is also more than just the absence of pathology. You can find more information on my Wellness website, which I created as a hobby – Tools for Health and Wellness.
Take the first step toward a healthier, happier you.
Let’s work together to explore your mind and stuck behaviors, find solutions, and build the life you deserve. Reach out today! To make an appointment or get advice, contact me here
Explore the online services I offer
Want to explore psycho-educational articles?
Visit our Tools for Health & Wellness site where we attempt to move away from a focus on psychopathology and rather throw more light on the path to health. This site is designed to help you get quality advice on a wide range of physical and psychological health and wellness topics. It promotes the idea of creating broad-based health throughout your life, and acknowledges that in order to maximise happiness and reduce stress both your physical and psychological wellbeing need to be encouraged.
Tools for Health and Wellness is designed for everyone! It is intended for those of you doing really well in your lives and just looking to tweak one or two things to maximise this amazing life experience. Equally, it has been created for those of you who are currently struggling and are looking for more in-depth help with particular issues.
