Sam is a Counselling Psychologist, originally from Port Elizabeth.

Immediately after matriculating, she embarked on her psychology studies and fell in love with the discipline from the word go. She obtained her BPsych (Counselling) and MA (Counselling Psych), both Cum Laude, from the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) in Port Elizabeth. 

During her post-graduate studies, she worked with children and adults at the NMU Community Psychology Clinic where she worked with a wide range of presenting problems and with clients across the age spectrum.

For her internship, Sam was placed at two of the university’s Student Counselling and Career Centres where she worked with young adults presenting with an array of challenges from loss and trauma, to mood and adjustment disorders.

In 2013, Sam and her husband moved to Cape Town and the next few years saw her becoming involved in a variety of professional activities with a focus on counselling, supervising and lecturing in the higher education sector and then in a primary school setting.

While still working at the school, she started a small private practice. In 2020, when the pandemic hit, Sam started working less with young children and found herself drawn to adult clients and now works almost exclusively with this demographic.

Sam has always had a desire to be involved with multi-disciplinary teams and to be involved in a hospital setting. Being one of the founders of the Perspectives Group has allowed this to become a reality. She holds strongly to the belief that one’s psychological and physical well-being are intrinsically intertwined and she enjoys working where the two intersect.

Sam’s university training, along with her continued professional development, have exposed her to a variety of therapy modalities. Because she believes that no two people or situations are the same, she tailor-makes her therapeutic approach to suit the presenting problem and unique person involved.

She works from a place of deep compassion and empathy and seeks to treat all clients with unconditional positive regard. While engaging in individual therapy, she is likely to draw from systems theory, person-centred theory, psychodynamic and cognitive behavioural approaches. She is also trained in EMDR (Level 3) and uses this when indicated.

On a more personal note, Sam has been married for a decade and has two young children. She enjoys nothing more than being with loved ones, particularly outside, enjoying the natural beauty that Cape Town has to offer.