About Mia

I started my training with a General BA from Wits University, followed by an Honours in Psychology, focused on the psychodynamic school of psychology. From there, I received practical training in counselling skills through Lifeline Johannesburg, where I volunteered as a general counsellor. I then also received training in behavioural therapy when I worked with children on the Autism Spectrum. 

After that, I spent four years working with people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, facilitating psychology discussion groups and doing counselling around their long-term needs and adjustment to living with chronic mental illness. In that time, I completed an academic Masters in Psychology at Wits, focused on critical psychology, which aims to reflect on how we know what we know in the field and what biases and political systems shape our practice. I was able to complete this degree with distinction. 

After this academic training, I went back to a practical Honours programme at the South African College of Applied Psychology, where I completed the requirements to register as a counsellor and I received the Dean's Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. For this degree, I was placed at an NPO specialising in supporting survivors of brain injury and their family members. I progressed to manage their counselling and support programme, which included training of new counsellors, oversight of counselling cases, and supervision of counsellors. 

Since then, my training has led me into fields of neuroscience and trauma. My current continual professional development is understanding how subjective, relative trauma shapes our neuro-biology and how powerful the scientific application of the mind-body connection can be.