Johan Greyling

I believe a fulfilling life hinges on robust mental health; in fact, it's the bedrock upon which individual and couple happiness and success are built. Counselling provides a journey of self-discovery, empowering individuals with tools to navigate difficulties, embrace change, and foster inner strength. Counselling can also provide a peaceful centre during life's turbulent times, the gentle sounds of quiet reflection replacing the inner chaos.

I think individuals and couples often look for success and fulfilment in the wrong places. For instance, some individuals have their life paths shaped by the unrealistic, unbalanced, or superficial expectations of others. Additionally, our initial feelings about what is correct at a particular moment may prove less accurate than we first thought as our understanding of the situation evolves. In the long term, these factors may harm one's mental, emotional, spiritual and relational health.

Additionally, I believe that our ability to overcome life's challenges is inherent, but ultimately it's our attitude toward problems, not the problems themselves, that determines whether we succeed or fail. I further believe in the power of everyone to change despite uncontrollable external limitations.

While my personal life is guided by Christian faith, my professional practice is grounded in evidence-based psychology. From a Christian perspective, I fully understand the central role faith plays in the lives of other Christians. However, I feel that the need for self-love, the love of others, and being loved in return are fundamental to being human and that they transcend religious, racial, gender, age, and cultural boundaries. People, I believe, define themselves through their actions, thoughts, feelings, hopes, desires, and spiritual experiences. These human processes can then be accessed and changed, not with standing diverse environments, cultures, and circumstances.

While my goal in individual counselling is to help individuals understand their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours and develop coping mechanisms, couples' counselling addresses relationship dynamics, communication patterns, and conflict resolution. In both instances, individual, systemic, historical, and relational factors are often interconnected in complex ways. Understanding a person's core beliefs, expectations, and anxieties is key to successful therapy. And while we can't alter the past, we can change how it affects us today. Focussing on well-being, potential, and positive thinking is eminently more beneficial in treatment than concentrating on illness and difficulties.

My overall counselling approach combines education and support for my clients. The aim is to cultivate personal growth through self-discovery in the areas of life experience, emotions, behaviour, and relationships. In terms of my therapy, the aim is to equip clients with coping mechanisms, improve self-understanding, encourage self-directed learning, and cultivate independence. I believe a supportive and caring therapeutic environment encourages personal growth by helping people learn and change.

It is well known that talking through difficulties and emotions helps individuals and couples develop effective coping skills and strategies for long-term mental health and relational management. This process fosters personal growth and improves mental well-being, leading to a deeper understanding of oneself and the ability to navigate challenging emotions with greater strength and resilience. This journey fosters introspection, leading to moments of self-discovery and a sense of inner peace that resonates deep within.

I am committed to helping people overcome emotional and mental health challenges within a supportive, understanding, and non-judgmental setting. This collaborative and secure environment promotes open dialogue and shared discovery, empowering clients to lead problem-solving.

I will provide clients with a comfortable and welcoming space where they can openly discuss their thoughts and feelings and be free to express themselves honestly. I will actively listen, offering empathy and validating their feelings, while respecting client autonomy and maintaining professional boundaries to collaboratively achieve their therapeutic goals. Each step, taken with ethical consideration and transparency, will prioritize client well-being, a process marked by careful attention to detail and a commitment to open communication.

I have a master's degree in organizational psychology and have been a workplace psychologist for more than 25 years. Over the last few years, I've increasingly focused on individual and couples counselling.

As a member of the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors (BCACC), I am a certified clinical counsellor. Driven by a passion for lifelong learning, I've immersed myself in extensive coursework covering diverse psychotherapy and counselling approaches, hereby gaining valuable insights into different therapeutic modalities.

The following are the areas in which I specialize:

• Adults and young adults
• Depression, anxiety, stress, burnout and anger management
• Grief, loss, life transitions and lifespan issues
• Couples, pre-marriage, marriage, intimacy and sexual concerns
• Relationship issues, communication and conflict
• Family systems, family of origin and parenting
• Personal growth, goal setting and self-esteem
• Trauma and post-traumatic stress
• Highly sensitive person's emotional issues
• Men's emotional concerns
• Meditation, religious and spiritual issues
• Workplace concerns and mediation
• Organizational development, leadership and management coaching

Psychotherapy offers an array of approaches and techniques, each with its own unique theoretical underpinnings and practical applications catering to diverse needs and preferences. My preference is to combine the following familiar techniques in an integrated approach:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
• Adlerian therapy
• Attachment-based therapy
• Christian counselling
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Couple's therapy, including Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), the Gottman Method for Healthy Relationships and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for couples
• Existential therapy
• Family therapy, including the Bowen family systems theory and Structural Family Therapy
• Gestalt therapy
• Grief counselling
• Motivational interviewing
• Narrative therapy
• Neuroplasticity
• Organizational change management methodologies, including the Adkar model and Kotter's 8 Steps
• Person-centred therapy
• Positive psychology
• Psychoanalytic therapy
• Psychological and life coaching
• Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT)
• Satir Transformational Systemic Therapy
• Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

Navigating life's challenges can be overwhelming, but you don't have to face them alone. At my practice, you will find a compassionate space to explore your thoughts and feelings. Together, we'll work towards understanding and healing, so you can find your path to peace and clarity.