Find Depression Psychotherapists in Cape Town, South Africa

Effective psychological treatments include behavioural activation and cognitive behavioural therapy ¹. Interpersonal psychotherapy and problem-solving therapy are also used.

Effective treatment exists for mild, moderate and severe depression. A depressive episode means low mood, or loss of interest in things you enjoyed. It lasts most of the day, nearly every day, for at least two weeks.

Low mood after a loss or a hard year is not automatically a disorder, though support can help. Ask a practitioner what they would suggest, and why.

Everyone on this page describes their work as psychotherapy. A psychotherapist works through talking with you about your thoughts, feelings and behaviours ².

Psychotherapy usually runs longer than counselling and aims for clinical change. It works on patterns that repeat rather than on one current problem.

A psychotherapist trains in psychological treatment rather than in medicine. What that training covers, and which approach a practitioner uses, differ between practitioners. Ask which approach a psychotherapist trained in, and how long they usually work.

Groote Schuur Hospital - Psychiatry Outpatient Services. Phone +27 21 404 9111. Western Cape public hospitals charge on a means-tested scale. Patients in the lowest band pay nothing for specialist outpatient visits. Public patients are accepted by referral from a district or secondary service. Each specialty has its own eligibility criteria.

• Valkenberg Hospital in Cape Town offers specialist psychiatric care by referral, including a service for persistent, difficult-to-treat depression.³

Our records name no register for the title psychotherapist in South Africa. See the South Africa page for the professions that do carry a register there.