Depression Psychotherapists in Cape Town

Effective psychological treatments include behavioural activation and cognitive-behavioural therapy ¹. Interpersonal psychotherapy and problem-solving therapy are also used. In the World Health Organization's words: ‘Psychological treatments are the first treatments for depression.’ ‘They can be combined with antidepressant medicines in moderate and severe depression.’

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.

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.²

South Africa has no separate register for the title psychotherapist. A psychotherapist must register with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), most often as a psychologist or a psychiatrist. Regulations still in force (R993 of 2008) place the use of any psychotherapeutic method within the scope of psychology. You can check a name on the HPCSA iRegister.