If you or your children are not safe, contact your local emergency services or the police. The lines listed below are family and gender-based-violence lines.
Crisis numbers in South Africa
- Gender-Based Violence Command Centre: Tel: 0800 428 428 | SMS: send the word help to 31531, for people with disabilities
- LifeLine Gender Violence Helpline: Tel: 0800 150 150 | WhatsApp: 0800 150 150
- Childline South Africa: Tel: 116
- All crisis lines in South Africa
What couples counselling is
In couples counselling the relationship is the client.
Titles you will see include Clinical Psychologist, Counselling Psychologist and Educational Psychologist. Search the register by name at Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA). Check that the name and title match and that the entry is current. If they do not, ask the practitioner why.
Gqeberha is in Eastern Cape.
Approaches generally share similar features 1. The counsellor takes an active part and works on the patterns that keep a difficulty going. They build an alliance with both of you at once.
You do not have to agree about why you are there. Relationship distress is a common reason adults look for therapy 2.
Is couples counselling the right first step?
Joint sessions are not always the right first appointment. A careful practitioner screens before agreeing to see you together. The usual reasons are moderate to severe aggression between partners, active alcohol or other substance misuse, a continuing affair, and psychotic symptoms 1. Individual or specialist treatment comes first.
Couples sessions require safety. If one of you is afraid of the other, that is a safety question first. Going alone is a sensible beginning, not a sign you have given up on the relationship.
Gqeberha has 17 therapists listed on TherapyRoute who work with couples.
If the problem is safety rather than the relationship
Where there is violence, control or fear at home, the first call is not to a counsellor.
The Gender-Based Violence Command Centre answers at any hour. Call 0800 428 428, or dial *120*7867# free from a mobile 3.
For a child, call Childline South Africa on 116 4. The line is free from every network and answered day and night.
For a protection order under the Domestic Violence Act, go to the magistrates court nearest to where you live or work. Anyone who is being abused may apply, and a minor may apply unassisted. The court takes these applications outside court hours, at weekends and on public holidays. It costs nothing 5.
Most of the couples counsellors listed in Gqeberha see couples both online and in person. Couples counsellors in Gqeberha most often name mindfulness, psychodynamic therapy and integrative therapy as approaches. Couples counsellors in Gqeberha list life transitions and family issues as focus areas.
Couples counsellors in Gqeberha practise in areas including Walmer, Port Elizabeth and Lorraine. Couples counsellors in Gqeberha list payment options including medical aid and direct payment.
Of the 17 who say how they work, 14 offer online sessions (82%) and 3 see clients in person.
Couples work here is offered by psychologists, counsellors and psychoanalysts.
Couples sessions here are offered in English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
Nearby places and related listings
- Every therapist listed in Gqeberha (48)
- Marriage counsellors by city, the marriage counsellors page, not tied to a place
- Marriage counselling in every South Africa city listed
References
Real choice. Authentic, independent, clinician-led care.
TherapyRoute is a clinician-led directory that champions independent practitioners who answer to you and their professional ethics. We don't take commissions, sell your data, or assign therapists by algorithm. You browse, compare, and choose.
Vincenzo (Enzo) Sinisi, Clinical Psychologist (HPCSA), Psychoanalyst (IPA/SAPA), Group Analyst (IGA)
