Vossie Goosen, MA

I’ve always been curious about and interested in people. Together with my desire to help others, my quest took me in two directions: journalism and publishing in NGOs, and then also to counselling and therapy. I trained as a clinical psychologist at Wits in the late nineties, completing two six-month internships at Tara, and opened my private practice in 2000. My journey to and in psychology had taken turns I value more and more. As I integrate my interests in writing and therapy, I realise I’ve been enriched in these solitary endeavours through constant organisational and group involvement. In the NGO world, I had worked in organisations that made information available to youth and to women. At the same time, I had also volunteered as a counsellor in what was then called Martindale Counselling Centre, which offered clients individual and couple sessions and counsellors' supervision and in-service training in small and bigger groups. In 2016, when I joined what is now called the Johannesburg Psychoanalytic Clinic, I took up volunteer work again, this time as a therapist. One of the highlights of the clinic is its weekly group supervision sessions, which support the individual therapies we do for a lower fee and often, also, pro bono. I was fortunate to get involved in writing at a time when major changes happened in our country. I have an enduring respect for freedom of speech and the responsibilities that come with that. It remains important for me to help others find freedom of expression in a safe environment.