Dave Swart
Clinical Psychologist
MSocSc. (Clin.Psych.) UFS
Pr. No. 0493929
Derryn Swart
Clinical Psychologist
MSocSc. (Clin.Psych.) UFS
Pr. No. 0493864
Clinical psychologists
"In my early professional years I was asking the question: How can I treat, or cure, or change this person? Now I would phrase the question in this way: How can I provide a relationship which this person may use for his own personal growth?" - Carl Rogers
Services
I also work closely with a network of psychiatrists, and if indicated, facilitate private psychiatric hospitalisation. Dave provides in-patient therapy during hospitalisation at Life Hunters Craig Hospital and Nurture Sunnyside Mental Health Hospital.
Individual Therapy
Feeling a bit down lately and nothing seems to lift your spirits? It might be time to seek help from a licensed professional. My Individual Therapy sessions help patients develop positive attitudes towards life’s most complex circumstances. Call me today and allow me to help you see the glass half full in everything that life has to offer.
Some examples of individual therapy work includes:
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Depression (Unipolar and bipolar mood disorders)
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Anxiety (Work related stress, obsessive compulsive behaviours, phobias, social anxiety, panic disorder)
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Bereavement / grief counselling
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Trauma therapy
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Addiction (Substance dependency and behavioural addictions e.g., gambling addiction)
Couples Counselling
In my therapy sessions, we’ll work to solve current problems and change unhelpful thinking and behavior. I will help you “re-frame” your thinking and provide you with valuable tools to cope with life’s obstacles.
Our personalised couples therapy sessions will leave you feeling that we are delving into the real problems. Expect a gentle but direct approach.
In-hospital consultations
An admission to hospital is no doubt a stressful event for most people, partly due to our acute awareness of our vulnerabilies and the experience of pain against the backdrop of a sterile environment. Acceptance and Commitment therapy during acute hospitalisation has been shown to be highly effective in treating chronic pain and health anxiety. Some examples of health psychotherapy includes:
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Diabetes counselling
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Chronic pain (acceptance and commitment therapy)
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Pre-surgery assessment
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Post-operative recovery / adjustment (e.g. dealing with pain, post-operative psychosis, loss of function)
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Adjusting to acute hospitalisation or medical diagnosis
Meet Dave
In 2005 I completed my undergraduate training in psychology and education at the University of Pretoria. Upon completion, I spent a year lecturing at the Psychology Department at the University of Pretoria in the fields of Health Psychology, Research, Critical Psychology and Abnormal Child Psychology. As a programme coordinator at the university's former Centre for the Study of AIDS (now Centre for Sexualities, Aids and Gender), I was seconded to assess and develop the inclusiveness of HIV/AIDS and related themes in the university's academic programmes and supervised numerous community level projects. Following my residency at the University of Pretoria I relocated to the lovely "Rosestad" to enroll in the University of the Free State's masters programme in clinical psychology.
Upon completion of my academic training, I completed my required internship at South Africa's foremost tertiary psychiatric training centre, the Free State Psychiatric Complex. In 2011 I worked as Community clinical psychologists at the Uitenhage Provincial Hospital and Laetitia Bam Day Hospital. The experience of practicing in these communities played a major role in my eventual return to the Eastern Cape. During 2012 I expanded my clinical experience by working with patients presenting with severe personality pathologies and criminality in a privately owned (G4S) Mangaung Correctional Centre, a maximum and super-maximum security correctional centre in the Free State.
In February 2013 I relocated back to Port Elizabeth where I launched my private practice as an independent psychologist. To avoid professional isolation I proactively engage with clinical and academic opportunities, and over the past 9 years have consulted in the fields of neuro-rehabilitation, tertiary education and employee wellness while enjoying my clinical work. In response the COVID-19 pandemic, I initiated a number of collaborative projects producing media-rich psychoeducational material aimed at reaching out and assisting the broader community in strengthening emotional resilience during the pandemic. The resulting Visionology productions have since then seen an overwhelmingly positive response locally and globally, with it's content featuring in secondary education, corporate and United Nations psychoeducational projects.
Since the onset of COVD-19 and efforts to remain accessible to new and existing patients by means of virtual consultations, my Cape Town-based clinical workload has increased substantially. Due to these reasons and, in all frankness, my insatiable appetite for a professional challenge, I expanded my practice in 2021 to a second location based in Claremont in Cape Town's Southern Suburbs. I am currently available for in-person consultations at my Port Elizabeth and Cape Town rooms.
Meet Derryn
In 2008 I completed my BPsych degree at the University of Port Elizabeth. In fulfilment of my undergraduate training I interned at the Wilderness Foundation's Umziwethu Project which grounded my interest in serving the community at ground level. At completion of my Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology, my post-graduate tenure at the University of the Free State had afforded me the opportunity to provide essential psychological services to the broader Free State community, including primary healthcare facilities in Kroonstad, Welkom, local primary and high schools as well as the highly regarded Free State Psychiatric Complex.
Following my community service based in the Eastern Cape, I returned the Bloemfontein to complete a tenure at the privately-owned maximum security Mangaung Correctional Centre. This tenure afforded me an invaluable opportunity to further my clinical experience in treating severe personality pathology, hostage incident management and forensic profiling.
Upon returning to Port Elizabeth in 2013, my clinical work was focused on rehabilitation interventions at Aurora Hospital while treating patients recovering from traumatic brain injury, strokes, and significant spinal-cord injuries. 2018 saw my return to Uitenhage provincial hospital where I completed my community service in 2011. UPH afforded me the privilege of servicing the broader community of Uitenhage and surrounds as a frontline worker before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to responding to in-patient and out-patient psychiatric and trauma referrals, I also conducted clinical assessments and psychological intervention in sexual trauma victims reporting to Cosmos.
After more than a decade acquiring clinical experience and serving the broader community, I decided to offer my clinical and therapeutic experience to patients in my private practice on a full-time basis with a focus on psychological assessment and treatment of trauma, substance abuse, depression, anxiety disorders, and severe personality pathologies.
