Maropeng Ralenala , M.A. (South Africa)

As a qualified clinical psychologist, I am passionate about people encountering the life-changing science and experience of psychotherapy, particularly for those who have never found themselves in a therapist’s office before. I will be here to walk the road untraveled with you and brightly shine a light on the way ahead. If you are no stranger to the therapy couch, I will be most delighted to welcome you back to this transformational journey.

I have traveled the world and seen many of its wondrous corners. I am South African born and bred and have had the privilege of being educated and trained up in world-class academic departments and training institutes. I am a board-certified Clinical Psychologist actively licensed with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA). I have had the opportunity of working across vastly diverse environments - from high-risk psychiatric hospital wards to community clinics, from missions organizations to running a private clinical practice, from working in the sparse outskirts of rural villages to working in the bustling economic hubs of global cities.

As a psychology clinician for the past 12 years, I am qualified and well-equipped to work with a variety of clinical needs and reasons for presenting to therapy. These include a wide range, from mental health disorders that severely and pervasively impact one’s life and functioning, such as depression, anxiety and trauma, to the less debilitating but still significant struggles of changing life circumstances such as major personal life events, stressful times and relationship problems.  

I particularly work with the following groups of people in therapy: couples in couples therapy who seek help to become better at being together, corporate individuals with their unique set of challenges and pressures, and individual adults severely struggling in their lives or just seeking to thrive better- that is the ability to freely work, love, learn and play. I use an integrative mode of psychotherapy that is evidence-based for the presenting concern and I ensure that the individual needs and clinical presentation inform the route of psychotherapeutic action.

Expertise

• Relationship difficulties
• Relationship crisis states
• Anxiety
• Depression 
• Long-term repeated patterns of dysfunction in one's life (personality struggles)
• Narcissistic abuse (in romantic, family and professional relationships)
• Adjustment difficulties
• Trauma-related conditions
• Dysfunctional relationship with money
• Relationship with self (intrapersonal) and with others (interpersonal)
• Coaching for self exploratory work/growth
• Life transitions

Tools

• Psychoanalytic couples therapy interventions
• Psychodynamic psychotherapy (long-term and short-term)
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)
• Trauma therapy
• Positive Psychology
• Wisdom coaching
• Solutions-focused brief therapy

Qualifications & Memberships

• B. Soc. Science (Psychology) cum laude - University of Pretoria, South Africa
• BA Honours (Psychology) cum laude - University of Johannesburg, South Africa
• MA (Clinical Psychology) cum laude - University of Johannesburg, South Africa
• Faculty of Medicine Certificate in Human Anatomy - University of Pretoria, South Africa
• Registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)
• Registered with the Dubai Health Authority (DHA)
• Member of the inaugural Johannesburg Psychoanalytic Couples Psychotherapists group (JPACP)
• Registered member of the International Association for Relationship Research (IARR)