by Rafiq Lockhat
On the news the other day they were discussing the suicide of a teenager when the announcer said suicide is now the second biggest cause of teen deaths in South Africa. Disturbing as this is, it did not surprise me. In 1986, when I was a psychology intern, I worked at...
by Rafiq Lockhat
Last week I wrote about psychologist Erik Erikson’s theory of “life crises” and his interest in how our interactions with our environment shape our personality. We explored the first three of his eight stages of psychosocial development. This week I...
by Rafiq Lockhat
I saw a patient a last week who is a competent, attractive, professional woman of 31. She has been living with her 29-year-old boyfriend for the past two years. They have a baby of six months and have been going out for five years. She came to see me because she is...
by Rafiq Lockhat
I saw a 16-year-old last week who was referred because of a fairly sudden drop in his grades at school. As our session progressed, he spoke of his fears regarding his mother’s impending second marriage. She was about to marry a man who had been married before...
by Rafiq Lockhat
I have been counselling a 17 year old boy for the past few months. He has just been expelled from an expensive private school. I started seeing him before the expulsion, when his exasperated parents brought him to me after his second suspension at school. My...
by Rafiq Lockhat
Recently I saw an 18-year-old male patient. He was an average teenager who had just completed his matric exams. He was confident that he would get a good pass and was looking forward to studying at university. He was good-looking and respectful. He explained that...
