Wilna van der Walt Practice

Welcome to the professional website of dr. Wilna van der Walt, registered medical doctor practicing in the field of psychotherapy in Muizenberg. She has a special interest in creative work in service of inner development.

Hi, I offer individual psychotherapy to adults. Creative work may be incorporated into our work together, but remains an option only. Zoom sessions can be arranged. I am no longer available as general medical practitioner. In addition to psychotherapy and workshops on creative inner work, I am also available to assist with some individual problems associated with creativity.

When faced with a crisis…

The decision to start psychotherapy is often a difficult one. In a private, contained space we meet and commit ourselves to the work. Together we undertake a journey of self-discovery, and we pay attention to patterns that may be interfering with the natural unfolding of the personality. Within our psychological makeup there exists a natural process of inner growth. It is the natural tendency of the personality to want to develop towards greater fulfilment.

In our work, we take note of dreams and their messages, when they appear, for they assist us in understanding ourselves. This serves to strengthen our relationship to our inner life and the process of inner growth. Few people realize that a time of crisis is an opportunity for inner growth – it makes one stronger. In addition, inner growth enables one to acquire a more objective perspective on life’s difficulties so as to make better, more balanced choices.

The tree represents the manifestation of the life-force, of our ability to grow into greater maturity; when faced with an impossible life situation, one should not try to force anything, but ‘stay in one place and grow deep roots, like a tree.’

From Jung’s Dream Seminars, 1929

Growing is a slow process. Inner growth may enable one to outgrow and rise above a difficult life situation. A very large tree may grow from a very small seed. The seed has to break open and grow towards the light, the higher values. Breaking open is painful, but necessary; without it there will be no growth. The tree roots us. The roots stretch away into the darkness of the earth, into the shadows. The tree may draw water from deep beneath the earth, from the well-springs of life, if the roots reach deep enough.

To be mirrored, is to be seen; one feels contained, accepted, loved. In the world of a child, the eye of the Mother is the mirror, the child’s whole world. This is where a child discovers him/herself, gradually developing an inner mirror and his/her own universe. If the eye of the ‘inner mother-mirror’ is shut away, one cannot see oneself for who one is. All becomes dark and difficult.

The moon reflects the light of the sun; it is a mirror, in man and woman alike. In ancient times the growth of plants was thought to be associated, not with the sun, but with the moon. The cycles of the moon, waxing, full, waning, dark, to return again, has always been associated with renewal. The relationship between therapist and patient acts like the eye of the ‘mother-moon’, like a mirror. In this way it is capable of bringing about renewal and healing to the wounded process of self-reflection.

Creative work can be an invaluable supportive tool in this process of inner growth, and it is known to assist the therapeutic process. The images that appear spontaneously in creative work may assist our work together. I offer regular workshops about my approach to creative inner work. The workshop is also available as an individual short course. In addition, I facilitate a café, an online creative workspace.

A patient needs only to have seen once or twice how much he is freed from a wretched state of mind by working at a symbolical picture, and he will always turn to this means of release whenever things go badly with him.” 

Chodorow, quoting Jung, 1997, p. 93

“The psyche consists essentially of images. It is a series of images in the truest sense…a structure which is throughout full of meaning and purpose; mind and body are the expression of a single entity. This living body appears outwardly as the living body, but inwardly as a series of images of the vital activities taking place within it.”

Sarah Blum quoting Jung in Spirit and Life