Informational articles on mental health & relationships

Most people arrive here in the middle of something — a fight that keeps repeating, a tiredness that sleep doesn't touch, a relationship that has gone quiet. These articles are written for that moment: the point where you want to understand what is happening before you decide what to do about it.

Every article is written by Sumarie Engelbrecht, an HPCSA Registered Counsellor (PRC PRC 0042480) in private practice, working online with individuals and couples across South Africa. The writing draws on the same evidence base as the counselling room — attachment theory, Gottman's research on couples, and current clinical literature — with sources cited so you can read further yourself.

A note on what this is and isn't: reading about a pattern is not the same as being assessed for one, and nothing here is a diagnosis or a substitute for working with someone. Where an article describes something that needs more than an article, it says so. If you are in immediate danger or crisis, please contact an emergency service rather than waiting for a booking.

What you'll find here

Relationships

Conflict that repeats, growing apart, money arguments, infidelity, and what the research actually says about why relationships end.

Attachment

Why closeness feels safe to some people and dangerous to others, and how those early patterns show up in adult relationships.

Anxiety & Burnout

What anxiety does in the body, the signs of emotional exhaustion, and why rest sometimes makes you feel worse before better.

Intimacy

Emotional and physical closeness — how it fades, what it costs a relationship, and how couples rebuild it.

Trauma

Recognising a trauma response for what it is, and the difference between a memory and a nervous system still bracing.

Parenting

Mom guilt, the mental load, and the parts of early parenthood that are rarely said out loud.

Mental Health

Depression versus sadness, seasonal lows, and the link between hormones, the menstrual cycle and mood.

Counselling

How counselling in South Africa actually works — what a registered counsellor can and cannot do, medical aid, PMB and costs.