Lisa Mentel

Background

About Lisa Mentel

I am a licensed Specialist Wellness Counsellor with the Association for Supportive Counsellors and Holistic Practitioners. My natural ability to empathise with and guide others into making sense of their life events has driven me to fulfilling a career in the psychology field. I wish to empower individuals to overcome their challenges and improve their overall self-esteem and coping mechanisms. Since February 2020, I have been exposed to a diverse range of issues that South Africans face. Through my volunteer work, I have interacted with school students who struggle with substance use. This has given me insight regarding how family relationships, poverty, and the home environment plays such an extensive role in substance use. Furthermore, co-facilitating the school groups enabled me to learn more about team work and how effective group counselling can be for individuals. Working as a counsellor at the Western Cape Spar Distribution Centre has also given me thorough insight into the various issues that South Africans face. I have specifically been giving individual counselling to the staff members and have learned that mental health in our country is dangerously overlooked. Taking into consideration the levels of violence, trauma exposure, grief, and familial issues, the importance of counselling services and overall support is inevitable. I have also assisted in Spar's various employee wellness programmes. I have found my counselling services to be extremely helpful to those in need. With this being said, I have enjoyed witnessing and being a part of the character growth that many of my clients have been through. It is fundamental that people are offered a safe environment where they have a voice and feel supported. In most cases, individuals want a person they can open up to whilst processing their emotions in a healthy way. I continuously aim to help others by using my empathy and various counselling skills whilst growing on a personal level.