Each one of us has the basic tendency to adjust our behaviour according to the urge to satisfy and meet our needs. Persons would differ in their perceptions on how to address unique needs, even if persons share the same needs, they would differ on the ideas associated on how the needs should be addressed.

Abstract The article aims to describe the role substances play in relation to the experiences of the self and sexual behaviour of the substance users, which may be of significance for the rehabilitation process. Based on Carl Rogers’s person-centred approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a voluntary sample of seven participants in a treatment centre in Pretoria, South Africa. The findings suggest that the use of substances assists the individual in relieving psychological ten...

To construct the ‘good life’ is a dance with life itself. My dance is the start of an exciting discovery of self; the willingness to search for my own music and dance with life. Dance is a process. A friend reminded me of a quotation by Wayne W. Dyer: When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor... it is to enjoy each step along the way.

A couple of weeks ago a wonderful and very kind journalist of the local Pretoria newspaper Record met with me to speak on the work of my community project: Mon Ami – Trauma Troops. Andrea Küsel and I also spoke on things to remember when experiencing trauma reactions on a crisis situation. In this Blog I present the verbatim articles as Andrea published our conversations in the Record newspaper (6 May 2016:2).

Volunteers at ground level would most likely be the persons with first hand contact with the persons at grassroots level in our communities. They are there to render emotional support where persons are traumatised, mostly by acts of violence. The question posed in this article would be to focus on the motivation of persons to assist others after violent experiences. It is almost a contradiction in itself to demonstrate compassion and care within circumstances of violence and sometimes chaotic si...

Sometimes we are not prepared of what is happening around us and the perception is experienced that "I am not coping". The feeling of not being prepared, in control and not being able to cope contributes in the difficulty to create meaning of the event. The person experiences that everything including their lives is in crisis, the wholeness of the person is affected and the person could even start questioning his/her own existence.