Sonja Snyman (DPhil)

About Me

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I am a psychotherapist in private practice, based in Parkhurst, Johannesburg. I have been consulting since 1991, and work only with adults.

I offer individual and couples therapy, as well as corporate and organisational coaching.

Before becoming a psychotherapist, I completed a degree in Politics and Economics with Philosophy as a sub-major, followed by an Honours degree in Politics and International Relations. I then worked in the Department of Foreign Affairs both here in South Africa and in Israel, and later taught Economics and Business Economics at a night school in Mamelodi for five years.

My MA (Psychology) dissertation was about family murder, while in my Doctorate (Psychotherapy), I compared three different methods of healing or psychotherapy, namely systems, Kleinian and traditional healing.

I am a member of the Psychological Society of South Africa, belong to a peer discussion group, and have been running CPD (Continuing Professional Development) workshops with a colleague on an ad hoc basis since 2003.

I have been married since 1978, and have three adult children.

Individual and Couples Therapy

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The issues that I deal with in individual therapy include anxiety, stress, lifestage issues, personal development and adjustment disorder . I also provide relationship therapy for married couples and couples in both gay and straight relationships.

My philosophy has many points of connection with positive psychology in that I work within a framework of health. This means that apart from instances of severe pathology, my focus is on identifying strengths and areas of health in clients.

My paradigm is systemic, which means I view behaviour and pathology against the background of the context that facilitates or maintains that behaviour, and it is also constructivist, in that I believe that realities are constructed and not absolute.

Snyman Fasser Consulting

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Between 1997 and 2006, a colleague and I also allocated part of our time to running Snyman Fasser Consulting, a consultancy that specialised in behavioural change in the workplace.

I customised and tailored behavioural training programmes in assertiveness training, therapeutic skills for managers, thinking programmes, negotiation skills, change management (including organisational change and diversity management), and team building.

Our corporate clients included EDS, DeLoitte & Touche, Markinor, Liberty Life, and the Public Relations Institute of South Africa (PRISA).

Community Work

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My community work includes eleven years as a volunteer case consultant and supervisor for Family Life Centre, and pro bono psychotherapy for a non-profit community service in Hillbrow.

For six years, I also worked at a soup kitchen every second week., and I am now on the relief staff.

Leadership Coaching

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Why Coaching?

The increasing need for leadership coaching is directly linked to the changing business and organisational environment in South Africa. As managers and executives often have to negotiate un-chartered territory, they need to reflect on their changing context and on how they are dealing with the demands it is placing on them.

Coaching facilitates such reflection.

The Changing Environment

The stable hierarchical organisation with rigid, well-defined roles and functions has made way for an organic organisation in a connection economy.

In this type of organisation, where processes are continuously being re-engineered, Key Performance Areas (KPAs) are often tailored to suit the individual, the employee profile is diverse, there is pressure to adhere to Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) requirements, and there is a need to accommodate affirmative action policies into company culture.

Coaching facilitates a bird’s eye view of the interplay of these processes.

Manager/Executive Skill Set

The process of evolving from a management to a leadership position, the challenges of leading diverse teams, and the need to cope with uncertainty and unpredictability are a few of the personal skills the contemporary manager or executive has to master.

Coaching facilitates the understanding and fine-tuning of such skills.

The Issue of Trust

In a changing environment, internal and external stakeholder trust is crucial. Credibility is gained through executive integrity, personal mastery and a clear leadership philosophy.

Coaching facilitates getting to know oneself better, enabling leaders to improve credibility and personal mastery.

The Coaching Process

Coaching provides a context in which the following processes are undertaken to address issues and challenges identified by the coachee:

1. Developing an improved understanding of internal and external contexts
2. Assessing of what is required of a manager / leader
3. Developing a personal SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis
4. Establishing definable goals
5. Planning for activation and implementation
6. Defining a process of evaluation