Registered Clinical Psychologist (HPCSA)
Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGAS)
Shahieda is the Deputy Director (Learning and Technology at UNISA, Western Cape since the 3rd October 2016). From June 2008 to September 2016 she’s been the manager of the Student Counselling Service of the University of the Western Cape where she coordinated the psychological and broader developmental needs of the students and supervised and trained Masters level psychology interns.
Her special forte is the indigenization of psychological principles for the enhancement of peak performances personally and professionally. She excels at diversity and transformation work and some of her most successful interventions have been with those who seek self-mastery through psychotherapy and sport. She developed a locally relevant multi-dimensional model of personhood, the Ubuntu self. It is from the basis of a culturally embedded personhood that she facilitates recovery, healing, and transformation. She is a founder member of the Forum for African Psychology (FAP) Cape Town reading group.
In her role as group therapy champion she provides ongoing training and development of mental health professionals on the effective application of group dynamics for therapeutic benefit. She serves as consultant group psychotherapist to professionals on the clinical and organizational development and maintenance of successful group psychotherapy programmes.
Shahieda has carved out a professional niche for herself as a provider of masculinized personal growth and transformation opportunities for male clients. Inside all men’s psychotherapy groups she facilitates the development of an explicit male culture in which men risk ‘fishing inwards’ interrogating constructions of their own manhood and positively transforming their attitudes and behaviour. Her PhD topic explored the emotional experiences of participants of all-male psychotherapy groups.
She presents annually at conferences on three areas of specialization:
- Group-based personal growth and development
- Gender-infused psychotherapy for men
- Culturally embedded approaches to personal transformation
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