Psychology to Help Build a Healthy Mind

Ububele is a non-profit organisation offering psychological services to the community of Alexandra. It is important to understand what psychology is, and how it can help us. Psychology works to understand people’s minds and their behaviour, and to explain how thoughts and feelings may impact behaviour and visa-versa. There is no mind reading involved - when a psychologist and client talk, the psychologist uses theory to try and understand what the client might be going through and how to help them.

Book-sharing training at Ububele

At Ububele, our core concern is the mental health of children.

There is so much information about how children’s brains and minds develop, and this helps us understand what support they need to grow up into adults with good mental health. Parents sometimes focus on only physical health, but their children’s emotional well-being is just as important.

Desmond Tutu explained it well when he said this: “Think about it this way. If your health is strong, when viruses come, they will not make you sick. If your overall health is weak, even small viruses will be very dangerous for you. Similarly, if your mental health is sound, then the disturbances come, you will have some distress but recover quicker.

If your mental health is not good, then small disturbances, small problems will cause you much pain and suffering.”

Research shows that from birth, a child’s relationship with their parent(s)/guardian is the most important thing for their mental health. Parenting is very hard, and there is no such thing as a perfect parent. But parenting is also so important that it is worth working on, and that includes seeking support when needed. We offer this support at Ububele, through our parenting courses and therapy.

Young children do not yet have all the words needed to share their experiences, thoughts, and feelings, so they often do it through their behaviour. When we see a young child for therapy, our therapists help the parents understand the child’s behaviour and what difficulty they are trying to communicate, so that we can help the child grow up healthy – both physically and mentally.

If you would like to support Ububele and the important work we do in helping build healthy relationships for families, you can make a donation at https://www.ububele.org/support-us

Written by: Rose Picas

Rose is an intern psychologist currently doing her internship at Ububele.