Join me On the Couch with Carly, where psychology meets real life. Think of it as sitting down with a friend who happens to be a psychologist - but I'm not your pipe-smoking, tweed-wearing stereotype. This is a safe space to talk about the things that matter: relationships, parenting pressures, setting boundaries, and why we don't have to figure it all out alone. No judgment, just honest conversations about what it means to be human in this complicated, beautiful world.
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Join me On the Couch with Carly, where psychology meets real life. Think of it as sitting down with a friend who happens to be a psychologist - but I'm not your pipe-smoking, tweed-wearing stereotype. This is a safe space to talk about the things that matter: relationships, parenting pressures, setting boundaries, and why we don't have to figure it all out alone. No judgment, just honest conversations about what it means to be human in this complicated, beautiful world.
Between privilege and poverty: Mental health inequality with Claire van Dyk
On the Couch with Carly
1 hour 3 minutes 47 seconds
1 month ago
Between privilege and poverty: Mental health inequality with Claire van Dyk
I sat down with Claire van Dyk, an HPCSA-registered counselor working for the Western Cape Department of Health, and honestly, this conversation shook me. Claire reached out to be on the podcast because she's passionate about having uncomfortable conversations about mental health care inequality in South Africa—and we went there. We traced how colonialism and apartheid created the massive discrepancy between private and public mental health services that we're still living with today.
The numbers tell the story. One psychiatrist for every 3.3 million people in rural public areas, sometimes none at all. Eighty percent of our population depends on public healthcare, but only 5% of the health budget goes to mental health. Claire describes sessions in rooms without locks, folders going missing, months-long waiting lists, and cases far beyond what her scope technically covers. Not because she's overreaching, but because the need is that overwhelming.
I told Claire I felt the same during my community service. We both trained as caring professionals wanting to help, then found ourselves trying to offer something meaningful in chaotic, under-resourced environments while clients dealt with ongoing trauma. We landed somewhere unexpected, though. Maybe the work isn't about having every clinical tool to fix everything. Maybe it's about being present with someone for 30 minutes who finally gets to be heard without judgment. We explored what's actually in our power versus what we have to accept as unresolvable, and why that's not the same as giving up.
Follow Claire on:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-van-dyk-507aa9101/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/capetowncounsellor/?hl=en
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTownCounsellor/
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On the Couch with Carly
Join me On the Couch with Carly, where psychology meets real life. Think of it as sitting down with a friend who happens to be a psychologist - but I'm not your pipe-smoking, tweed-wearing stereotype. This is a safe space to talk about the things that matter: relationships, parenting pressures, setting boundaries, and why we don't have to figure it all out alone. No judgment, just honest conversations about what it means to be human in this complicated, beautiful world.
