YAJNIKA PILLAY
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST
Beyond The Consulting Room
Talks & Workshops
Therapy offers a unique space for people to reflect on themselves, but not everyone will find themselves in a consulting room. I'm deeply interested in creating opportunities for psychological thinking beyond therapy, bringing conversations about emotional life into organisations, schools, universities and communities in ways that feel thoughtful, engaging and relevant.
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​Every workshop is developed collaboratively around the needs of the audience. Whether I'm working with a corporate team, healthcare professionals, educators, parents or students, my aim is to create conversations that are psychologically informed, practically relevant and grounded in the realities of people's everyday experiences.
Conversations I Enjoy Facilitating:
Reflective Parenting
Understanding how our own childhoods continue to shape the ways we parent, and how greater reflection can create new possibilities for ourselves and the next generation.
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Our Relationship with Burnout
Looking beyond exhaustion to explore how our histories, identities and relationships with work influence the way burnout is experienced.​​
The Emotional Lives of Teams
Exploring the often unseen emotional and relational dynamics that shape communication, trust, conflict and belonging within organisations.
Trauma-Informed Practice
Understanding how trauma can influence the way people think, feel, relate and respond, while considering practical ways to create environments that promote safety and connection.
Supporting Helping Professionals
Creating space to think about the emotional impact of caring work, reflective practice and sustaining ourselves in professions that ask so much of us.
Intergenerational Patterns
Understanding how ways of relating, coping and caring are often carried across generations, and how greater awareness can create opportunities for change.
Religion, Spirituality and Emotional Life
Creating thoughtful conversations about the relationship between psychological and spiritual ways of understanding ourselves and the world around us.
Understanding Gender-Based Violence
Looking beyond physical violence to explore coercive control, trauma, relationships and the emotional realities of survivors.
Bespoke Workshops
Every organisation, school and community is different. Workshops can be developed collaboratively around the needs of your audience, with the aim of creating conversations that feel thoughtful, engaging and practically relevant.
The most meaningful learning happens when people are able to feel their way into an idea, recognise something of themselves within it, and leave with a deeper understanding of themselves and others.
Research & Community Initiatives
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Within South Africa, many of the challenges we face, including violence, inequality, intergenerational trauma and rapid social change, have profound psychological dimensions. We often think of psychology as something that happens once a person enters therapy. I'm equally interested in the work that happens before that: creating opportunities for reflection, strengthening psychological understanding, and contributing to prevention through research, education and public engagement. ​
Access to psychological services remains unequal, and many people continue to make sense of emotional life outside of formal psychological settings. While psychological language has evolved over time, the human experiences it seeks to understand have always existed. Across cultures and communities, people have long made sense of grief, relationships, healing, identity and belonging through story, spirituality, family and collective wisdom. I'm interested in the conversations that emerge when these different ways of knowing are allowed to meet.
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I welcome opportunities to collaborate with researchers, clinicians, universities, healthcare organisations and community organisations on projects that contribute to research, education and public engagement.
Master's Application
Mentoring
Applying for a Master's programme in Clinical Psychology can be both exciting and incredibly demanding. For many applicants, it is a process that unfolds over several years. Rejections often arrive with little or no feedback, and even when feedback is provided, comments such as "develop your reflective capacity" or "gain more experience" can leave applicants wondering where to begin.
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My mentoring aims to create a space where we can think carefully about your application, your experiences and the qualities that selection committees are often looking for. Rather than focusing on rehearsed answers or interview techniques alone, we work collaboratively to develop the reflective thinking that sits at the heart of clinical psychology training.​
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​Support can be tailored to your individual stage in the application process and may include:
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Personal statements and autobiographical writing
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Interview preparation
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Role plays and ethics scenarios
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Case discussions and clinical thinking
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Feedback on previous applications
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Exploring strengths, areas for growth and future planning​
Whether you're applying for the first time or returning after previous applications, my aim is to provide thoughtful, individualised support throughout the process.