Citylife Business

By Edward Tsumele

BuyisileMncina is a registered independent practice counseling psychologist registered with the Health Profession Council of South Africa (HPCSA). She obtained her undergraduate degree at the University of Johannesburg and proceeded to the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the University of the Witwatersrand for her postgraduate studies. 

She is also a researcher and academic and finds interest in sharing knowledge in critical social psychology, child and adolescent psychology, health psychology, psychology of group behaviour, and social psychology. In this in-depth interview with CITYLIFE BUSINESS Editor-in-Chief Edward Tsumele, BuyisileMncina speaks about the opportunities and the challenges in her profession.

CITYLIFE BUSINESS. Psychology is not a field of study that black people have traditionally pursued for a variety of reasons, including a lack of knowledge about the discipline and the opportunities available to someone with such a qualification. How did you manage to break through such a barrier?

BuyisileMncina: You are accurate to highlight that there have been many barriers to the pursuit of psychology as a profession, and we owe the improved and growing demographic of Therapists of colour to the conscientisation of the profession in our communities. Breaking through was a crossing of opportunity and being resourceful/priviledged to pursue the profession as the process is elaborate. 

CITYLIFE BUSINESS. Even though times have changed and black communities are coming to grips with the necessity of seeking psychological help when it comes to mental health issues, consulting a psychologist still comes with some form of stigma attached to it. Have you encountered such issues in your practice?

BuyisileMncina: Much of what we realise often is internalised stigma, the misconception of what therapy is and isn’t as well as the disregard of the necessity of intervention that happens callously through social media as well as family gatherings and conversation that perceive therapy and counselling as synonymous with weakness of conflicted faith. We have pushed through many psychosocial barriers to health-seeking behaviour and truly remain with persistent communal blatant and imposed misconceptions. My appeal to this is to be better and understand that in terms of wellness we all sit on a spectrum, your resilience should not be the standard to which you hold empathy for another. 

CITYLIFE BUSINESS. How do you, as a practicing psychologist, try to contribute to the need for communities to embrace psychological services as a necessary part of daily wellness especially by talking openly to some of your patients and the communities from where they come about the need for such a service.

BuyisileMncina:I am a co-founder of Re Basadi Mental Health Associates and our key value is taking psychology beyond the room. Within this work we engage communities through social media and blogs on mental health. We understand that access is also a condition of affordability and if we can host spaces, and live Q&As we know we appeal to many including those who may be disenfranchised. There are also reduced rate service offerings in many practices, telephonic counselling via platforms like SADAG, as well as pro-bono spaces all in the aid of access. Communally, we also rely on other spaces like; churches, clinics, community hall meeting as means of hosting worthy cnversations on mental health.

CITYLIFE BUSINESS. What professional challenges do you sometimes experience as a young black practitioner in the mental health space, especially in a specialist area like psychology?

BuyisileMncinaLinkage to care and sustainability. Clients come into empowered spaces in the majority, alone, leaving a gap in meaningful intervention with partners, family, children, colleagues, and other social relationships. So we equally have to hold space for those in their absence which can frustrate holistic resolve. We also find that some situations need a multidisciplinary approach and in terms of referral networks that blend in well – this is still a work in progress,

CITYLIFE BUSINESS:  From a business perspective, how do you make sure that the people who consult with you understand that in as much as it is a mental health service you are providing, they need to pay for such services, just in the same way for example, when someone takes a car for servicing at their nearest and trusted garage.

BuyisileMncina : Clients are well aware that this is a health care service. Their plea in negotiated rates is with the awareness that this would be unique to your practise and not assume this as a typical industry standard, 

CITYLIFE BUSINESS: What do you think the government could do to make the work of health specialists such as psychologists much easier?

BuyisileMncina : For one, to host strategy sessions to engage practical and consistent roll-outs. Secondly, budget allocations toward mental health must hold the profound awareness that you need sane and healthy individuals to do work. Mental health isnt an elective, it is fundamental to viable and improved productivity.

CITYLIFE BUSINESS: What advice would you give to a young person who is still in high school and hopes to study psychology in the future?

BuyisileMncina: Understand that it is an elaborate process consisting of; Undergraduate, honours, Masters, Internship, Board-exam THEN you can practise. Entry to an MA programme is highly competetive, so beyond passion for the work and the clichè expression that ” I like helping people” administratively, it takes so much more and you need to consider that against funding, scholarships, or the financial investment that your family may need to commit to in the 6/7 years.

CITYLIFE BUSINESS: Sometimes the community cannot distinguish between a psychologist and a psychiatrist. What are the main distinguishing features regarding the role of these two related professionals?

BuyisileMncinaPsychologists – contract for short, meduim to long-term interventions which is structured around weekly, bimonthly, monthly check- ins for 1hour plus. We have knowledge of psychiatrc conditions, use the DSM5 to understand primary diagnosis, however, in terms of dispensing medicine,that is beyond our scope.

BuyisileMncinaPsychiatrists – run assessments to determine a diagnosis, write medical scripts or dispense medicines and refer to psychologists for intervention work, hence it is a collaborative relationship. They may check in on the clientswell being, however, they may not be able to commit to seeing clients weekly for therapy.

CITYLIFE BUSINESS. You have been practicing for a while now, do you practice in the public sphere or private sphere and what are the differences that are people seeking mental health need to know about the challenges in each, for example, who pays for services provided by professionals to patients in the respective sphere?

BuyisileMncinaI : practise privately, and payment for services is the sole responsibility of the client. We have third party requests and in contracting this way we clearly engage who is responsible for session payments. Whether a client pays for their session or someone assists, their confidentiality is maintained in accordance with the ethical guidelines of the HPCSA. 

CITYLIFE BUSINESS. Finally what would you advise someone facing mental health challenges who might be hesitant to consult a psychologist for fearing how the community and family might think about him, such as the stereotype that those who seek the assistance of a psychologist have gone crazy? 

BuyisileMncina: You are your longest relationship and just as much as you care for the preservation of others, you should hold your own nurturance in the same regard. Its ok for people in our lives to struggle with understanding mental health, but what is particularly unfair is dismissing another person’s reality and resolve simply because it is different to you. Remember judgement is the assumption that you are better, could do better, and can do better which blinds you to the life experiences of others. We are all trying our best, let us allow people to find their way around this.