Walking With People Through Their Turning Points
- Feb 25
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
" People do not need to be fixed, they need to be understood" - Johan Meyer
Becoming
My work has always been about people in transition.
If I had to give this season of my life a title, it would be “Becoming…”. Every day I am becoming more who I am supposed to be, and I believe that process continues for a lifetime.
Before I held leadership titles, before I managed national programmes or aligned funding frameworks, I was drawn to understanding the human soul. Studying theology shaped the way I see people. It taught me to sit with questions that do not have quick answers, and to hold space for complexity.
Discovering My Calling
One of the most defining seasons of my life was my time at Vista Psychiatric Clinic. While working as a Pastoral Counsellor and Life Skills Group Facilitator, I also managed the Addiction Programme. It was during that period that I became deeply aware of my life purpose. I realised that I am called to help people who are suffering mentally and psychologically. Helping others had always given meaning to my life, but in that season it became clear that this was not simply work. It was my calling.
Beyond Programmes
Over time, my path expanded into health and mental health programme management. I worked in environments that required structure, reporting, targets, and accountability. I led teams, oversaw operations, and ensured that services reached communities navigating HIV diagnoses, stigma, trauma, and systemic barriers.
Yet there was never a moment where the work was about programmes instead of people. Programmes are important. They are the means. But they are never the heart of the work.
Behind every report was a person.Behind every target was a story.
Presence in the Hard Moments
Some of the most meaningful moments in my career have not happened in boardrooms. They have happened in quiet counselling rooms. I remember sitting with individuals who had just received an HIV positive diagnosis. As someone who is naturally empathetic, I could often feel the tears rising within me as I witnessed their shock, fear, confusion, and pain. In those moments, what mattered most was presence. Not rushing. Not fixing. Simply allowing someone to feel what they were feeling without judgment.
Resilience and Identity
Working with LGBTI communities and other marginalised populations deepened my understanding of resilience. I have seen people who endure stigma and discrimination daily, yet continue to rise. They push back when pressured to conform. They lean on one another. They build their own communities and families when others reject them. They use humour to soften life’s edges. To me, that is resilience.
My own journey has also taught me something profound about identity and acceptance. Identity, particularly around gender and sexuality, is not something one chooses. It is something one comes to accept. I have learned that the more we accept ourselves, the more confidently we project that acceptance into the world. And often, the world responds accordingly.
Trusting the Process
When people enter counselling, I believe many are afraid of being misunderstood. They are sitting with a stranger. They do not know what reaction they will receive. It is not easy to speak about deeply personal matters, especially when one has not yet made sense of them internally. That is why trust is essential. Change begins there.
Over the years, I have learned to trust the process. When people are willing to do the work, breakthroughs come. Perceptions shift. Insight arrives. That gives me hope.
A Turning Point
Like many professionals working within internationally funded health programmes, I experienced a season where funding structures shifted and long-standing initiatives came to an end. While change is never easy, it became another moment of becoming. It invited reflection. It reminded me that titles and positions may shift, but purpose remains. And sometimes endings create space for something more aligned
The Map
Around that same time, Charlie Jacobs, a hospitality student introduced to MapsTell during his studies at NHL Stenden in Leeuwarden, returned to South Africa. While working on his thesis research on behaviour and perception within the hospitality industry at Stenden South Africa in Port Alfred, he shared how stepping onto the Map fundamentally shifted his understanding of empathy and behavioural insight. Today, he serves not only as a certified MapsTell® Guide but also as a partner in The New Insights Journey.
The World of Difference map looks like this.
At first glance, it may appear to be a landscape filled with towns, rivers, mountains, and symbols. But what it represents is far more profound. It represents how we move through the world. How we process information. How we respond under pressure. How others experience us.
What resonated deeply with me was the philosophy behind it. That insight aligned naturally with the work I had already been doing for years.
We reached out to Warren Dix, the South African Mapstell Ambassador, who together with Claudia van den Boogaard, a certified Mapstell trainer, travelled to South Africa to train us to become certified Mapstell Guides. The training felt less like learning something entirely new and more like adding language and structure to principles I had been practising throughout my career.
A New Chapter
Today, through The New Insights Journey, I focus on helping people understand behavioural patterns, both their own and those of others. Many conflicts are not rooted in bad intentions, but in misunderstood behaviour. When someone recognises their own patterns, something shifts. When they understand the patterns of someone they love or work with, empathy grows.
On 11 March 2026, we will facilitate our first workshop together for Learning & Development professionals. It represents more
than an event on a calendar. It marks the beginning of a new chapter. A space where lived experience, behavioural insight, and structured reflection come together to help people see themselves and one another more clearly.
When I facilitate a Mapstell session, I quietly observe what others might miss. I notice when someone feels uncomfortable or uncertain, and I see it as my responsibility to ensure no one is left behind. At the same time, I hold balance. Caring for one individual should never come at the expense of the whole group.
Continuing to Become
My work with individuals and couples is not about labelling. It is about clarity. It is about creating a space where insight leads to patience, and patience leads to stronger relationships.
If I can help someone understand themselves a little better, and treat others with more empathy and respect, then I have done what I came here to do.
And so I continue… becoming.
If you would like to explore your own Map, click here:
If you would like to become a Certified MapsTell Guide, click here:
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