I am a trained architect and have worked on the built world we inhabit for most of my life. The internal world has always equally intrigued me. A sense of self and a sense of place are interchangeable. Internal structures and boundaries are as important to our well being as external ones. 

 

 As with all creative acts, architectural design is an expression of one's values, ethos and inner world. Physical spaces become extensions of our internal spaces creating a reciprocal relationship.

 

Just as creative re-envisioning is necessary for our physical world, our internal worlds also require often creative re-invention. I dream of seeing the Trauma Healing Retreat, which I envisaged as a 22-year-old on the slopes of Hout Bay, come to life somewhere in a beautiful natural setting one day.

 

This Trauma Retreat was designed to accommodate clients wishing to experience a variety of healing modalities during their visits or stay. It accommodates a variety of healing spaces, treatment rooms, meditation spaces and larger spaces for group therapy, meditations, yoga, qigong or other forms of healing group practices.

 

My creative architectural training and background have taught me about the opportunities present in every problem if viewed with a creative eye, as well as the importance of a concrete vision and a well-outlined plan. We are not the victims of our circumstances, we are active co-creators and designers of our destiny.

 

In this way, I wish to move beyond understanding causes and labelling disorders to exploring and initiating the creative potentiality possible within each client's unique set of challenges, individual attributes and personal circumstances.

  

As the architect and visionary Buckminster Fuller said,

 

“The best way to predict the future is to design it”.