Desert Psychology - Marleen Laubscher

02/04/2026

In my work with clients, I often speak about the concept of capacity as a way of understanding why life can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Imagine that you are a measuring jug.

Inside that jug is your capacity- the emotional, mental, and physical resources you have available at a given moment.

Each day, life asks you to pour from that jug.

Work.
Relationships.
Family responsibilities.
Unexpected stress.
Health challenges.

Each of these requires something from you.

The difficulty arises when the demands placed on you exceed what is available in the jug.

This is often where people begin to judge themselves harshly:

“I should be able to cope with this.”

But the more helpful question may be:

“Do I have the capacity for this right now?”

Capacity is not fixed.
It shifts depending on what you are carrying.

Understanding this can help us:
• set more realistic expectations
• recognise when we are approaching burnout
• respond to ourselves with greater compassion

—
Marleen Laubscher
Clinical Psychologist

23/02/2026

Join Marleen Laubscher and Dr. Jenifer Botes at The Healing Space for Seasons of Self- a thoughtfully held, creative workshop exploring how anxiety takes shape in our relationships.

Relationship-based anxiety often shows up quietly, in overthinking, withdrawal, people-pleasing, or feeling easily unsettled in connection with others. This workshop offers a supportive space to better understand these patterns and begin working with them more compassionately.

Together, we will be utilising gentle, guided creative mediums alongside therapeutic reflection to explore this topic in a way that feels safe, contained, and accessible.

If this resonates with where you find yourself, you are warmly welcome to join us.

📍 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗦𝘄𝗮𝗸𝗼𝗽𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗱
🗓 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟳 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱
🕘 𝟬𝟵:𝟬𝟬–𝟭𝟯:𝟬𝟬

📞 𝟬𝟴𝟭 𝟳𝟵𝟰 𝟳𝟮𝟬𝟭
📧 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘄𝗸@𝗴𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘱 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥.

23/02/2026

Many of us learned, often very early, to prioritise connection- sometimes at the expense of our own internal safety.

But sustainable closeness doesn’t require self-abandonment. The relationships that tend to feel most secure over time are the ones where both people can remain present, regulated, and honest about their limits.

At Desert Psychology, we often explore how attachment patterns, nervous system responses, and boundaries all work together to support healthier connection.

A gentle reflection:
Where in your relationships do you feel most able to stay fully yourself?

13/02/2026

Many people wonder why relationships feel easy at times - and deeply challenging at others.

Attachment theory offers a helpful lens for understanding this. It suggests that early experiences of closeness and care influence how we seek connection, manage distance, and respond to emotional needs as adults.

These patterns aren’t labels or life sentences. They are adaptations - ways our nervous systems learned to protect connection. With awareness, safety, and support, they can shift over time.

If you’d like to explore your own relational patterns, you can try a reflective attachment style quiz here:

👉 https://www.attachmentproject.com/attachment-style-quiz/

Online quizzes aren’t formal psychological assessments, but they can offer helpful insight and language for patterns you may already recognise.

So let's approach attachment with curiosity rather than judgment, focusing on understanding rather than fixing.

A gentle reflection:
What patterns do you notice in how you show up in close relationships?

11/02/2026

Excited to be engaging with this topic in a creative and reflective way at The Healing Space.

We all move through seasons — in our relationships, in how we experience ourselves, and in how safe or anxious we feel with others.
Some seasons feel open and connected. Others feel tight, uncertain, or overwhelming.

Seasons of Self is a one-day workshop held at The Healing Space, offering a gentle and supportive space to explore how anxiety takes shape in relationships- with partners, family, friends, colleagues, and even within ourselves.

Blending therapeutic reflection with guided creative processes, this workshop invites you to slow down, notice patterns, and engage with relationship-based anxiety in a way that feels safe, contained, and non-threatening.

No art experience is needed. This is not about creating something “perfect,” but about using creativity as a tool for insight, regulation, and deeper self-connection.

🗓 Saturday, 7 March 2025
🕘 9:00–13:00
📍 The Healing Space, Swakopmund
✨ Small group | Spaces are limited

This workshop may be eligible for medical aid coverage, depending on individual plans. We can enquire on participants’ behalf should they be interested.

26/01/2026

It’s very common to feel tired, flat, or depleted at the start of a new year, especially if the year before ended with stress, loss, pressure, or burnout.

Our nervous systems don’t reset just because the calendar does. If you ended the year depleted, it makes sense that your system may still be asking for rest now.

Rest is often reduced to sleep, but psychological rest is broader than that. Mental overload, emotional labour, constant stimulation, and prolonged stress all require different kinds of recovery. When the type of rest doesn’t match the type of exhaustion, tiredness can linger- even when you’re “doing everything right.”

Rest then becomes an active process of renewal, not a personal failure or a lack of motivation.

There is no shame in needing rest.
It’s information—and it’s care.

A gentle reflection:
𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙣𝙤𝙬?

13/01/2026

Intensity often looks impressive.
It feels productive. Motivating. Powerful.

But intensity without attunement usually leads to collapse.

Intention is different.
It’s slower, more honest, and deeply respectful of capacity.
It asks what is sustainable, not what looks good on the outside.

Let's prioritise intention because long-term wellbeing is built through small, aligned choices - not bursts of self-pressure.

You don’t have to overhaul your life.
You just have to begin where you are, with care.

13/01/2026

January can be dysregulating in quiet ways.
Not always dramatic, but often heavy, rushed, and tiring.

Landing Gently is a grounding and re-entry workshop being offered at The Healing Space, designed to support adults who need space to pause, regulate, and take stock - without pressure to push forward or perform.

The focus is on nervous system regulation, practical grounding tools, and reflective integration, supporting a way of moving through the year with more steadiness - not just survival.

This is a gentle invitation to meet yourself where you are, and to consider what support might look like from there.

07/01/2026

January often asks us to sprint.
New goals. New habits. New expectations.

But your nervous system doesn’t respond to pressure - it responds to safety.

If the year ended with depletion, overwhelm, or emotional heaviness, that matters. True change doesn’t come from pushing harder; it comes from meeting yourself honestly and gently.

At Desert Psychology, we start the year by respecting capacity - not forcing motivation where there isn’t space for it yet.

There is no deadline on healing.
No race you’re behind in.
Just a nervous system doing its best.

Gentle beginnings are valid beginnings.

07/01/2026

A new chapter for Desert Psychology.

We have moved and are settling into our new home at The Healing Space - a space that reflects the growth of our practice and the direction we are moving in.

This transition also allows us to grow into new ways of working, including expanded opportunities for group-based therapy, shared learning, and connection, alongside our individual therapeutic work.

As we step into this next chapter, we want to pause and express our deep gratitude to Eden Grove. This space held countless meaningful sessions, brave conversations, and moments of healing. It supported both our clients and our practice through an important season of growth, and it will always remain a valued part of our journey. We carry what was nurtured there with us as we move forward.

We will be fully settled and opening our doors on 12 January, ready to continue supporting you in ways that honour your needs and where you are in your process.

Thank you for walking this journey with us.

01/12/2025

Our psychological counsellor, Dalmaine Lyners, sheds gentle light on one of the areas she is deeply passionate about: supporting teens - and the adults who love them.

Adolescence is a season of intense internal change. Teens often feel emotions they don’t yet have language for, and parents are trying to navigate their own responsibilities while still wanting to show up in the best way they can. This combination can make even simple conversations feel overwhelming on both sides.

When we pause to look beneath the surface, we often find overwhelm, shutdowns, raised voices, and moments where connection feels lost. These aren’t signs of disrespect, but signals of emotional overload - a nervous system stretched beyond its capacity.

Sometimes showing up for our teens means slowing the moment down, taking a breath, and gently trying to decode what’s really happening underneath the reaction. It’s about choosing connection over correction, presence over perfection, and remembering that repair is always possible.

A reminder that teens don’t need flawless responses.
They need presence.
They need curiosity.
They need to feel understood.

And they need adults who are willing to try again.

28/11/2025

We usually treat discomfort as a sign that something has gone wrong - a red flag, a warning, a reason to shut down, escape, or take control.

But discomfort isn’t danger.
It’s data.

Discomfort is your internal system saying:

• “𝘗𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦.”
• “𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥.”
• “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴.”

Whether the discomfort shows up in relationships, in your own mind, in a decision, or in a pattern you’re trying to change - it’s never random.

Discomfort is a messenger.
Our job isn’t to silence it.
It’s to listen to what it’s trying to tell us.

So let's allow ourselves to start getting into understanding discomfort, rather than running from it, because every time you stay with it just a little longer, you build capacity from the inside out.