Social Worker (noun): clinical and community practitioners whom assist individuals, families, and communities to cope with their problems, thereby empowering the client to thrive in the worker’s absence.
Kayla-Tess Pattenden is a child advocate, mother of 2, devoted Christian, and patriotic South African. It is these factors combined which make Kayla-Tess an incredible social worker!
She graduated in 2015 with a Bachelors in Social Work (UCT), and has since educated herself further in community development, narrative therapy, child protection and mediation. She has compassion in mounds and the wisdom to transform this compassion into meaningful interventions.
Kayla-Tess’s NPO background provides her with an array of experience with a diversity of people in the child protection, mediation, s*x education, parenting, supervision and trauma-informed fields. Kayla-Tess also runs the first Multi-Disciplinary Supervision Group in Cape Town, providing integrated advise and networking to social service professional from across the city. This has all contributed to the establishment of a professional and successful practice with clients celebrating their newfound resilience upon terminating their sessions.
Her practice focus is families and couples, mediation, written assessments like care & contact and parenting plans as well as relationship therapy, s*x therapy and trauma debrief work.
Living by her motto, Kayla-Tess counsels herself ‘out of the job’, for it is only when a client can cope and thrive on their own that she has performed her duties well enough. Her counseling practice is motivated by her faith in a God who too serves.
When Kayla-Tess is not counseling, she can be found in a hot tub somewhere, camping with her family, reading a never-ending supply of good books or exploring the tidal pools with her 2 boys age 3 and 6.
About Charlotte Tinnion
Charlotte Tinnion blends Social Work training obtained through an honors degree from the University of Cape Town with practical experience, to offer solid skills in individual case work, group work and programme development in the Child Protection field and school environment.
Charlotte has thorough knowledge of the Children’s Act No. 38 of 2005 and is passionate about children’s development and formulating therapeutic relationships and programs to build resilience in adverse life events. She believes that early intervention is beneficial as part of a holistic development programme to support the formulation of adults who can positively contribute to society.
Charlotte is motivated to further her knowledge through ongoing research at the University of Cape Town where she is currently registered for a Masters degree. Charlotte has dedicated her research to Early Chilldhood Development. She has also completed several courses in Art/Play therapy.
Charlotte’s practice focus is family therapy and play and art therapy with children. She believes in developing children holistically (“head, hearts and hands” approach), using resources that are natural to them. A child’s world can be entered through art and play therapy, using their imagination and a mode of self-expression that is natural to them.
Charlotte is vibrant and versatile with a compassionate and caring nature, known for flexibility and respect for diversity through experience in various communities, spanning different socio-economic backgrounds.
When Charlotte is not counselling, she can be found hiking the mountains with her beloved Boston-Terrier, Moccasin, reading with a coffee or tending to her beautiful garden with her green fingers.
About The Connect Group
The Connect Group was formally established in January 2019 in response to an overflow in clientelle founded through founder, Kayla-Tess Pattenden’s work in the Educational space with The LifeMatters Foundation.
Many parents and learners were unable to afford the expensive fees of most private mental health practitioners and as such were forced to utilize governmental services with their long waiting lists. Ultimately, a private practice offering sliding rates based on the financial circumstances of families in South Africa was needed, thus the establishment of The Connect Group.
A lack of quality supervision was also made evident through Kayla-Tess’s work in the NPO space, thus resulting in the inclusion of affordable individual supervision consultations and group supervision too.
