About Me

Renée Shearing

Occupational Therapist

Integrative Therapist

BSc (OT) Reg no: OT 0032638 PR: 0188042

Hi, I’m Renée Shearing.

I’m an Occupational Therapist and integrative therapist with three decades of experience working with people through all kinds of challenges, difficulties and periods of change.

I qualified as an Occupational Therapist at the University of Cape Town in 1997. My career has included working across a range of psychiatric, rehabilitation and treatment settings in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as running my own private practice in South Africa for the past 20 years.

Over the years, I’ve worked with people experiencing trauma, anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, addiction, relationship difficulties, grief, burnout and significant life transitions.

That experience has given me a broad understanding of human behaviour, psychological health and the many ways we adapt to what life brings us.

But perhaps one of the most important things I’ve come to understand is that we are all human, and being human can be difficult.

We all carry experiences that have shaped us. We develop ways of coping, protecting ourselves and getting through life. Some of those adaptations serve us well, while others can eventually become the very things that keep us feeling stuck.

I don’t believe people need to be fixed. I believe we need to understand what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what might allow something to change.

How I Work

I’ve always been deeply curious about people and what makes us who we are. I’m fascinated by human behaviour, our relationships, the ways we adapt, and the extraordinary complexity of being human.

I approach life and humanity with curiosity rather than judgment, and I bring that same curiosity into my therapeutic work.

I’m a human being working with another human being, bringing my own humanity, professional training, experience and clinical judgment into that relationship.

I don’t believe there’s one therapeutic approach that works for everyone, because no two people are the same.

We’re complex beings. Our physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual lives are interconnected, and our experiences affect us on many different levels.

That’s why I work integratively, drawing on a range of therapeutic approaches according to the person I’m working with and what they need.

Sometimes our work involves talking, exploring your history or making sense of what’s happening in your life. At other times, we may work more directly with the nervous system, the body, unresolved trauma or patterns that operate outside conscious awareness.

I’m interested not only in what you think and understand, but also in what you feel, how your body responds, and what continues to happen automatically, even when you know better.

I believe that much of what we struggle with makes sense when we understand the experiences and adaptations that shaped us.

And I believe meaningful change is possible.

Going Beyond Understanding

One of the things I’ve observed over the years is that understanding why something happens doesn’t necessarily mean we can change it.

You might understand exactly why you become anxious, why certain situations trigger you, why you struggle to set boundaries or why you keep repeating particular patterns in relationships.

You might have done years of therapy and developed considerable insight into yourself.

And yet, something continues.

That’s because not everything that shapes our responses is available to conscious thought. Our early experiences, nervous systems, emotional learning, trauma and family dynamics can create deeply established patterns that operate automatically.

Sometimes we need to work with those processes directly rather than trying to think our way out of them.

This is where my integrative approach becomes particularly valuable.

I draw on both cognitive and non-cognitive therapeutic methods, including body-based and trauma-processing approaches, to help address what may be maintaining these patterns.

My interest is in helping people experience change, not simply understand what needs to change.

Sometimes that change is gradual. Sometimes it’s surprisingly profound.

And sometimes you simply realise that something which used to upset you, frighten you or hold you back no longer has the same power.

You haven’t had to work harder to manage it. Something has genuinely shifted.

The Therapeutic Relationship

I think the relationship between therapist and client matters enormously.

When someone comes to see me, I understand that they may be bringing some of the most difficult, painful or vulnerable parts of their life into the room.

I don’t take that lightly.

I want you to feel that you can be yourself, that you don’t have to perform, explain yourself perfectly or arrive knowing exactly what you need.

I bring warmth, compassion, curiosity and honesty to our work. I’m comfortable having difficult conversations, asking direct questions and exploring things that may not always be easy to look at.

But I also believe in gentleness, humour and recognising the humanity in all of us.

I don’t see myself as standing outside the human experience, observing yours. I’m human too, and that humanity is part of what I bring to my work.

At the same time, our work remains focused on you, your experiences, your needs and what has brought you to this process.

For me, therapy is a collaborative process, grounded in trust, respect and the understanding that each person brings their own unique history and experience.

What I Hope for the People I Work With

My hope isn’t that you spend the rest of your life analysing yourself, managing your reactions or continually working on becoming a better version of yourself.

It’s that you become freer to live your life.

That you can respond to situations with more choice rather than being driven by old patterns. That relationships feel less complicated, that you feel more comfortable in yourself, and that experiences which once felt overwhelming become easier to navigate.

But there’s something else I hope for, too.

I hope you begin to experience life with a little more curiosity, openness and possibility. That instead of feeling as though life is constantly happening to you, or that every difficulty is another obstacle to overcome, you begin to discover that even life’s challenges can sometimes offer opportunities for growth, discovery and expansion.

This doesn’t mean that life stops being difficult, or that painful experiences should somehow be welcomed or turned into lessons. Some things are genuinely hard, and deserve to be acknowledged as such.

But when the intensity of our emotional and nervous system responses begins to settle, something can shift in the way we experience life.

We may find ourselves less caught up in simply surviving or protecting ourselves, and more able to engage with what’s happening. There can be more room for curiosity, exploration, choice and even a sense of adventure.

Life doesn’t have to feel like something we’re continually defending ourselves against.

It can become something we’re more fully participating in, with all its uncertainty, challenges and possibilities.

For me, that’s an important part of what freedom means.

I don’t think there’s a single definition of wellbeing or a particular version of yourself you’re supposed to become.

I’m interested in helping you find greater freedom, ease and possibility in whatever life you want to live.

Professional Background

I qualified with a BSc in Occupational Therapy from the University of Cape Town in 1997 and am registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA).

My three decades of professional experience span psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation centres and specialist treatment settings in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia. For the past 20 years, I’ve also worked in private practice in South Africa.

I’ve worked with adults, young adults, adolescents, couples and families, addressing a broad range of emotional, psychological, behavioural and trauma-related difficulties.

My Occupational Therapy background continues to inform the way I understand people: not simply in terms of their symptoms or diagnoses, but in the context of their whole lives, relationships, environments and everyday functioning.

The front of Renée’s practice building in Wynberg, seen through the garden, with a stone path to the door

Certifications and Training

My professional development has included training in:

BSc Occupational Therapy, University of Cape Town, 1997
HPCSA-registered occupational therapist (OT 0032638)
TRE® — Tension and Trauma Releasing Exercises: Certified Level 2 TRE® Practitioner (TRE LLC, 2014)
EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing: training (Richman EMDR Training, approved by EMDRIA and EMDR Europe, 2017)
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT)
Compassionate Inquiry — Gabor Maté’s approach
Family Constellations and systemic work: Facilitator training completed (African Constellations, 2019)
Shamanic Energy Healing: 300-hour core curriculum in Shamanic Energy Medicine completed (The Four Winds Society Light Body School, 2019)
Motivational Interviewing
Model of Human Occupation
12-Step approaches to substance abuse and addiction
Psychoeducation and trauma-informed therapeutic approaches
Spirit 2 Spirit Trauma Healing training: modules 1 and 2 of 2 completed, 40 CPD hours each (The Refuge, A Healing Place, Ocklawaha, Florida, USA, 2011)
Touch for Health I: 16 hours of instruction completed (International Kinesiology College, Cape Town, 2003)

These approaches inform my work in different ways, allowing me to draw on a broad range of perspectives and methods rather than limiting our work to a single therapeutic model.

My Approach

Working With Me

I work with adults, young adults and selected adolescents, both in-person in Cape Town and online.

I also work with clients internationally, depending on individual requirements, professional considerations and our ability to coordinate across time zones.

Whether you’re going through a difficult period, feeling overwhelmed or struggling with long-established patterns, or whether life appears to be going well but something within you doesn’t feel quite right, you’re welcome to get in touch.

We can explore what you’re looking for and whether working together feels like a good fit.

The goal isn’t to spend your life endlessly working on yourself. It’s to become freer to live it.

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