Private Social Worker

Focus areas: Family & Couples Reconciliation/Mediation | Adolescent Therapy | Sex & Trauma Counselling | Statutory/Court Work | Mental Health Supervision

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 continues to educate herself in statutory social work, couples and intimacy counselling and supervision. She has compassion in mounds and the wisdom to transform this compassion into meaningful interventions.
In working for The LifeMatters Foundation alone, she has written counselling material specific to the South African context, established a supervision group for social service professionals and developed the Teenage Awareness Programme- workshops for youth which makes The Life Orientation curriculum relevant and exciting! The Teenage Awareness Programme alone educates Grade 6-7 learners of 15 different schools in The Western Cap in healthy sexuality, safe social networking, career guidance, positive parental relationships and more! It is the only programme of its kind in South Africa.

The programme has developed a good name and Kayla-Tess is seen as a referral source in psycho-social support in schools. She is often invited into schools and other organisations to debrief and effectively equip staff to face the mental health challenges of their context.

Additionally, Kayla-Tess’s trauma and crisis background has made her an asset amidst the Covid-19 Pandemic as she counsels and debriefs Medical Frontline Workers through The Medical Frontliners Counselling Hotline and develops online play-therapy tools too!

All of these programmes are rooted in client empowerment- they aim to educate and equip clients to cope and even thrive in the face of trial. Kayla-Tess is currently focusing on developing her capacities in the Couples Counselling and Mediation Space as she has experienced an overwhelming number of referrals for these issues. Overall, Kayla-Tess’s service is motivated by her Faith in a God who serves too.