Riaan van Wyk

I am an Integrative Psychotherapist, Trauma-therapist, Sexologist and Relationship Specialist and the founder of My Therapy International. I co-own the practice with my wife, Anna- Mart van Wyk, who practices as a Registered Hypnotherapist, Trauma-therapist and a Neuro-Behavioural Coach.

It might surprise you that I started my career as an engineer, as it was the “logical choice” in the era when I attended varsity. Driven by a deep-seated passion for human well-being and a relentless interest in understanding human behaviour, I made the deliberate choice to exchange a successful engineering career for the profound opportunity to help people navigate life's most challenging obstacles.

I believe that my engineering studies contributed greatly to me being the therapist I am today as it caused me to be very critical of therapeutic interventions that lack the scientific credibility and proven track record to back them up. I therefore only use therapeutic models that are validated by science and/or evidence-based in an evidence-based practice to ensure my patients and couple clients get results.

My focus is on guiding individuals and couples through complex issues such as healing from trauma, including PTSD and C-PTSD, mending relationships on the brink of breaking apart, supporting those who struggle with personality disorders to build fulfilling lives and connections, and offering a lifeline to individuals grappling with self-harming behaviours and suicidal thoughts. I realised that sexuality related issues are complex and with the prevalence of embodiment in therapy today, it made sense to further my studies and research into sexology, since I deeply felt the need to de-stigmatize sex and sexuality, help people heal from sexual wounds and sex negative upbringings, and focus on the beauty and life enhancing context of sex and sexuality.

I am an integrationist at heart and integrate many models to ensure that my patients receive the optimal level of care to truly help them. I can’t help but be outcomes orientated and feel a huge sense of responsibility to make a real, tangible difference.

Although I draw on many different intervention protocols, I have a special love and intimate knowledge of the following therapies as many of them de-pathologize so-called mental disorders and they yield results:

Rational Strategic Therapy (Riaan’s Proprietary Researched Therapy)

Rational and Intimacy (Emotional Connection) Based Relationship Therapy (Riaan’s Proprietary Researched Therapy)

Universal Integralism Based Sexuality Therapy (Riaan’s Proprietary Researched Therapy)

Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy

Coherence Therapy

Internal Family Systems Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)

Rational Behaviour Therapy

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

(A more detailed list is found at the end of this bio.)

As a result, the interventions that we choose to use and integrate are based on principles from the above-mentioned therapies. In all that we do, we only use research supported and proven therapies and for this reason our results are predictable.

We believe that patients should be in therapy for as short as possible and as long as necessary. We do not want to make people dependent on therapy, but rather effect healing, support them as and when they need us, and to equip them with skills to thrive.

“My wife and I are passionate about offering people a holistic solution to well-being; first heal and then excel as well as to learn new skills to sustain the progress that they have made for the long-haul of life.

Life is magical and the magic starts with hope. We believe that we are essentially “Hope Merchants” by trade; and we just happen to use therapy to give people exactly that – HOPE.

Riaan van Wyk