“I have seen people get better from the
worst possible things you can imagine,” says psychologist Morgan Anne Mitchell. Her job is not easy, but the pain of confronting human atrocities on a daily basis is trivial in comparison with the reward of helping someone recover from the trauma of violence and rape.
Mitchell works from her private practice and Cape Town’s Rape Crisis centre, predominantly with refugees. With the help of the University of Cape Town Law Clinic and the UN Refugee Agency she advocates on behalf of her clients, seeking legal refuge and justice for the crimes committed against them.
Mitchell maintains that her clients heal themselves; she merely provides a non-judgmental space and a persistent belief in them. In a country in which so many people have experienced the horrors of violence and rape,
her work is a vital necessity. She has co-authored two books about how to help trauma victims, and is adamant that we all have a role to play in helping those in need.
You would be hard-pressed to find anyone more deeply dedicated to their work than Mitchell. Even on the days when she thinks “I
can’t take it anymore!’” there is nothing else she would rather be doing.
Asked whether she desires to move into the public sphere, she responds that she plans to stick to her strength, one-on-one counselling. “But as my clients get strong and stronger,” she says, “I hope they will be the ones to change public policy.”
— Eric Axelrod
