About WCPC
The Department of Psychology at Stellenbosch University is one of the oldest psychology departments in South Africa. From a humble beginning in 1917, with only 30 students, it now has about 2300 students (of which 100 are enrolled in postgraduate programmes) and 20 full-time academic and support staff-members.
The Master's Programme in Clinical Psychology and Community Counselling at Stellenbosch University is located at Welgevallen Community Psychology Clinic (henceforth known as "Welgevallen"), on Welgevallen farm in Stellenbosch. Welgevallen has a long-standing reputation as a training centre of excellence. This is evidenced by the fact that we receive more than 200 applicants for the 10 places available in the clinical programme each year.
Our student psychologists receive their clinical training and work in Welgevallen to provide psychological services to individuals who would otherwise not be able to afford mental health care. They attend to child, adolescent and adult clients who are in need of psychometric assessment/psychological evaluation and therapy. They are also keenly involved in a number of community outreach projects and psychotherapeutic group endeavours. Each student psychologist at Welgevallen is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and works under the close supervision of five highly trained psychologists.
Welgevallen Community Psychology Clinic provides a setting for student and graduate psychologists to receive supervised training in the application, development, and refinement of psychotherapy and assessment skills. In doing so, Welgevallen serves Stellenbosch University and the greater Stellenbosch community by providing an array of high quality mental health services. The services provided are evidence-based and are routinely reviewed to insure their quality. Welgevallen also affords opportunities for psychology faculty and students to conduct research on matters related to the populations it serves. In these ways, Welgevallen serves an important function in building South Africa's capacity to meet the mental health care needs of its people by producing skilled professionals who are competent to work in diverse settings and with a range of individuals, families, groups, and communities.
Welgevallen Community Psychology Clinic adheres to the principles of excellence by providing evidence-based psychological interventions and adhering to best practice in the provision of psychological services. These interventions help to build the intellectual, human, inter-personal and productive capacity of the community by promoting psychological wellbeing. Welgevallen thus strives to play an active role in the development of South African society.
