Educational Psychologist · HPCSA Registered
Understanding the person within their world.
A space to feel welcomed rather than assessed, and understood rather than labelled – with support shaped around who your child is, not a diagnosis.
Now welcoming new clients across Randburg & Bryanston
About
"I am Danja Lunnemann, a registered Educational Psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA)."
I obtained my Master of Education in Educational Psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand, and work with children, adolescents, adults, and families across a range of emotional, developmental, and educational needs.
My work is grounded in curiosity, empathy, and collaboration. I believe meaningful therapeutic work develops within relationships where individuals feel safe, respected, valued, and understood.
I recognise that individuals cannot always be understood separately from the world around them. Relationships, families, schools, communities, cultures, and experiences all contribute to how we understand ourselves and navigate the world.
Beyond the practice
Outside of my professional role, I have a strong sporting background – I enjoy time in the gym, coaching and developing young basketball players, and reading. My experiences within sport, and my curiosity about diverse cultures and experiences, have shaped my appreciation of connection, participation, teamwork, and the many different ways people experience the world.
My Approach
Understanding comes first.
Whether I'm working with a young child through play, an adolescent or adult through psychotherapy, completing a psycho-educational assessment, or collaborating with a family or school, my starting point is understanding.
My approach is integrative and person-centred. Rather than applying a single therapeutic approach to every individual, I tailor the therapeutic process according to each person's strengths, needs, circumstances, experiences, and developmental stage.
Within this integrative approach, I draw on specialised training in:
Therapy is collaborative rather than prescriptive. Where appropriate and with consent, this may include parents and caregivers, teachers and schools, and other allied professionals, while protecting the trust and confidentiality that are central to the therapeutic relationship. This isn't about changing someone into who they're expected to be. It's about creating space to better understand themselves, while supporting wellbeing, connection, autonomy, resilience, and meaningful development.
Who I Work With
Children, adolescents, and adults — each bringing their own experiences, strengths, and reasons for seeking support.
I also have experience working with individuals with cerebral palsy and diverse developmental, physical, sensory, communication, and support needs. Therapeutic work is adapted to the individual – their developmental stage, communication, accessibility needs, strengths, preferences, and unique way of engaging with the world.
Communication extends beyond spoken words.
Therapeutic work should not depend on a person's ability to communicate through speech. Across all of my work, my focus remains on understanding the individual as a whole rather than defining them by a diagnosis, difficulty, disability, or way of communicating.
A Whole-Person View
A person is never separate from their world.
Relationships, family, school, and community all shape how we understand ourselves, which is why therapeutic work looks at the whole picture, not the individual in isolation.
Areas of Support
People seek psychological support for many different reasons.
Sometimes there's a specific concern. At other times, there may simply be a desire for greater understanding, reflection, or additional support.
Emotional Wellbeing
Relationships & Social Experiences
Family Transitions
School & Learning
Adolescence & the Digital World
Personal Development
Services
Ways of working together
Tap a service to read more.
Children experience emotions deeply but may not always have the language, emotional awareness, or developmental capacity to explain what they are thinking or feeling through conversation.
Play provides a natural and developmentally appropriate way for children to communicate, explore, create, problem-solve, and make sense of their experiences. Play therapy uses this natural language of childhood within a safe and supportive therapeutic relationship.
I aim to provide a consistent and accepting therapeutic relationship in which children can communicate in ways that feel natural to them, and experience being seen, heard, and understood.
Play therapy may support children experiencing anxiety, emotional regulation difficulties, grief and loss, family transitions, friendship difficulties, bullying, reduced confidence, stressful experiences, school-related concerns, and adjustment to change.
I offer individual psychotherapy to adolescents and adults. Therapy provides a confidential and supportive space in which individuals can explore emotions, relationships, experiences, challenges, transitions, and aspects of themselves they may wish to understand more deeply.
Some individuals enter therapy because they are navigating a particular difficulty. Others value having an ongoing space for reflection, emotional support, self-understanding, and personal development. The therapeutic process is individualised – there is no expectation that every person will engage with therapy in the same way or at the same pace.
Parents and caregivers are an important part of a child's world. At times, parents may benefit from having their own space to reflect on their child's experiences, better understand particular behaviours or emotional needs, and explore ways of responding that feel supportive and appropriate for their family.
These sessions may include exploring:
- Emotional regulation & behaviour
- Developmental needs & stages
- Parent-child relationships
- Anxiety, stress, grief, or change
- Separation & family transitions
- Boundaries, routines & communication
- Social relationships & bullying
- Social media & the digital world
- Learning & individual differences
- Strategies from therapy or assessment
Parent guidance is not about prescribing one "right" way to parent.
Families are different, and strategies need to make sense within the context of the individual child and family. My role is to work collaboratively with parents and caregivers, recognising the knowledge they already hold about their child.
Parents may consider a psycho-educational assessment because they have questions about their child's learning, academic progress, attention, emotional wellbeing, behaviour, or overall experience at school. Rather than focusing only on areas of difficulty, the assessment considers the child as a whole – their strengths, abilities, experiences, and areas where additional support may help.
Cognitive Functioning
Visual-spatial reasoning, fluid reasoning, working memory, processing speed, and verbal comprehension.
Scholastic Functioning
Oral language, reading, writing, and mathematics.
Emotional Functioning
Emotional wellbeing, self-perception, perceptions of the world around them, and lived experiences.
Additional Areas
Attention, executive functioning, behaviour, or perceptual development, where relevant.
No single assessment score tells us who a child is.
The purpose is to bring different pieces of information together to better understand a child's strengths, areas requiring support, and what may help them learn, participate, and feel supported.
Children do not exist in isolation, and challenges experienced at school are not always best understood by focusing solely on the child. I offer consultation and collaborative problem-solving with schools, teachers, and school support teams, including teacher consultations, learner-support discussions, and liaison with other professionals involved in supporting the child.
I also offer workshops and psycho-educational sessions for teachers, school staff, parents, and other professionals, tailored to the needs of a particular school, staff team, or community. Possible topics include:
- Emotional & behavioural needs
- Emotional regulation in the classroom
- Teacher self-care
- Neurodiversity-affirming support
- Inclusive classroom environments
- Anxiety & emotional wellbeing
- Bullying, peers & belonging
- Social media & cyberbullying
- Parental separation & transitions
- Resilience, self-esteem & confidence
Getting Started
What to expect from therapy
Beginning therapy can feel unfamiliar, and it's natural to have questions about what the process involves.
The first few sessions are generally focused on developing an understanding of the individual's experiences, concerns, strengths, and goals. Equally important is creating a therapeutic relationship in which trust, safety, and comfort can develop over time.
Therapy is not a one-size-fits-all process. The pace, focus, communication, and nature of sessions are guided by the individual's needs, developmental stage, preferences, and reasons for seeking support, whether that's a specific experience or challenge, or an ongoing space for reflection and support.
Practice Information
Registration & practice details
Practitioner
Danja Lunnemann
Educational Psychologist
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)
HPCSA Registration: PS 0157511
Practice Number: 1330934
Location
Synergy Holistix
20 1st Avenue, Pierneef Park
Randburg, 2195
Serving families across Randburg, Bryanston & surrounding areas.
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Ready to take the first step?
Reach out to ask a question, discuss a referral, or arrange a first session.