Larissa Ernst Clinical Psychologist & Psychotherapist

15/05/2026

Every time visits me in Belgium, we talk non-stop for hours. Mostly about psychology — because psychology touches every aspect of life. We share a love for life and a passion for the field.

Her visits always come with South African gifts. She knows exactly what a Saffa heart longs for.

Today she arrived with this book by Juan Korkie — a fellow South African expat psychologist, based in Dubai. Juan has a rare gift: combining cognitive and theoretical explanations for couple challenges with wisdom and emotionality that lets you instantly identify with what he has written and feel a little less alone.

I am two pages in and have already had to put it down to chew on it.

“Relationships are the most complicated part of being human.”
— Juan Korkie, Why Nothing Changes: What Keeps Couples Stuck

26/02/2022

This 👇🏻

In looking at what enables toxic positivity and makes it thrive in our culture, it is at its core a discomfort with emotions.

More specifically, it is a discomfort with what are often erroneously called "negative" emotions: sadness, anxiety, anger.

If these normal human emotions are seen as "bad and negative," then when they are inevitably experienced, we will be more likely to push them aside in the service of false positivity.

02/02/2022

My clients would recognize this. I often recommend writing. And as Susan says, you don’t have to read it again. It is the process that makes the diffrence

By Susan David, PhD

26/01/2022

“You are afraid to surrender because you don’t want to lose control. But you never had control; all you had was anxiety.”

— Elizabeth Gilbert

28/11/2021

My collague, Sian Green, describes what we’re all feeling, almost two years into the pandemic, so well …

26/11/2021

This breaks my heart over and over again. Have we not all endured enough!

We asked readers whether they have been affected by the travel ban instituted against South African travelers, first by the UK and since by several countries in Europe.

05/11/2021

Authoritative is not authoritarian

04/07/2021

We think that denying our emotions makes us stronger and more resilient, but the research shows that it actually makes us LESS resilient.

I had such a GREAT conversation with Brené Brown on the Dare to Lead podcast that we made two episodes, and this is just part one.