Yvonne Retief and Maria Volkman in Bratislava

I had the unexpected privilege to attend the Applied Metapsychology International symposium in Bratislava in September 2024. I was once again so grateful to be part of an active worldwide organisation with the sole purpose of bringing effective healing to broken and traumatised people. I was particularly impressed by the dedicated work of TIR facilitators in Italy and Slovakia amongst the numerous refugees from countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East.
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The 2nd Editions of Gensesing vir Trauma and 
​Healing for Trauma have been published

​With the high incidence of violence, divorce and other forms of trauma in South Africa, most people have experienced some form of trauma in their lives.

Healing for Trauma helps us understand what trauma is and
provides practical counselling skills for recovery. 

The book is an in-depth, comprehensive guide for both trauma counsellors and victims. This revised, updated edition also addresses the impact of Covid-19.

Individual healing has a ripple effect on the community as a whole, and therefore benefits everyone. 

There is healing and hope for victims of trauma!

Genesing vir Trauma is beskikbaar deur Struik Christian Media
Healing for Trauma is available for purchase through Struik Christian Media

For orders & enquiries, please contact Jaco-Adriaan Liebenberg on (066) 252 5558 or at [email protected]  
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About Yvonne:
​​Counsellor, trainer, author and public speaker

Yvonne Retief has been working with individuals and groups for more than 35 years. She has a private practice in Pretoria, South Africa, where she specialises in trauma counselling and debriefing, relationship counselling and working with adult survivors of childhood abuse. Aside from her private practice, she also presents workshops to professionals as well as lay people interested in expanding their knowledge and skills.

​She is regularly engaged as a public speaker and has addressed various national and international symposiums on topics related to her field of expertise. In Sept 2017, Yvonne spoke at a conference in the USA about the high crime rate in South Africa and the role that more than 800 trained TIR (Traumatic Incident Reduction) Facilitators are playing in addressing this problem in South Africa. In 2019 she spoke at a Hospi Vision Conference in Cape Town on the topic of Trauma and Spirituality. Yvonne also delivered a paper at the Mining Congress in Australia on trauma in mines.

Yvonne is affiliated to the Traumatic Incident Reduction Association (TIRA) in the USA and is qualified as a Traumatic Incident Reduction and Life Stress Reduction Facilitator and Trainer. She has taken 11 trainers through their internships to become certified TIR practitioners.

In 2017 she established the TIRA-SA (Traumatic Incident Reduction Association of South Africa) operating under the auspices of TIRA-USA. TIRA-SA's membership has grown to approximately 100 members in just a few years. TIRA-SA hosted two congresses in 2018 and 2019 - one on "Children and Trauma" and then other on "Bereavement".  Another two congresses were held in 2020 - the first on "Bereavement" and the second on "Supporting the Grieving Child".
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Yvonne is the author of two books. The first, “Joy Comes in The Morning”, deals with the method she developed for assisting adult survivors of childhood abuse. She has presented many workshops over the years teaching fellow professionals the technique described in the book. The second book, "Healing for Trauma”, deals with managing trauma in the South African context. The books have also been published in Afrikaans under the titles “Lag Weer oor die Dag wat Kom” and “Genesing vir Trauma”. She was also co-author of a book “A woman’s Legacy” (Afrikaans: “Vroue wat Inspireer”).​



Terugvoer oor Yvonne se TIR Werkswinkel  |  Feedback on Yvonne's TIR workshop

Ek het ‘n goeie verwagting van die TIR-werkswinkel gehad, aangesien ‘n kollega dit sterk by my aanbeveel het. 
Ek was egter aangenaam verras. Die werkswinkel het my verwagting ver oortref! Nie net het dit my persoonlik gehelp nie, dit het my ook ‘n stuk “gereedskap” gegee waarmee ek ander mense in trauma kan help. 

Ek beveel die TIR-werkswinkel  aan vir enige iemand wat mense in trauma wil help om dit te verwerk.  Dankie vir Yvonne en haar span vir die manier waarop julle die werkswinkel aanbied! 

Dr Wynand Minnaar 
Leraar AGS van SA

I had high expectations of the TIR workshop, as a colleague had strongly recommended it to me. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The workshop by far exceeded my expectations! Not only did it help me personally, it also gave me a set of "tools" with which I can help other people in trauma.

I recommend the TIR workshop to anyone who wants to help people process trauma process. Thank you to Yvonne and her team for the way you present the workshop!

Dr. Wynand Minnaar
​Teacher AGS of SA

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2025 WORKSHOP PROGRAMME 

​May 2025
12 - 13 May in Pretoria
Group Debriefing

26 - 28 May in Pretoria
Life Stress Reduction

​June 2024
23 - 26 June in Pretoria
TIR Expanded Applications Workshop
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