Psychiatrist
& Jungian Analyst

"My dual education and approach enables me to monitor medication requirements, whilst my patients develop a deeper understanding of themselves through psychotherapy."
~ Dr. David Trappler

General Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist practicing in Cape Town.

Dr. David Trappler is a registered Psychiatrist with HPCSA and GMC UK and a Jungian analyst registered with SAAJA and IAAP Zurich, Switzerland.

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ABOUT

I have been a specialist psychiatrist since 1984. As the field of General Psychiatry moved more towards Biological Psychiatry, categorising people based on medical model principles and focusing exclusively on treatment with medication, I decided to broaden my education and perspective.

I studied depth psychology and qualified as a Jungian psychologist in 1992. My dual education and approach enables me to monitor medication requirements, whilst my patients develop a deeper understanding of themselves through psychotherapy.

For me, it is most unfortunate that psychiatrists limit their attempts at healing their patients by resorting to medication for symptom control only.

Trying to bundle complex symptoms and narratives, into specific diagnostic criteria, may leave the patient feeling dehumanised and labeled. Although, of course, there are times when a diagnosis is important and medication may be essential, doctors need to listen with an ear turned to the symbolic, in order to fully understand and evaluate the patients’ presenting material.

Symptoms taken in isolation are not sufficient to constitute a full diagnosis and treatment plan. Psychotherapy is an essential part of treatment, and neglecting to assist the patient in widening their consciousness, fails to provide comprehensive management and dishonours the patients essential self.

NOTES
Read notes on subject matter I deal with on a daily basis.
Anxiety
Anxiety becomes a disorder when it lays one low at times when you need to be functional, and it can be paralysing even when one is alone. It is the primordial response to survival in the face of significant threat, and without it we could not respond appropriately to real danger, however in the psychiatric setting it is disabling.
Depression
For someone who has experienced the full weight of a clinical depression, they have truly known what isolation means. The loss of all executive functions and the obliteration of “self” is so overwhelming, that one is left feeling hopeless and helpless and convinced that the depressed mental state will last forever.