
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been drawn to people—to the kind of conversations that happen when someone finally says what they’ve been carrying for months, and to the unfolding journey of personal growth. I believe we don’t stop growing once we become adults; there’s always more to discover.
As I see it, the work is to stay awake to our lives—to notice the stories we carry, the patterns that shape us, the wisdom of the body, and the parts of ourselves asking for our attention. There’s always another stretch to make, something emerging that invites our curiosity and care.
That’s good news. Because this kind of work doesn’t ask us to become someone else. It brings us closer to what we value most, and invites us to discover the courage to live from that place.
This curiosity led me from economics into psychology, and eventually into the work I do today: helping people understand themselves more clearly so they can live with greater freedom, compassion, and choice.
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, I work with individuals, couples, groups, teams, and organisations who are willing to slow down, pay attention, and do the inner work that creates lasting change.
How I Got Here
My path wasn’t linear. I started with a BCom in Economics from Unisa, thinking I’d work in business. But something was missing, I kept coming back to questions about human motivation, behaviour, and growth. So I went back to school, completing my MA in Psychology at Wits in 2015, specialising in narrative and developmental psychology.
The real learning happened outside the classroom. For over 15 years, I’ve been studying the Enneagram, not just as a personality system, but as a map for understanding the deeper patterns that drive us. I’ve spent two years training in Family Constellations with Gui Barcellos, learning how our family histories live in our bodies and relationships. I’ve completed Level 1 & 2 trainings in Internal Family Systems (IFS), discovering how to work with the different parts of ourselves that often pull in different directions.
Each of these approaches taught me something essential: we’re more complex and more whole than we often realise.
How I Work
My approach is grounded in the body and connected to what matters most deeply. I don’t believe in compartmentalising—your work life, relationships, and inner world are all connected. When we address one area authentically, everything else begins to shift.
I draw from several frameworks, each offering a different lens:
The Enneagram helps us understand our core motivations—not just what we do, but why we do it. It’s a mirror that shows us both our gifts and our blind spots.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) recognises that we all have different parts—the critic, the people-pleaser, the dreamer. Instead of fighting these parts, we learn to work with them.
Family Constellations reveals how patterns from our family systems show up in our current relationships and choices, often without us realising it.
Tiny Habits makes change sustainable by working with how our brains actually function, not against them.
Integral theory and spiral dynamics provide a larger framework for understanding how we develop and what kinds of challenges we’re ready to tackle at different stages of life.
Rather than using one approach for everyone, I pay attention to what each person needs. Someone might benefit from understanding their Enneagram type first, while another person needs to work with a specific part of themselves that’s been causing problems. The frameworks serve the person, not the other way around.
What This Looks Like
In individual work, we might explore why you keep hitting the same wall in relationships, or what’s driving your perfectionism, or how to make decisions that align with who you’re becoming rather than who you used to be.
With teams and organisations, we look at the human dynamics that either support or sabotage good work—how different personality types can complement rather than clash, how to have difficult conversations that actually resolve things, how to create psychological safety that allows people to bring their best thinking.
Whether I’m working with a leader who’s burning out from trying to control everything, or a team that’s stuck in conflict, or someone navigating a major life transition, the question is always the same: What wants to shift here, and how can we create the conditions for that to happen?
Why This Matters
I’ve seen what’s possible when people stop fighting themselves and start working with who they actually are. Relationships become more honest and satisfying. Work becomes an expression of values rather than just a paycheck. Decision-making becomes clearer because it’s connected to what truly matters.
As one client shared:
“Ryan’s sharing of the Enneagram had such a profound impact on the way I understand and relate to people, and has really helped me live more compassionately in the world. I really grasped, in a very concrete way, how completely differently other people see and experience the world and their place within it. And it’s enabled me to really let go of my expectations of how interactions should go.” — Isabel
For me, this work has never been about becoming someone else.
It’s about becoming more fully ourselves.
Training & Qualifications
- MA in Psychology (University of the Witwatersrand)
- BCom in Economics (University of South Africa)
- Internal Family Systems (IFS) – Level 1 & Level 2
- Integrative Enneagram Accredited Practitioner
- Two-year Family Constellations training with Gui Barcellos
- Training in somatic approaches
- Tiny Habits Coach Certification (BJ Fogg)
I’m committed to doing my own work. I continue to learn, seek supervision, and stay curious about my own blind spots.
I work alongside my clients, accompanying them with curiosity, compassion, and respect for the wisdom they already carry.
