OUR STORY

PHOLA was founded in 2016 to address the deep-rooted impacts of trauma on children, women, families, and communities across South Africa. Many individuals—particularly women and children—experience abuse, exploitation, and violations of their rights, leading to harmful identity conclusions. These traumatic experiences often result in self-hate, guilt, shame, victimhood, and isolation, preventing individuals from living fulfilling, empowered lives.

Unresolved trauma fosters mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, fear, hopelessness, and isolation. It creates thin, limiting narratives about one’s life and identity. Western-centric therapy models, often misaligned with local cultural values, exacerbate these challenges through what we call psychological colonization.

PHOLA responds to these issues through culturally grounded, people-centered therapeutic approaches. We believe that those affected by trauma hold knowledge, skills, and resilience that are key to healing. Our work honors these lived experiences and leverages them to co-create effective, locally relevant trauma interventions. We partner with children, youth, women, men, families, and communities to design therapeutic tools that are empowering and context-specific.

Our trauma-informed interventions aim to improve emotional well-being, mental health, and overall quality of life. By supporting individuals to reconstruct preferred identities and reclaim their power, PHOLA fosters personal growth and positive social outcomes for communities affected by violence, hardship, and systemic inequities.