Michelle Baker

Clinical Psychologist - Kloof, Durban

Michelle Baker has a Master’s degree in social sciences (Clinical Psychology) obtained from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg and is registered with the Health Professional Council of South Africa. She is an active participant in supervised training groups and continued professional development. She is delighted to currently be in association with a professional multidisciplinary team at the Kloof Family Health Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

She works with children and adults; individuals, couples, groups, families, and schools.  She works in a case specific manner i.e. adapting the mode of therapy to suit the presenting problem in doing assessments and treatment. She deals with diverse problems such as grief, anxiety, depression, ADD (for both children and adults), pervasive developmental disorders, bi-polar disorder, personality disorders, marriage counselling, sleep disorders and others. Whilst Michelle tends towards a behaviourist mode and evidence-based model, she also works in modes such as problem-solving, supportive psychotherapy, crisis intervention, trauma counselling, psycho-dynamic psychotherapy and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy.

She is a Family and Divorce mediator trained by The Mediation Company and registered with Kwazulu-Natal Association of Family Mediators (KAFAM).

She has a special interest in neuropsychology however her particular area of interest is in sleep disorders.  Michelle completed a fellowship in insomnia at Penn University, Philadelphia, USA in February 2010. She is on the executive committee of the South African Society of Sleep Medicine: Behavioural Sleep Medicine portfolio. She works in collaboration with numerous sleep laboratories. She is a member of the World Association of Sleep Medicine.

Background

Her psychology training included an internship at the Midlands Complex in Pietermaritzburg and community service in KwaMashu, KwaZulu-Natal.

Michelle also has a Master’s degree in clinical technology (category of neurophysiology).  Prior to studying psychology, she worked in collaboration with neurologists and other health care practitioners in diverse cultural and economic health-care environments doing evoked potentials, nerve conduction studies and electromyography.  She worked extensively in EEG, and polysomnography in recording, analysis and reporting.  In association with colleagues, she inaugurated and managed a sleep laboratory in Durban, South Africa. 

Michelle trained students and moderated examinations on the board for clinical technology and radiography for the Health Professional Council of South Africa. She has presented her research in neurophysiology and sleep disorders (particularly sleep apnoea syndrome) at both national and international conferences and has one publication in a South African journal.

Michelle was also on the executive committee for the Sleep Society of South Africa from 1980 to 2004. Under the portfolio of education and training officer, she presented extensive education programmes on sleep disorders across the province of KwaZulu-Natal with medical specialists and health care practitioners. She lectured part-time on sleep disorders in the Department of Family-Medicine at Nelson Mandela School of Medicine in Durban, South Africa and was also involved in facilitative training for medical students on a part-time basis.

PS 0099732
KT 0004898