Jenny Perkel

Jenny Perkel is a clinical psychologist offering consultations to parents concerned about their children’s mental health and behavioral problems. Her focus is on clinical child psychology in the context of today’s world. She is the author of the books Children in Mind and Babies in Mind. Her writing is informed by recent evidence-based research in psychology, epidemiology, neurobiology, and genetics, as well as her many years of clinical experience and a wide range of theoretical literature that is often, but not always, positioned loosely within a psychodynamic framework. Her other publications include academic book chapters, professional journal articles, and numerous articles for parenting magazines.

Perkel has trained and supervised childcare workers for various child and adolescent mental health projects and children’s homes. She has been involved in postgraduate teaching of child psychotherapy and she has done radio appearances, talks, presentations and training with mental health professionals, parents, and lay counsellors in the areas of infant and child mental health and postnatal depression. She is on the editorial board of the journal Psychoanalytic Practice (formerly, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy in South Africa) and is a member and past chairperson of both the Cape Town Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Group and the Western Cape Association for Infant Mental Health.