Growing up in a family of medical warriors with her brother, sister, and father being medical doctors, Deborah Olusola pursued a career born from a deep desire to care for and help and heal others.
It’s not every day that you meet someone who dedicates their life to helping others, but that’s exactly what Olusola does. As a psychologist, she uses her skills to improve the lives of those around her and sees her work as a calling to help others.
“I was born in Lesotho in the 1980s and moved to South Africa in 1992. My childhood and family life were full of adventure and ministry. We travelled a lot when our dad would go to conferences, which allowed us to explore different parts of the world,” she says.
“Our parents were also pastors (though they had their own profession as well), and we would travel to different countries doing missionary work.
“We grew up in a household where you never leave anyone behind and foster unity, love, compassion, and empathy for one another.”
Where it all started
“I was part of the peer support club while in high school, which is where my desire for psychology started to pick up. Having to listen to the different challenges that our peers faced and how they affected them became a concern for me, and I felt helpless as I didn’t feel equipped enough to provide them with the right tools to tackle their different challenges.”
Now based in Johannesburg, Olusola is a clinical psychologist who provides psychotherapy services for individuals, couples, and families that face an array of issues, including conflict resolution, stress, depression, anxiety, anger management, bullying, behavioural challenges, relationship problems, personality disorders, postpartum depression, psychotic disorders, and navigating through different life transitions.
“Clinical psychology addresses a variety of mental, emotional, and behavioural disorders, integrating the science of psychology with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of a wide variety of complicated human problems.
“I chose a category where I could be in a position to help people who faced an array of challenges.”
Delving into the human mind
Olusola explains, “The workings of the human mind have always fascinated me. I observed those close to me help and support others in different communities which further fuelled my desire to become a psychologist.”
“Furthermore, I also offer psychoeducation on radio, TV, and other social media outlets. I do pro bono work as well by offering free psychotherapy to two churches and two preschools at the moment.”
After losing both her parents to Covid 19, Olusola shares the difficulty of dealing with patients who have gone through similar experiences but nevertheless have to remain strong for them.
“In 2021 and 2022, I lost both my parents to Covid. I attended my own grief therapy in order to process the losses and the feelings that came with it. I received so much support from family and the church community.
“I often see clients who have gone through similar experiences and this can be triggering at times. However, I also see it as a privilege to hold a safe space for people who have gone through such tremendous loss and help them navigate through the trauma and pain from the experience.”
Inspirational parents
The psychologist who loves travelling, family time, engaging the youth and empowering them to reach their potential, speaks about her dad being the strongest influence in her life and career path.
She says he was a specialist in family medicine, and the feedback from his patients left her inspired by him. On the other hand, he also offered free medical and counselling services in church, and so many people’s lives were changed in a positive way as a result of that.
“Having amazing parents who were well grounded, focused, determined, and who cared about people and their families is the reason why I do what they do. The unconditional love they showed for the communities they found themselves in opened my eyes to the prospect that it doesn’t take much to help people. All it needs is a person with a big heart.”
Moreover, for Olusula, the proudest moment in her career is getting feedback from clients on how psychotherapy has helped them.
“Every client is different, and sometimes you get to the point where you realise there is only so much you can do for a person. Sometimes clients aren’t always ready for help.
“And when they don’t return for sessions, it doesn’t necessarily have to do with your competency (as psychologists sometimes imposter syndrome tends to creep on us), but with the mere fact that therapy isn’t about saving your client. It’s about equipping them with various tools to help themselves in the present and in the future.”
Future aspirations
In the future, she hopes to build an orphanage that will have access to mental health-related services and other services that will support the needs of children who are most vulnerable.
Furthermore, she shares that she would like to be remembered as someone who practised kindness, spoke up and worked for a better world, believed in youth development, loved her family, was a good listener, and had a good relationship with God.
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