Professor Alida Herbst is a registered social worker and currently Director of the School of Psychosocial Health. She practised for 13 years as medical social worker in 1 Military and the MediClinic Heart and Kloof hospitals where she gained expertise in the fields of narrative, trauma, grief and bereavement counselling; the psychosocial adjustment of patients with cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses; support to the families of such patients and the self-care of caregivers.

Retha Bloem is a social worker with a 25 year academic research history. As a graduate from the University of Pretoria, born in 1968, she obtained her B.SW, BA (Hons) industrial Sociology, (cum laude) Magister Atrium,(cum laude)  Masters of Social work (play therapy) (cum laude)  and Ph.D. (UP) under promotorship of Prof Rina Delport  in a period of 10 year.

I am a lecturer at the Centre for Child, Youth and Family Studies (Faculty of Health Sciences) at the North-west University.

I have obtained a BA degree in Social Work at the University of Stellenbosch in 1995.  In 1997 I have obtained a MA in Social Work (Play Therapy) at the University of Pretoria.  I have also completed my PhD in Social Work at the University of Stellenbosch in 2011.  The title of my PhD was:  Occupational stress and the handling thereof by social workers involved in intervention with sexually abused children.