Dr Javanika Moodley
Psychiatrist
Dr Javanika Moodley is a Medical Doctor who specializes in Psychiatry. She obtained her Medical Degree at the University of Cape Town and a further Post graduate Diploma in Mental health thereafter. Javanika was raised in Durban and most people remember her as a little girl helping at her parent’s takeaway in Blue Lagoon, Coconut Grove. She attributes this experience to her strong family values and close relationship to her parents and siblings. It also instilled the belief that no dream is too big if you have the courage to persevere and put in the hard work that is necessary to achieve it. “There were days when things were really tough for our parents, but they were unflinching in their belief in their business and steadfast in their goals and this is the ethos that I carry with me.”
Jivanika completed her Medical degree at UCT and completed a Business Administration course at Damelin. In 2013 she started her journey in the field of Psychiatry as a Medical Officer in the Department of Health at RK Khan Hospital. It was the best possible experience in terms of teaching and exposure and Javanika really thrived in this role. In 2015 Javanika was given the opportunity to be the Acting Head of Department of Psychiatry. This was a challenging role to fulfil as it entailed a myriad of other administrative duties and responsibilities in addition to those of a medical officer which also needed to be completed. That said, she loved it. And it was what motivated her to complete her Diploma in Psychiatry.
“There is a great shift in mental health awareness and I’m so happy that the stigma around this is reducing every day” our mental health is something that we either take for granted or discount completely and this must change! What we think is what we become, and our future lies firmly in the perceptions we hold. Javanika hopes to ultimately steer her practice towards being more Holistic in the management of patients, and this would mean attending to one’s physical, mental, social and spiritual wellbeing in the course of treatment. “We are all different, so our treatment plan shouldn’t be generic”
