EVERY day she takes calls from young people desperately in need of help – those battling depression, anxiety and low self-esteem or struggling with suicidal thoughts and feelings of hopelessness.
And Felicia Goosen (27), a qualified wellness counsellor, is in a good position to help them. She too faced a gamut of mental health issues as a teenager and knows only too well where her patients are coming from.
Felicia hasn’t had an easy life. She was born in a Thai jail and separated from her mom, former beauty queen Vanessa Goosen, when she was three years old. She was 16 when she saw her mother again and by the time she was 19 her life had unravelled. She was drinking heavily and filled with all-consuming hatred.
But today Felicia is in a far better place. She and Vanessa (49) have had to work hard to build their mother-daughter relationship but the two are now friends and live in the same town near Johannesburg.
She’s finally in a good place, Felicia says. “Every person has a choice in their life. You must choose to be happy.”
VANESSA was a semifinalist in the Miss South Africa pageant in 1992 and went on to run a successful clothing business in Cape Town with her boyfriend at the time.
In April 1994, when she was six weeks pregnant, Vanessa went to Thailand to buy clothing for the business. An acquaintance asked her to make contact with his brother there and to bring some technical textbooks back to SA.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة 22 September 2022 من YOU South Africa.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة 22 September 2022 من YOU South Africa.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
OH BROTHER HE'S BRILLIANT
With glittering turns in Succession and A Real Pain, Kieran Culkin is no longer in anyone's shadow
ME & MY BOYS
Mom-of-three Rolene Strauss may not be getting much sleep these days but she's loving every second of her busy life
ESKOM SETS SOLAR DEADLINE
Power utility prioritises safety and performance
PAYING IT FORWARD WITH ROGER & SIYA
ONE'S a global tennis legend, the other's a South African rugby icon and when they get together magic happens. The dynamic duo of ROGER FEDERER and Springbok captain SIYA KOLISI recently wrapped up an inspiring week in Mzansi, during which local youngsters got to interact with their heroes one on one.
COURTING CONTROVERSY
Is Bianca Censori under the control of Kanye West - or is she a willing accomplice in one of the most in-your-face spectacles showbiz has ever seen?
WEAPON OF MASS DISTRACTION
Donald Trump looked less than impressed when Elon Musk brought his son, X, to a meeting in the Oval Office - especially when the four-year-old stole the show
I TRY TO BE MYSELF
Proteas skipper Temba Bavuma chats to YOU about the pressures of being in the hot seat
SPORTS TALK - Sinner banned for doping
World No 1 tennis player JANNIK SINNER has been slapped with a three-month doping ban after testing positive for clostebol.
JUSTICE FOR MY FATHER
HE HAS a vivid memory of being in church as a little boy and hearing the congregation singing songs commemorating his father.
WANT TO BE A GOOD PARENT?
Stop trying to 'fix' your child, says the author of an eye-opening parenting book - sort out your own issues instead
