HPD Workshop – Living Positively With Diabetes: The Importance of Mental Health
Hosted by the PsySSA Health Psychology Division (HPD)
Join the PsySSA Health Psychology Division (HPD) for a free CPD-accredited online workshop on Living Positively With Diabetes: The Importance of Mental Health.
Webinar Details:
- Date: Friday, 14 November 2025
- Time: 13:00 – 14:00
- Platform: Online via Teams
- 1 General CPD Point
About the Workshop:
Despite many advancements, diabetes remains one of the most challenging health conditions in the world today, impacting individuals, families, societies and economies. In this webinar, we want to shine the light on the mental health aspects of living with the condition, by giving an overview of the main mental health challenges those living with diabetes experience. Then, we hope to propose an alternative approach to managing mental health challenges in positive psychology interventions, including self-compassion, meaning making and managing perceptions of the condition. In the webinar, we hope to not only share the latest research, but also provide practical examples of interventions that could assist those living with diabetes.
Learning Outcomes:
- Gain a better understanding of diabetes, it’s mechanisms, prevalence and challenges.
- Explore the mental health challenges in managing diabetes.
- Learn about positive psychology concepts, as well as research on effectiveness of positive psychology interventions.
- Reflect on the development of positive psychology interventions on constructs such as self-compassion, meaning -making and illness perceptions to improve mental well-being of those living with diabetes.
Dr Sonja Mostert
Presenter
Dr Sonja Mostert is a registered Research Psychologist currently employed as a senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pretoria. She is passionate about the field of health psychology and her research is mainly focused on health literacy and improving the mental health of people living with diabetes. She is a member of the Health Psychology Division of PsySSA and teaches several undergraduate and postgraduate modules including health psychology to both undergraduate medical students and previously to honours psychology students. Her primary research areas include topics within health psychology, specifically health literacy; mental health and diabetes; health behaviour change; online health information use and the role of psychological factors in chronic conditions.
Prof Elmari Deacon
Presenter
Prof Elmarí Deacon is a registered Clinical Psychologist and currently employed at the NWU as full professor in Psychology and acting Director in the School of Psychosocial Health. In her career as academic, she has lectured several modules and supervised 27 master’s and four PhD students to completion. She is a C2 NRF rated researcher and has published 28 articles. She is also a member of the Health Psychology Division of PsySSA.
Prof Deacon is the principal investigator of the SMILE with diabetes project, investigating psychosocial variables in adjusting to diabetes management behaviours. Positive Psychology constructs are very prominent in her research and interventions development, as these have proven to assist those living with diabetes.
