Connecting is Being.
Kobus van der Merwe is a member of the Imago International Faculty, whose global clinical training has reached more than 1,100 therapists across continents spanning the United States, Denmark, Switzerland, France, New Zealand, Australia, Namibia, and South Korea imagorelationships.org+4imagorelationship.co.za+4Imago UK Relationship Therapy+4. In 2016, he was awarded the coveted Harville Hendrix Award for Clinical Excellence, honoring his outstanding impact on the field of Imago Relationship Therapy.
Drawing on over two decades of dedicated clinical practice—including more than 23,000 hours of couples’ therapy and over 400 “Getting the Love You Want” workshops—Kobus invites clinicians into a world where process and presence converge. His approach is richly relational: blending Imago’s core structures—Dialogues, relational awareness, and systems thinking—with neurobiological insight, deep personal presence, and cultural nuance.
In training environments, clinicians consistently report a renewal of purpose, increased confidence, and richer connection in their clinical work—experiencing a move away from transactional sessions toward profoundly generative relational engagement. Through his facilitation, therapists are drawn into spaces of both professional mastery and personal growth—shaping them into guides who help others co-create safety, resonance, and lasting relational aliveness.
As a clinician seeking to move beyond technique and toward true relational depth…
I value learning from someone whose life reflects that integration—whose journey from theological roots to clinical leadership mirrors the relational transformation I aspire to embody in my practice.
My Path in Brief
Theological foundation and relational curiosity: I began my journey studying Theology at the University of Pretoria, graduating in 1992. During five years as a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church, my growing fascination with relational healing drew me toward family therapy, particularly through systemic work in a psychiatric hospital Mariette Snymanimagocertificationandtraining.com+1.
Becoming an Imago guide: Certified as an Imago Clinical Therapist in 1996 under the mentorship of Hedy Schleifer, I launched a lifelong commitment to relational work. By 2002, I had advanced to Clinical Instructor within Imago.
Commitment to practice and teaching excellence: Over the years, I’ve dedicated more than 23,000 hours to couples therapy, facilitated 408 “Getting the Love You Want” workshops, and contributed to training over 1,100 Imago therapists and professional facilitators across continents including South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, and Europe YouTube+11imagotraining.info+11imagocertificationandtraining.com+11.
Recognition and academic growth: In 2016, I was honored with the Harville Hendrix Award for Clinical Excellence, recognizing my contributions to Imago therapy and relational healing Mariette Snyman+6Imago Relationship Kobus van der Merwe+6imagoafrica.co.za+6. I continue to deepen my scholarly grounding as a PhD candidate in Counseling Psychology, specializing in Imago Therapy at Daybreak University, where I also serve as a clinical professor.
Rooted relationally: Beyond professional life, my deepest connection is with my wife, Anita—my companion since 1992—and our three adult children. Growing up in a household shaped by a psychiatrist mother and a pastor father infused me with a relational-centric worldview, encouraging me to bring a holistic metatheory—an “all is connected” perspective—into my therapy and teaching.
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