University of Cape Town

Haley van der Walt is Head of the Surf Therapy Programme at Waves for Change, a South African non-profit providing evidence-based surf therapy for young people in underserved coastal communities. She brings experience in programme leadership, safeguarding, and community-driven systems of care, informed by her professional and personal involvement in sport and movement. Her work is anchored in a strong commitment to programme evaluation and building sustainable, safe approaches to adolescent mental health.

She is currently pursuing her MPhil in Public Mental Health at the University of Cape Town with funding support from AMARI-II. Her research examines adolescents’ unique experiences with the coping skills taught through the Waves for Change surf therapy programme. By foregrounding young people’s perspectives, her work highlights how coping skills are learned, adapted, and applied in everyday contexts. She is particularly interested in programme evaluation and the role of community-led approaches in expanding adolescent mental health support in low-resource settings, while contributing to the evidence base for non-specialist delivered interventions.