School of Social and Political Science

Background

I am a South African therapist and researcher, trained in the fields of psychology, play therapy and art therapy. I began my career as a therapist in New York City after the September 11th attacks of 2001 employed in an outpatient mental health facility with a trauma responsive focus. My clinical work morphed into treating other trauma, including survivors of intimate partner violence and their children. Later I moved back to South Africa, where I am from, and worked in public health facilities treating HIV+ adolescent mental health, as well as women and girls experiencing violence in pregnancy. My clinical work centres around trauma and traumatic bereavement, gender based violence, child and adolescent mental health, the impact of violence on parenting and the use of art and play based interventions in public health settings in resource limited contexts. 

My doctoral research in the School of Clinical Medicine at the University of the Witwatersrand was in understanding the mental health of HIV+ adolescents accessing services at public health facilities and was undertaken to inform policy of a highly underserved population in the health system. My research is strongly influenced by my clinical practice and I have an interest in the use of evidence based treatment interventions that can be taken to scale in resource constrained settings that can address disease burdens of mental health, HIV and violence. I have a particular interest in the intergenerational cycling of these conditions within individuals, families and beyond. Also, how the perinatal period is impacted by violence experience and how this shapes mental health, parenting and attachment across the life course. 

I am an honorary Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in the School of Public Health at the University of the Witwatersrand and an honorary Visiting Lecturer in the School of Visual Arts at the University of Johannesburg. I teach and supervise masters and doctoral students.

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

Lu, M., Meinck, F., Suresh, D., Cetin, M., Neelakantan, L., Hemady, C. L., Franchino-Olsen, H., Woollett, N., Melendez-Torres, G.J., Gonzalez, A. & Christofides, N. (2026). Exploring the mechanisms underlying the intergenerational continuity of violence victimization across generations: A realist review. Journal Family Violence (under review).

Woollett, N., Maluleke, P., Franchino-Olsen, HB., Christofides, N., Thurston, C., Asghar, K., Silima, M, Monaisa, K.

 & Meinck, F. (2026). How does the mother-daughter relationship explain patterns of intergenerational violence? Findings from a multigenerational study in South Africa. Journal Family Violence (in press).

Maluleke, P., Franchino-Olsen, HB., Meinck, F., Silima, M., Christofides, N., Thurston, C., Asghar, K. & Woollett, N. (2026). Children’s narratives of violence and the effects on their cognitive and emotional well-being: Qualitative findings from a violence study with young children in South Africa. Child Abuse & Neglect (under review).

Franchino-Olsen, HB., Maluleke, P., Meinck, F., Christofides, N., Thurston, C., Asghar, K. & Woollett, N. (2026). Child-reported violence, beliefs, and mental health: A cross-sectional quantitative study of 6-17 year olds in South Africa. Child Abuse & Neglect, 173, 107887.

Franchino-Olsen, HB., Maluleke, P., Christofides, N., Meinck, F. & Woollett, N. (2026). Children’s voices matter: Key takeaways and recommendations from including young children in violence against children research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 25.

Monaisa, K., Silima, M. (2026). ‘When we speak to them at their level, they are able to speak everything’: Reflections on training fieldworkers in South Africa to conduct research on violence across three generations. Child Protection & Practice, 8, 100280.

dos Santos, A., Woollett, N. & Fouche, S. (2025). Towards developing best practice guidelines for Arts Therapists working outside of private practice: Insights from a scoping review of South African practice. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 17(4).

dos Santos, A., Fouche, S. & Woollett, N. (2025). “Becoming a shapeshifter”: Towards developing best practice guidelines for Arts Therapies outside of private practice in South Africa. Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy, 17(4).

Meinck, F., Lu, M., Suresh, D., Cetin, M., Neelakantan, L., Hemady, C. L., Franchino-Olsen, H., Woollett, N., Melendez-Torres, G.J., Gonzalez, A. & Christofides, N. (2025). What are the mechanisms underpinning intergenerational transmission of violence perpetration?: A realist review. Trauma, Violence and Abuse, 15248380251361468.

Hartmann, M. A., Browne, E., Mutangabende, S., Mungwari, P., Stotesbury, D., Woollett, N., Kagesten, A, Roberts, S.T. & Hatcher, A. (2025). Prevalence of technology facilitated and other gender-based violence among adolescent girls in Gqeberha, South Africa and its association with probable common mental disorders. Frontiers in Global Women's Health, 6, 1546901.

Laurenzi, C., Thabeng, M., Busakhwe, C., Waluwalu, N., Woollett, N., Lindani, S., Maluleke, U., Tomlinson, M. & Toska, E. (2025). Conducting ethical research with young mothers: Key considerations for methodology and engagement. Ethics, Medicine and Public Health, 33, 101145.

Schrubbe, L., Woollett, N., van Eck, L., Stockl, H., Calvert, C. Hatcher, A.M. (2025). Perinatal HIV treatment in the context of financial and psychological intimate partner violence in urban South Africa. Psychology of Violence. 

Jewkes, R., Ramsoomar, L., Nothling, J., Willan, S., Mbowane, V., Chirwa, E., Mhlongo, S., Phakoe, M., Pass, D., Zembe, A., Sibiya, L., Soecharan, I., Paile, C., Washington, L., Woollett, N.… & Abrahams, N. (2025). Fediša Modikologo: breaking the intergenerational cycle of violence against women and children. Theoretical framework and protocol for a prospective cohort study. Wellcome Open Research, 10, 126.

Woollett, N., Maluleke, P., Franchino-Olsen, HB., Christofides, N., Silima, M., Thurston, C., Monaisa, K., Asghar, K. & Meinck, F. (2025). Understanding how violence is transmitted across generations: an in-depth multiple case study of families in South Africa. Psychology of Violence.

Woollett, N., van Eck, L., Mazibuko, L., Zimerary, A., Ross, L., Thomson, K., Slifko, S. & Hatcher, A. (2025). Sisonke Ntwana: describing the mechanisms of change of an arts-based intervention for pregnant and parenting adolescents experiencing violence and poor mental health in South Africa. Child Abuse & Neglect, 161, 107248

Woollett, N., & Berman, H. (2024). Training Art Therapists for Social Justice UJ conference overview opening address. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 2(1), 14-20.

Woollett, N., Potash, J. S., & Kapitan, L. (2024). Research as storytelling: sharing wisdom with the profession. South African Journal of Arts Therapies, 2(1), 39-42.

Silima, M., Christofides, N., Franchino-Olsen, H., Woollett, N. & Meinck, F. (2024). "I’ve accepted it because at the end of the day, there is nothing I can do about it: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of women living with HIV, intimate partner violence and mental health syndemic in Mpumalanga, South Africa". PLoS Global Public Health, 4(5): e0002588

Silima, M., Christofides, N., Franchino-Olsen, H., Woollett, N. & Meinck, F. (2024). Qualitative study exploring parenting among mothers and female caregivers living with the IPV, mental health and HIV syndemic in South Africa. BMJ Open, 14:e086478

Silima, M., Christofides, N., Franchino-Olsen, H., Woollett, N., Wang, J., Ho-Foster, A., Maleke, K.& Meinck, F. (2024). Co-occurring intimate partner violence, mental health, HIV and parenting among women: A scoping review. Trauma, Violence & Abuse, 25(5), 4102-4116

Franchino-Olsen, HB., Woollett, N., Thurston, C., Maluleke, P., Christofides, N. & Meinck, F. (2024). ‘They should ask me so that they can help me’: Patterns of young children’s expressed feelings and beliefs when interviewed about violence and difficult experiences. Child Abuse & Neglect, 106932

Silima, M., Christofides, N., Franchino-Olsen, H., Woollett, N. & Meinck, F. (2024). ‘I’ve accepted it because at the end of the day there is nothing I can do about it’. A qualitative study exploring the experiences of women living with HIV, intimate partner violence and mental health syndemic in Mpumalanga, South Africa. PLoS Global Public Health 4(5): e0002588

Woollett, N., Christofides, N., Franchino-Olsen, H., Silima, M., Fouche, A. & Meinck, F. (2024). ‘Children are like vuvuzelas always ready to blow’: Exploring young children’s participation in violence research. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 08862605241230088, 1-27

Woollett, N., Christofides, N., Franchino-Olsen, H., Silima, M., Fouche, A. & Meinck, F. (2023). ‘Through the drawings they are able to tell you straight’: Using arts-based methods in violence research in South Africa. PLoS Global Public Health 3(10), e0002209

Meinck, F., Woollett, N., Franchino-Olsen, H., Silima, M., Thurston, C., Fouche, A., Monaisa, K. & Christofides, N. (2023). Interrupting the intergenerational cycle of violence: Protocol for a three-generational longitudinal mixed-methods study in South Africa. BMC Public Health 23(1), 1-14

Franchino-Olsen, H., Christofides, N., Woollett, N., Fouche, A., Silima, M. Thurston, C., Monaisa, K. & Meinck, F. (2023). Conducting violence research across multiple family generations and with young children: Findings from a mixed-methods pilot study in South Africa. International Journal of Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy & Practice, 1-27.

Hatcher, A.M., Turan, J.M., Stockl, H., Woollett, N., Garcia Moreno, C. & Christofides, N. (2022). Intimate partner violence and HIV treatment adherence in urban South Africa: Mediating role of perinatal common mental disorders. Social Science & Medicine-Mental Health, 100112

Woollett, N., Pahad, S. & Black, V. (2021). ‘We need our own clinics’: HIV positive adolescents’ recommendations for a responsive health system. PloS One, 16(7), e0253984.

Woollett, N., Bandeira, M., Marunda, S., Mudekunye, L. & Ebersohn, L. (2021) Adolescent pregnancy and young motherhood in rural Zimbabwe: Findings from a baseline study. Health & Social Care in Community, 29(6), e377-e386.

Sprague, C., Woollett, N. & Hatcher, A.M. (2020). Enhancing agency for health providers and pregnant women experiencing intimate partner violence in South Africa. Global Public Health, 17, 1-16.

Woollett, N., Bandeira, M. & Hatcher, A.M. (2020). Trauma-informed art and play therapy: Pilot study outcomes for children and mothers in domestic violence shelters in the US and South Africa. Child Abuse & Neglect, 107, 104564.

Steele, S.J., Abrahams, N., Duncan, K., Woollett, N., Hwang, B., O’Connell, L., van Cutsem, G. & Shroufi, A. (2019).  The epidemiology of rape and sexual violence in the platinum mining district of Rustenburg, South Africa: Prevalence, and factors associated with sexual violence.  PLoS ONE, 14(7), e0216449.

Ogundipe, R.M., Woollett, N., Ogunbanjo, G., Olashore, A.A. & Tshitenge, S. (2018). Intimate partner violence: The need for an alternative primary preventive approach in Botswana. African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine, 10(1), 1-6 

Woollett, N., Peter, J.R., Cluver, L. & Brahmbhatt, H. (2017). Enrolling HIV-positive adolescents in mental health research: a case study reflecting on legal and ethical complexities. South African Medical Journal, 107(8), 679-683 

Woollett, N., Black, V., Cluver, L., & Brahmbhatt, H. (2017). Reticence in disclosure of HIV infection and reasons for bereavement: impact on perinatally infected adolescents’ mental health and understanding of HIV treatment and prevention in Johannesburg, South Africa.  African Journal of AIDS Research, 16(2), 175-184

Woollett, N., Cluver, L., Banderia, M., & Brahmbhatt, H. (2017). Identifying risks for mental health problems in HIV positive adolescents accessing HIV treatment in Johannesburg. Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 29(1), 11-26

Woollett, N., Brahmbhatt, H., Dodd, K., Booth, M., Berman, H., & Cluver, L. (2017). Revealing the impact of loss: Exploring mental health through the use of drawing/writing with HIV positive adolescents in Johannesburg. Children and Youth Services Review, 77, 197-207

Woollett, N., Cluver, L., Hatcher, A. M., & Brahmbhatt, H. (2016). ‘To be HIV positive is not the end of the world’: Resilience among perinatally infected HIV positive adolescents in Johannesburg. Children and Youth Services Review, 70, 269-275

Woollett, N. & Hatcher, A.M. (2016). Mental health, intimate partner violence and HIV.  South African Medical Journal, 106(10), 969-972 

Woollett, N. & Thomson, K. (2016). Understanding the intergenerational transmission of violence.  South African Medical Journal, 106(11), 1068-1070

Hatcher, A. M., Stöckl, H., Christofides, N., Woollett, N., Pallitto, C. C., Garcia-Moreno, C., & Turan, J. M. (2016). Mechanisms linking intimate partner violence and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV: A qualitative study in South Africa. Social Science & Medicine, 168, 130-139.

Hatcher, A. M., Woollett, N., Pallitto, C. C., Mokoatle, K., Stöckl, H., & Garcia-Moreno, C. (2016). Willing but not able patient and provider receptiveness to addressing intimate partner violence in Johannesburg antenatal clinics. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1-26.

Pallito, C., Garcia-Moreno, C., Stöckl, H., Hatcher, A., MacPhail, C., Mokoatle, K. & Woollett, N. (2016).  Testing a counselling intervention in antenatal care for women experiencing partner violence: a study protocol for a randomized control trial in Johannesburg, South Africa.  BMC Health Services Research, 16:630, 1-10

Sprague, C., Woollett, N., Parpart, J., Hatcher, A., Sommers, T., Brown, S. & Black, V. (2015) When nurses are also patients: IPV and the health system as an enabler of women’s health and agency in Johannesburg.  Global Public Health, 11(1), 1-17

Sprague, C., Hatcher, A., Woollett, N. & Black, V. (2015) How nurses in Johannesburg address intimate partner violence in female patients:  Understanding IPV responses in low and middle-income country health systems.  Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 1-29 

Sprague, C., Hatcher, A., Woollett, N. & Black, V. (2015).  ‘They can’t report abuse, they can’t move out.  They are at the mercy of these men’: exploring connections between intimate partner violence, gender and HIV in South African clinical settings.  Culture, Health & Sexuality, 1-15

Hatcher, A.H, Woollett, N., Pallitto, C., Mokoatle, K., Stockl, H., MacPhail, C., Delany-Moretlwe, S. & Garcia-Moreno, C. (2014).  Bidirectional links between HIV and intimate partner violence in pregnancy: Implications for prevention of mother-to-child transmission.  Journal of the International AIDS Society, 17(1), 1-9

G Jonsson (Chair), N Davies, C Freeman, J Joska, S Pahad, R Thom, K Thompson, N Woollett (Panel Members), J Furin, G Meintjes (Reviewers) (2013).  Management of mental health disorders in HIV positive patients – Guidelines from the South African HIV Clinicians Society.  SA J HIV Med, 14 (4), 155-165