Meet the Minds Behind PMRI
We are Sonja and Maryke, two professionals with a shared mission to empower legal practitioners and redefine what success in law truly looks like.
Maryke
A Master Transformation Coach, Neuro-Coach, and NLP Practitioner, Maryke brings her background in psychology and behavioural science to the heart of PMRI. She specialises in helping high-performing professionals unlock their cognitive potential and perform sustainably under pressure.
Sonja
Sonja is a practicing advocate with almost three decades of legal experience. Her insight into the cognitive demands of the profession, paired with a deep passion for transformation, drives her mission to build resilience, clarity, and performance in every legal mind.
Why PMRI Exists
We founded the Professional Mind Resilience Institute to address a structural gap in legal training that we encountered repeatedly in practice.
Legal professionals are trained to master the law, but far less attention is given to the mental demands of legal work: sustained cognitive load, high-stakes judgement, emotional regulation, and the endurance required to perform well over time.
PMRI exists to equip legal professionals with evidence-informed frameworks, practical tools, and ongoing professional development that strengthen how the legal mind functions under pressure, not as a once-off intervention, but as a sustained professional capability.
What We Do
Based in Pretoria, PMRI delivers neuroscience-informed training and professional development for legal practitioners across South Africa, both online and in person. Our work supports cognitive performance, resilience, and decision-making in demanding legal environments.
Professional Author and Thought Leadership
Our work extends beyond training and workshops. We regularly publish professional commentary and in-depth insights that examine how legal professionals think, decide, and perform under pressure.
These publications reflect our ongoing engagement with the realities of legal practice and contribute to broader professional conversations within the legal community.
You can explore our authorship, regular columns, and published work across leading legal and professional platforms on the
PMRI Author and Thought Leadership page.
Contact Us
For training enquiries, workshops, or general questions, email us at
or use our contact form.
