My therapeutic orientation and frame is Gestalt Therapy. I see Gestalt Therapy as a way of helping people to restore their natural aliveness by being aware of what is around them and inside them, then regaining the ability to creatively adapt to the world while choosing what is most authentic, desirable and suitable to do and to be. Gestalt Therapy is centered around changes, even though it may not be apparent when we seem to only be chatting and trying different things, or witnessing painful or shameful experiences in life. It is a growth-ful process when we engage to meet and work.
What do we do in session?
It feels like a heart to heart talk with your best friend, and we might laugh, share tears, bear difficult and painful moments together, draw, play, play act, experiment doing things differently, imagine. It could be anything, within ethical boundaries.
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'I can't bring large trees into my therapy room,'...this is what I tell people when I explain eco therapy. Using this modality, we invite nature and its surprises into our awareness so that it can become a form of support in your life.
What do we do in session?
We will be in the nature reserves or at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. We might be sitting, walking, gazing, marveling or meditating. You will be guided to increase your awareness towards whatever that nature has to offer. Do note that since nature has its own rhythms and moods, there might be rain or mosquitoes involved!
One of the reasons we love to watch movies, play immersive games and use virtual reality is that our mind experiences them as if they took place in reality. Guided imagery works by following the verbal instructions of the therapist and going on a profound mental journey that is co-created beyond the limitations of the physical world.
What do we do in session?
You will be asked about your life and the reason for going onto an inner quest. I will then give instructions to relax your body and mind before leading you into a safe transitional mental space. The interactive imaginative journey starts from here and I will be a accompany you on the whole journey, which is mostly unscripted and spontaneous as it is continuously unfolding according to your responses and feedback. We may not always find what we were aiming for, but the journey itself will be fruitful and surprising.
The path towards spirituality can be terrifying, lonely and brimming of self doubt. It is especially so when most people you encounter are materialistic and going after wealth, success, fame and achievement. Yet, it only takes one or two kindreds who understand what you are doing for you to be able to persist on your journey. I can offer that, alongside tips, resources and my experience to support you in your spiritual pursuit.
What do we do in session?
It does not feel very different from a deep conversation with a mentor or best friend, and it will have therapeutic elements to support you in sharing both your difficult and wondrous moments. You can ask about anything that supports you in your journey, and I will answer as much as I can.
My therapeutic orientation and frame is Gestalt Therapy, and centers on concepts like contact, I-Thou, awareness, existentialism, phenomenology, figure-ground and field emergence, paradoxical theory of change, confirmation and pragnanz. At the same time, I am very well read and curious, and uses these concepts and models in my clinical work as well:
- Object Relations (Klein, Winnicott, Fairbairn,
- Self Psychology (Heinz Kohut)
- Analytical (Jung, Bion)
- Systemic thinking (Bowen, Minuchin, Whitaker, Haley)
- Sandplay and World Technique (Kalff, Lowenfeld)
- Existential and Humanistic (May, Frankl, Maslow)
I am also knowledgeable about most mainstream talk therapies, like CBT, EMDR, IFS, SFBT, Client Centered therapy and more.
What do we do in session?
In the spirit of Gestalt Therapy, you as the supervisee owns and chooses what to discuss in session. At the same time, we will also honor and discuss what emerges in the cocreated field. What I offer in supervision includes everything that supports your clinical competency, be it case discussion, sharpening clinical skills, discussing ethical dilemmas, finding focus, coping with systemic constraints etc.
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When working on self mastery and self regulation, we work less with intrapsychic processes and put the focus on accurate discernment of the self and effective engagement with the outside world. We look at what you want, where you are going, and aligning your body, mind and spirit to reach your goals in life.
What do we do in session?
Sessions are focused on what goal and direction you are going, and we start by examining what is purposeful and meaningful for you. Once your values are aligned with your goals and your path, we will work together to prepare and pool your resources for your leap of change in life. It will feel like you are going for an expedition, and I will be that companion on the trip.
Some of my clients would have very profound trauma and complex emotional wounds, such that even when we have done a lot of work and processing, and that there is a lot of improvement and change, there will still be a part of them that hurts badly which we cannot reach no matter how we try. This was how I started using crystals and sound baths to work with clients. It helps that I am energetically sensitive, and can feel energetic shifts in the therapy room or in the client when they hold the crystals or use the singing bowls.
What do we do in session?
I usually offer this form of work after some sessions of therapy, and only if you are open to the crystal and sound healing, and responds to holding crystals. The session focused on removing energy blockages will typically start with your brief description of your issue and where it seemed to be located in your part of the body. It will be followed by a experiment of holding different crystals, using different sound vibrations and learning to tune in to the subtle sensations felt. Depending on your responses, I will guide you through visualizations while closely attending to emerging sensations and experiences. The whole process usually includes awareness, reconnection, removing blockages, detoxication and purification, nourishment, growth, vitality and connecting to the cosmos.
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Are you at crossroads of your life? Or that life has thrown you a curveball and you are reeling from the shock. Or that people you counted on has betrayed you, and the life you had enjoyed had shattered. You are confused, disoriented and lost. This is where I can help you find perspective and clarity amidst the wreckage.
What do we do in session?
You will be telling your story, and I will support you to describe it fully and vividly from your perspective. This in itself can be very therapeutic and calming, and it allows you to pull yourself back and take perspective. I will then curiously ask about parts that seem incomplete for a fuller picture to develop, and also use my life experience and clinical experience to share my view of what is happening, and give examples of what people might do in similar situations.
This is long term, challenging work where we take a journey into unbearable pain and suffering, because if we get through it, there might be that hope of long term peace and calm. I offer my presence, nurturance and firmness, and loan you my time and flesh for you to experience the good enough parent missing in your life.
What do we do in session?
It can be very intense work, and we may both react defensively out of instinctive survival habits that are not very helpful. There will be disenchantment, as I cannot be the perfect and ideal parent in your mind that gives everything and doesn't ever fail you. But I will be a good enough parent, and will stay in the therapeutic relationship unless you break our professional boundaries and threaten my personal and professional safety.
I have been practising for a long period of time, and have seen clients for all kinds of issues. Below is a list of non-exhaustive clients and issues that I had worked with:
- School related issues (motivation, bullying, friendship, adjustment, school refusal, anxiety)
- Child and adolescent issues (sibling rivalry, behavioural issues, family changes, perfectionism, trauma, lying)
- Parenting issues
- Grief, bereavement, crisis and adjustment issues
- Couple issues
- Elder care issues
- Workplace issues
- Relationship issues and more
What do we do in session?
We start with your reason for coming, and what you will like to achieve for yourself or your child / elderly parent. I will then guide you to tell your story and describe your issue. At the end of the first session I will share my understanding and what I suggest to be done. Sometimes we would go into problem solving and interventions directly, but there are times where we might need to work for a longer period of time for change to occur. As much as I will like you to work with me until your issue is resolved, you can make the choice to end our work anytime,
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