WHY COUNSELLING

We all encounter challenging situations sometimes in life, that may induce stress and distress, impact our lifestyle particularly in sleeping and eating appetite. When you know you need specific help, it’s pretty wise to seek out someone that can get you some answers. We use coaches, mentors and counselors all the time to help us move to the next level.

5 Common Reasons To Seek Counseling/Coaching/Mentoring:

• You don’t know what to do in a specific situation
• You have a recurring issue or struggle
• You are feeling overwhelmed due to a new problem in your life
• You want to accelerate personal growth
• You don’t know how to make your life to be what you want it to be

I charge on an hourly basis.  My charges are SGD 800 per hour  You can call me and get an understanding on your situation before commitment.

People who are diagnosed with mental illness will benefit by seeking counselling, but we all at some stage in life do encounter challenges. Our professional knowledge will also help you live a better life – by seeing things in new perspectives, learning new ways of coping and explore your growth potentials.

Counselling is not only for pathological use.  It is about how to maintain our emotional wellbeing and to take best care of ourselves.  If you are under stressful situation in dealing with work, relationships and family, it would be wise for you to seek guidance to relieve the tension and emotional disturbances.

In our free-of-charge telephone consultation, we will assist you to work out your priorities in tackling these issues. Based on your need, we will identify the most appropriate counsellor(s) for you.

For example, our counselor who has both substantial executive coaching and family counseling experience would best suit your needs. Depending on your son’s issues, we will also identify a counsellor who is specialising in children and play therapy.
In the Companions, there is always a way for you.

We understand that you are really concerned about your spouse, friend or relative’s wellbeing, and would really want them to seek counselling. However, we strongly encourage them to reach out for support themselves.

Share with them the information and articles that we post in our website, and encourage them to learn more from us. You may also accompany them to our centre for their first session, and wait for them til the end of the session to give them your emotional support. People who are in distress gain much comfort and be motivated to seek help if they know the ones around them care about them.

If you are a caregiver of people with mental health issues, you may also seek help from us. We can help you develop better ways of coping, allowing you to live the life you deserve.

We only select suitably qualified, experienced and talented counsellors to work with us, all of whom work to the highest professional standards. We are a team of accomplished counsellors and psychologists who obtained Master Degree level or PhD level in Counseling, Social Work and Psychiatry.

We possess a wide variety of expertise and experience – capable of understanding your needs in different life stages. A large number of us also obtained extensive experience in the commercial sector and will be able to assist you in overcoming your career challenges and achieving your professional goals and aspirations.

For coaching, as a Professional Certified Coach under the International Coaching Federation, my coaching philosophy is strengths based with a humanistic touch. I believe people have inner resources that they can tap into to meet their life challenges and realize their potential.

For both coaching and counselling, I use mainly evidence based approaches such as cognitive behavioural coaching / counselling, supplemented by the emphasis of strengths from positive psychology and some skills from motivational interviewing. I also facilitate client to express their emotions from which important information would be revealed to help clients understand their needs.

For trauma and related issues, I would use Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reconstruction (EMDR) as and when appropriate.

At the beginning of our coaching / therapeutic relationship, I will try to give you an idea of how long you would expect to be in coaching /counselling. Although there is no absolute answer, here are certain aspects that can determine the length of your therapy:

• The specific issues of your story
• The level of support you currently have outside of coaching / counselling
• How much motivation and emotional energy you are able to devote to the process outside of the coaching / counselling sessions.

In general, my first session with you will be used for assessments and consultation, rather than coaching / treatment. This will allow me to understand your needs, assist you to identify your core issues or goals, and work out a coaching / treatment plan tailored made for you.
Unfortunately, in usual cases, having just one session is unlikely to bring you long lasting benefits. It will normally take a few sessions for you to become aware of your changes and improvement in your life.

Unfortunately, in usual cases, having just one session is unlikely to bring you long lasting benefits. It will normally take a few sessions for you to become aware of your changes and improvement in your life.

You may feel quite worried about meeting your coach / counsellor for the first time. I understand this and will do my best to put you at ease.

Each session will last for around 1 hour. In the first session, you will have the opportunity to get to know me. Feel free to ask any questions you may have in your mind. I will also try to learn more about your own goals for the session and learn more from you about your issues and concerns.

Rest assured that I will work with you at the pace and approach that you are feeling comfortable with. I will be your companion, to walk with you and empower you to seek ways that leads to a better life.

It is pretty normal to worry about having to carry the conversation or, even worse, having to bring up a topic that you are already uncomfortable talking about. Don’t worry. I will guide the conversation in a comfortable and natural manner without pushing or forcing you to divulge too much.

Yes. Protecting the privacy of clients is key to my services, so that you will feel completely safe to talk about anything with me. It is entirely up to you whether to tell your friends or relatives about it but I will not disclose any of your information to third parties. The only times I will need to break the confidentiality is if you will pose serious and foreseeable harm to yourself or others, or when legal requirements demand that confidential information must be revealed.

While psychiatrist will be able to help you alleviate some of the psychiatric symptoms through medication, people suffering from mental illness usually have difficulty managing their lives and their emotional distress could be partly caused by their past encounters and experience.

In counselling, I will help you gain insights and explore ways to better manage your emotional distress in daily lives. Research has proven that a combination of psychiatric medication and psychotherapy will bring optimal efficiency in mental recovery.