Things You Have Permission to Say to Your Therapist

Sharing our more private feelings with a stranger and trusting them to help us is not easy.

It can feel like we’re stuck between a rock and a hard place at times – a professional should be the best person to help us, but we have our reservations about this whole process.

What should we do?

Well, remember that therapists are human too! There may be times when therapists make mistakes or make you feel uncomfortable, and it is more than okay to voice your opinions!

1.     “I feel uncomfortable”

While some levels of discomfort may be an inherent part of the therapeutic process (e.g., confronting your fears), it is still a good idea to voice our discomforts so that the therapist is better able to tailor the therapy to feel more manageable. That way, therapy could be less daunting and it’s easier for us to find the motivation to carry on with it.

2.     “I disagree”

Yes, the therapist is a professional who likely has better knowledge of the particular issue, and that’s exactly why we’re there seeking their opinion!

However, every situation is unique. What the therapist makes of our situation may not necessarily be always 100% accurate. By disagreeing (or agreeing), we can help the therapist to better understand our concerns, allowing them to provide us with a more tailored therapeutic plan.

3.     “That didn’t work for me”

Some practices have been found to work best for most people and the therapist is likely to have made an informed decision based on our circumstances.

However, sometimes, things just don’t seem to work for us. And that’s okay! We don’t need to pretend that it works. We should quickly inform our therapist about it so that they can look for alternatives or help us work out what’s not working! The goal for therapy, after all, is to help us, and identifying what doesn’t work is helpful.

4.     “What about…”

Hang on! Why does it seem like the therapist is only working on one of the many concerns we have raised? There are many reasons why this may be so. For example, the therapist may feel that this is the most pressing concern or that addressing this could help address the other issues too.

Regardless, it’s certainly a good idea to enquire about the other issues and to hear their opinion on them.

5.     “Perhaps, we may not be a good fit”

Sometimes, both parties may have tried their best, but things just don’t click. It feels awkward, strange, and perhaps even a struggle to want to open up and share. It’s okay to thank your therapist for their efforts and to inform them that you think it may not be working out.

Therapy can be a difficult process, but rest assured that it is meant to be your safe space! Therapists have your best interests at heart and voicing your opinions can help to better tailor the therapy to your needs and comfort. So, please voice your opinions, they matter!

Back to All Notes

Group Therapy

What is Group Therapy?

Group therapy typically involves 5 to 15 patients, designed to target a specific concern or a general issue.

Concerns may include depression, obesity, anxiety, chronic pain or substance addiction. Other groups may focus on a more general issue such as improving social skills, anger management or grief. Group therapy may be especially helpful for those who have experienced loss and have trouble coping with grief.

Each group therapy is generally facilitated by a lead clinician, and will help the group through a programme to better understand their thoughts and emotions. Therapy groups may meet for a set length of time with a consistent group of members, or may be an indefinite period of time with members joining and leaving.

Clinicians will teach the group evidence-based strategies for managing specific issues, and have undergone training to facilitate group therapy. For example, a clinician who is leading an addiction management group will guide participants through scientifically validated strategies for curbing addictions.

Benefits

While group therapy may sound intimidating at first, it can afford advantages due to its unique group dynamics. Groups can act as a support network. Being with a group of individuals that have a common understanding and experience in an issue may be empowering, as it can help you realise that you are not alone.

Regularly listening to others, coupled with introspection allows you to learn more about yourself. You may recognise aspects of yourself in others, which can help you find patterns you may not notice before. Members may also offer insights into difficult issues that they have had personally experienced.

Group therapy can encourage empathy and self-acceptance. Through stories of others and their struggles, you may come to see your life differently. It also promotes forgiveness, especially when relating to others within the group.

Concerns

Confidentiality in Group Therapy

Confidentiality within a group setting is a cornerstone of group therapy. It is always strictly laid down as one of the first one ground rules when a new Group is formed. This means that members are not allowed to share personal information of other group members. Therapy works when there is open and honest communication between members hence you are encouraged to be as open as you are comfortable with. You may find that the members in your group grow to be some of your trusted pillars of support!

Is Group Therapy a substitute for individual therapy?

You may find group therapy to be a useful supplement to individual therapy. Many patients find that having both individual and group therapy running concurrently helps reinforce the concepts covered during individual therapy, and make lasting change. However, there are many mental health concerns that will benefit from therapy is both individual and group settings.

More information on group therapy can be found here. To make an appointment with us, click here.

---

Here are some of the group therapy programs and support groups that we offer:

Ψ DBT Social Skills Training
Ψ Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Course
Ψ Postnatal Support Group
Ψ Lego-Based Therapy
Ψ Fun with Rubik's Cube!
Ψ Life Skills Group
Ψ Caregiver Peer Support & Skills Training
Ψ Caregiver Support Group
Ψ BPD Caregiver Support Group

We frequently update this list - check back soon!

What is a Child Psychologist or Educational Psychologist?

Child Psychologists are specially trained to assess and evaluate neurodevelopmental disorders in children and adults. They are usually used to describe an Educational Psychologist or a Clinical Psychologist specialising in children.

Child Psychologists use their specialist knowledge to assess, diagnose and provide psychological interventions to children, young persons and adults on concerns regarding their learning or academic performance, behavioural, social and emotional development. Because their work involves a deep understanding of developmental issues across a person’s lifespan, they may also provide developmental assessments across the range of ages from the child, adolescent and adult populations.

Simply put, Child Psychologists identify and provide psychological interventions to learning or developmental concerns.

For example, Child Psychologists assess for and identify, and provide psychological interventions to learning or developmental concerns such as Intellectual Developmental Disorder, Autism Spectrum Disorder, or Specific Learning Disorder (known as Dyslexia for reading impairments or Dyscalculia for math impairments). They also administer Psychometric Assessments such as verbal and non-verbal measures of intelligence, behavioural scales and ratings, and Functional Behavioural Analysis measures (FBA).

High quality early intervention from an experienced Child Psychologist can change a child’s developmental trajectory and improve outcomes for that child and his or her family.

For intervention to yield the best results, Child Psychologists work closely with children and their parents, teachers and other allied health professionals (such as Speech Therapists and Occupational Therapists) to deliver evidence-based psychological interventions for learning and developmental problems.

If you have concerns that your child may need a Child Psychologist, our child psychologists are happy to discuss your concerns with you.

Ask for a call back from one of our Child Psychologists to find out more.

A Multi-disciplinary Approach

Children with neurodevelopmental concerns will often require assessment and intervention by other Allied Health Practitioners. Neurodevelopmental concerns such as Autism Spectrum Disorder often impact psychological, speech, sensory and motor functions. Intervention achieves the best outcomes when delivered as part of a multidisciplinary team comprising paediatricians, speech therapists, occupational therapists and psychologists.

Continuing Therapy

Continuing Therapy

(“psychotherapy” -
works best if you follow through!)

Therapy will be different for everyone.

During Intake and through the course of therapy, your psychologist and you will jointly formulate and refine your management plan based on the information you provide.

It is therefore important that you share information that you feel may be relevant to your concerns. This is because therapy is a collaborative management plan based on the relationship between your needs as an individual and your psychologist.

We call this the Therapeutic Alliance.

Grounded in dialogue, psychotherapy is at its most effective when you participate fully in your sessions. Your psychologist will provide a supportive environment for you to share thorny or difficult issues with someone who’s objective, neutral and non-judgemental. You and your psychologist will work together as a team to identify and change the thought and behaviour patterns that are keeping you from feeling your best.

Back to All Notes

You can be completely honest with your psychologist without concern that anyone else will know what you revealed.

The therapeutic relationship is a confidential one (subject to a few legal exceptions: for example, if you threaten to harm yourself or someone else, or by court order). At your request, information we collect about you can be shared with other medical or mental health professionals.

By the end of management plan, you may have learned new skills to better cope not only with the problem that brought you in, but with whatever challenges that may arise in the future.

Therapy sessions typically run for 60 minutes. During session, your psychologist may perform necessary tasks such as schedule your follow-up consultations, discuss or vary your management plan, or seek or communicate important information with persons you authorise us to do so.

It is very important that you do not feel that these tasks are a “waste of consultation time”, as they enable us to provide you with an effective psychological service.

So how many sessions does it take for me to feel better?

This is a difficult question to answer. But we can share with you some of the factors that affect the duration and frequency of the sessions. Typically, this depends on
Ψ the complexity of issues
Ψ how long you wait before seeking help
Ψ how frequent you turn up for session
Ψ whether you “complete your homework”

By way of example (and only as a guideline), persons who present with straightforward depression or anxiety typically take at least 10 to 15 sessions before they feel well enough to request for discharge. More complex issues such as Personality Disorders may take years.

Back to All Notes

How to Choose a Psychologist

Each of us will face certain difficulties or stressors at some point in our lives. We may struggle to cope with overwhelming feelings or problems that seem beyond our control. During such times, a trained, licensed psychologist could be a guiding hand in helping us better manage our thoughts and feelings. It would then be crucial to find a psychologist you feel comfortable with to confide about personal woes or uncomfortable topics you may not typically share with others.

---

Do I need to see a psychologist?

Can you even go for therapy without having a mental disorder? The answer is yes, definitely. These questions are common and perfectly normal (if only we received a penny each time someone asked us this). Therapy can be beneficial even for those without diagnoses. You could learn different perspectives, process critical life events, identify explanations for behaviour, alter unhealthy or ineffective habits or patterns, and so on.

But how do you know when you should go for therapy? The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests considering therapy when an event or situation causes distress and interferes with some aspect of your life. For example, when an event leaves you feeling embarrassed or wanting to avoid others. Or perhaps it has negatively affected your concentration in school or at work, and your quality of life has been reduced. If this occurs often and for an extended period of time, it may be time to consider therapy.

Back to All Notes

---

Will seeing a psychologist help me?

Anxiety, resistance and doubts are common, especially with therapy being a novel concept for many. However, therapy has been shown to be beneficial for mental health and wellbeing. Some of its benefits include improved relationships and communication skills, learning healthy coping strategies to manage distress, cultivating healthy thought patterns and greater awareness of unhelpful thoughts, as well as gaining greater insights about your life. Remember that prevention is better than cure. Don’t wait until life gets too overwhelming to ask for help! Seeking help early from a trained professional, such as a psychologist, could lead you to a healthier and more fulfilled life sooner.

Back to All Notes

---

Okay, so maybe now you are kind of convinced you want to start seeing a therapist. How do you pick? What can you look out for with just their biography or picture? How do you  know if the psychologist will be a good fit for you? How do you even know if they are qualified?  

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with some handy tips to aid your quest in finding the “right” psychologist: 

1. Credentials 

A qualified clinical or counselling psychologist in Singapore would have attained an accredited postgraduate qualification, i.e., a Master’s Degree majoring in a specialisation of psychology or a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. As part of professional training, supervised clinical placements are completed in various hospital or organised health settings. Rest assured that psychologists are required to gain practicum experience, training and supervision before practicing independently. Additionally, psychologists should be licensed by the state or country they practice in. For instance, the organisation overseeing registered psychologists in Singapore is known as the Singapore Register of Psychologists (SRP).

Moreover, as new ideas and therapeutic approaches emerge over the years, psychologists must stay abreast by regularly attending seminars, receiving clinical supervision, reviewing evidence-based research findings as well as consulting and sharing knowledge with colleagues.

2. Areas of Experience & Development

Psychological sub-specialisations should also be looked at when evaluating a psychologist. You would usually find this information in their biography. Take time to read through a psychologist’s bio to learn about their past experiences working with clients of varying mental health concerns. Doing so provides glimpses of their therapeutic approach, types of therapy they are trained in, and the mental disorders they have experience with.

For example, if you are bringing your child to see a psychologist, you may wish to look for one who has extensive experience working with children or who specialises in children’s mental or developmental disorders. Ideally, it would be best to look for a psychologist that can provide the type of therapy that is the most beneficial for your specific concerns.

3. The Therapeutic Alliance

Also known as the 'therapeutic relationship’, the therapeutic alliance describes the collaborative relationship between the individual and therapist. There are three essential elements:

1. Bond between the client and the therapist

2. Agreement on therapeutic goals

3. Collaboration on tasks in management plan

Many studies highlighted that this therapeutic relationship is vital for good management outcomes. Yet, establishing a good therapeutic relationship isn’t as easy as it sounds. A willingness to work and cooperate collaboratively is a key factor in developing the relationship. A psychologist’s ability to listen attentively and communicate empathetically is also crucial in building trust. Just like any other relationship, trust can be easily affected. This is why psychologists are very careful in preventing any potential breaches in trust. It then comes as no surprise that the ‘right’ psychologist for you should be capable of working with you, not for you or anyone else.

4. Demographic factors 

Certain demographic characteristics may be important to you when it comes to feeling safe with a psychologist. Some common examples are age and gender. This may be due in part to past experiences with other therapists, or from triggering or traumatic experiences. At the end of the day, the best management outcomes come from being able to openly discuss personal matters, perspectives and beliefs with your psychologist. A demographic preference is understandable and common.

---

What if my psychologist isn't a good match?  

While changing psychologists regularly is not beneficial to the therapeutic process, you can and should consider changing psychologists if your psychologist does not establish a comfortable rapport with you after several sessions. 

It is generally helpful to talk openly with your psychologist about the lack of connection, or to raise any issue that may be hindering the therapeutic relationship. Don’t worry; psychologists do not find this directness to be offensive or disrespectful.

The aim of therapy is to understand the issues that bother you. This can only be achieved through a relationship of safety and trust. Our psychologists will listen to your feedback and address the issues that arise during the management plan. This can include issues in the therapeutic relationship. Although it is unlikely that a psychologist will be a good fit for every individual, remember that relationships do take time to grow and interpersonal challenges appear from time to time. Alternatively, your psychologist can also refer you to someone who is suited to your needs if you have made the decision to switch psychologists.   

We cannot guarantee that the right psychologist is right round the corner, but keeping the tips above in mind would at least help you in finding a qualified psychologist. We hope that you feel less daunted in your journey, and if you want to check out our own psychologists, feel free to click here.  

Back to All Notes

What is a Counselling Psychologist?

What is the difference between Clinical Psychologists and Counselling Psychologists?

There are subtle differences between Clinical Psychologists and Counselling Psychologists.

Today, the distinction between both disciplines have become academic. Clinical and Counselling Psychologists perform many of the same duties.

But many differences between Clinical Psychologists and Counselling Psychologists stem from historical subtleties.

Historical Differences between Clinical Psychology and Counselling Psychology

Historically, Clinical Psychology was born from Psychiatry and work very closely with Psychiatrists in managing the management plan of individuals with serious mental health conditions. Clinical Psychologists train primarily in a medical setting with an emphasis on psychopathology and psychological assessments, and they usually develop their skills in hospital or other acute clinical settings. Clinical Psychologists provide a wide range of psychological services to individuals across the lifespan and for mental health conditions that range from mild to severe and complex.

By contrast, Counselling Psychology developed from counselling and guidance. Counselling Psychologists are involved in working with individuals to cope with difficulties in life, and are trained on providing targeted interventions with a focus on coping and functioning. They employ a wide variety of techniques and therapeutic approaches that help individuals process issues such as grief and loss, significant life transitions, relationship difficulties, domestic violence, sexual abuse or assault, trauma, maintaining healthy lifestyles, vocational assessments and career development. Counselling Psychologists usually practise in community or primary care settings.

Nevertheless, given the evolving complexity of mental health in today’s challenging world, the scope of work for Clinical and Counselling Psychologists overlap significantly. Professionals from both fields are equipped to deal with a range of presenting issues.

Clinical and Counselling Psychology in Singapore

In Singapore, psychologists from both fields are overseen by the Singapore Psychological Society, which stipulates minimum qualification requirements of a Master degree and practical experience in the form of client contact and supervision hours.

Once you have made the decision to start psychotherapy, be it to cope with difficulties in life, improve functioning level, or to manage a complex concern, you can be assured that you would be supported by a trained mental health professional.

Back to All Notes