About Our Counselling Psychologist
Sylvia Tan - Founder, Principal Counselling Psychologist, MPsych (SRP Registered)
Sylvia is a Counselling Psychologist practising in Singapore. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology from Curtin University of Technology (Perth, Western Australia) and is currently a registered counselling psychologist and a clinical supervisor with the Singapore Register of Psychologists (SRP).
After her graduation in 2002, Sylvia lived and worked in Australia for many years before her relocation back to her home country Singapore in 2014.
To date, Sylvia has 20 years of experience working in a range of settings both in Australia and Singapore. She had worked in private outpatient mental health clinics, community-based counselling services as well as government organisations like the West Australia Child Protective Services and the Singapore Family Justice Courts.
She is skilled and experienced in providing psychological intervention for a range of mental health issues affecting adolescents, adults, couples and families, as well as providing forensic assessments for divorce and child custody-related matters.
In addition to her clinical roles, Sylvia also held managerial and leadership roles while she was serving in Singapore’s public service.
Sylvia’s professional training has been varied. She is trained in evidenced-based therapies like Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Schema Therapy, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), Gottman Couples Therapy as well as has a special interest in emerging forms of mindfulness-based psychotherapies like Hakomi Experiential Therapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), Somatic Experiencing (SE) and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Integrating all these approaches with the latest research in neuroscience, Sylvia’s mission is to help people become more aware of themselves and rewire the way they see themselves, overcome their past hurts and find freedom from the old patterns of unhelpful beliefs and behaviours.
Personally, Sylvia had encountered her own storms in life and she sought her own journey of inner healing and personal development. Those experiences, together with her clinical training, have helped her develop great sensitivity and empathy for her client’s suffering and challenges.
Drawing on neuroscience research on neuroplasticity, she strongly believes that everyone has the capacity to change and heal with the right therapeutic support and intervention. Her work centers on equipping clients with tools to manage their psychological and emotional reactions, healing areas of their lives that were painful and strengthening their inner core beings.
Outside of work, Sylvia is a mother of two teenage daughters, wife to a Scottish “Braveheart” and a human mother of a Bichon Maltese.
She enjoys nature, listening to podcasts, and Christian worship songs and spending time with loved ones.
Sylvia specialises in:
- Mental Health Issues ( Depression, anxiety, bi polar, obsessive compulsive disorder)
- Grief
- Trauma
- Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD)
- Post Natal Depression
- Infertility
- Work-related stress
- Parenting
- Couples and marital counselling
- Family Therapy
- Post-divorce co-parenting
- Reunification Therapy
- Child Custody Evaluation Reports
Other services provided:
- Clinical supervision for psychologists and counsellors.
- Professional training on topics relating to mental health, family, parenting and divorce
- Mediation for child custody and access issues
- Consultation for divorce-related matters