Associate Psychologist
MCoun (Candidate), MLitt (Managing in the Creative Industries) (Dist), GradDip Counselling, BA (Psych) (Summa Cum Laude),
Dip Art Therapy
The Lion Mind
Vanessa is a mental health clinician with The Lion Mind. She provides counselling and coaching services to youths and young adults facing stress, depression, social anxiety, interpersonal problems, self-esteem issues, and life transitions.
Clinical Knowledge & Skills
Vanessa has a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from the University of San Francisco, USA, a Graduate Diploma in Counselling from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia, and a Diploma in Art Therapy from the College for Educational and Clinical Art Therapy (CECAT), Australia, Singapore. Her other qualification includes a Master of Letters in Managing in the Creative Industries. She is currently pursuing her Master of Counselling at Flinders University, Australia.
Vanessa adopts an integrative counselling approach to tailor to the needs of each client. She is well-versed in Person-Centered Approaches, Psychodynamic approaches, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT), and Transactional Analysis. Outside of clinical practice, Vanessa has interests in existential and transpersonal psychology, which explore the spiritual and transcendent aspects of the human condition. She adopts a holistic view of mental wellness, attending to the psychospiritual domain of the individual to understand one’s higher nature and purpose in life.
Professional Membership
Vanessa is a certified coach by Collective Change Institute and was credentialed by International Coach Federation (ICF) as Associate Certified Coach (ACC).
Other Experiences
Vanessa has a wealth of experience in Arts, Human Resources, and Education. She has taught visual art to children from 3 years old to teens, including drawing, sketching, and watercolour. She has experience conducting outreach and supporting seniors in the community through an Active Ageing Centre.
Senior Associate Psychologist
MAPACS(L2), MSPS, GradCert Psychotherapeutic Approaches (CBT), BA (Psych) (Hons), Dip Early Childhood Education, Certified PFA
The Lion Mind
Vivien is a mental health clinician with The Lion Mind. She has more than five years of working experiences with children, teenagers, and youths. Over at The Lion Mind, Vivien specialises in working with the population of children, teenagers, young adults, and women. She also co-facilitates the workshop on psychotherapeutic approaches (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and helps to guide participants through their discussions.
On behalf of The Lion Mind, Vivien has co-presented in the Happiness Conference 2020 on the topic “Empathy Matters“, sharing and demonstrating the importance of having empathy. In addition, Vivien facilitates corporate talks for organisations such as ‘Combating Stress & Burnout’, ‘Combating Insomnia’, and ‘Empowering & Connecting with your Child’.
Clinical Knowledge & Skills
Vivien has a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, US, and a Diploma in Early Childhood Education (Teaching & Leadership) from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. She has completed an accredited course (ACA, APACS) on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. She is also a certified Psychological First Aider.
Professional Membership
Vivien is a registered Level 2 Practitioner (membership no. A225) with the Association of Psychotherapists and Counsellors Singapore (APACS), a Full Member (membership no. FM022064L) with the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS), and a member of the Psi Chi Honor Society.
Other Experiences
Vivien was the Designer of the APACS Marketing & Publicity subcommittee from February 2020 to February 2022. She provided quality publication support and established mental health community outreach to the general public. Her leading design portfolio – The Gazette (issue 0 to 5).
Clinical Director / Co-founder
MAPACS(L4S), MSPS, MCoun, BA(Psych), Spc Dip Career Counselling, P Dip Psychotherapy, Certified PFA, Registered Clinical Supervisor (ACA, APACS)
The Lion Mind
As a Clinical Director (Principal Counsellor) of The Lion Mind, James provides affordable counselling services to clients, presents public talks, and facilitates workshops. He also provides clinical directions for the organisation, and a nurturing environment for his junior clinicians to grow their clinical skills.
Clinical Knowledge & Skills
As a strong believer in using evidence-based treatment, he provides high-quality counselling services to his clients. His counselling approaches include Child-centred Play Therapy (CCPT), Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing (MI) and Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). He is also proficient in providing career counselling, group counselling, psychiatric rehabilitation counselling, and delivering the 5Es of renal rehabilitation.
In addition to counselling, James is familiar with the various psychological assessments and tests. He has received formal education in administering and interpreting them. These include (but not exhaustive) the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Third Edition (BASC-3), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2), the Roberts Apperception Test for Children: 2 (Roberts-2), the Children Apperception Test (CAT), the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT), the Tree-House-Person (THP) projective test, and the NEO Personality Inventory, Third Edition (NEO-PI-3). He is also exposed to diagnostic tests such as Conners Third Edition (Conners 3), and various intelligence tests such as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB-5), the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale 4th Edition (WAIS-IV), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fifth Edition (WISC-V), the Wechsler Preschool & Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV), and the Raven’s Progressive Matrices Second Edition (Raven’s 2).
James also believes strongly in continuing education and life-long learning. To date, he has a Master in Counselling from Monash University, and a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) from the National University of Singapore (NUS). His other professional qualifications include a Professional Diploma in Psychotherapy from The School of Positive Psychology, and a Specialist Diploma in Career Counselling from Republic Polytechnic. He is also a WSQ Certified HR Professional (Recruitment & Selection), a certified Advanced Care Planning (ACP) Facilitator, and a certified Psychological First Aider. He has also completed the course on CITI Good Clinical Practice Course (ID 34090), Social & Behavioral Research – Basic/Refresher (ID 34086), Suicide Intervention Skills Workshop by Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), ACA / APACS Professional Supervision Course, a Certificate in Teaching & Learning for Polytechnic Educators, and an Advance Certificate in Learning & Performance (ACLP).
Professional Membership
James has been a registered Level 4S Practitioner (membership no. A0084) with the Association of Psychotherapists and Counsellors Singapore (APACS), and an Affiliate member with the Australian Psychological Society (APS) since 2013. He has been a Full Member (membership no. FM019005C) with the Singapore Psychological Society (SPS) since 2019. He is also a registered supervisor with the Australia Counselling Association (ACA) College of Supervisors (membership no. COSIRS0027) and APACS since 2021. James has recently joined the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC) as a Provisional Clinical Member.
Other Experiences
James has served as the Honorary Treasurer and an Executive Committee (EXCO) member of APACS from February 2020 to February 2022. As a representative of APACS, James worked closely with other mental healthcare practitioners, and policymakers to shape the local mental healthcare scene. Through the APACS-HSEU-NTUC retainer clinic programme, James provides counselling to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Jurong Community Hospital staff from 2020 to 2022.
In addition to his work with The Lion Mind, James is an Associate Lecturer with Republic Polytechnic. He facilitates healthcare and social services related modules such as ‘Biopsychosocial Aspects of Ageing’, ‘Communication & Health Coaching’, ‘ Social & Family Dynamics’, and ‘Multidisciplinary & Multisectoral Care for Seniors’.
James has presented in two oral presentations during the 5th Asia Pacific Rim International Psychotherapy and Counselling Conference 2017 in Singapore, and has published a peer-reviewed paper in the Australia Counselling Association (ACA)’s Counselling Australia Magazine.