A Note To You
Hey There!
My name is Nicole. Thanks for visiting and reading this.
First of all, I applaud your courage to start seeking help. It’s not easy, but it means you are taking a step towards a better tomorrow, and it means a great deal!
I have worked in the commercial sector for many years before making the change to become a counsellor. I feel that as we move through life, we are exposed to continuous stressful, unpredictable and uncontrollable situations that it becomes really hard to cope. As a result, we feel lost and become helpless.
I firmly believe that everyone needs a ‘safe space’ to self-reflect and re-align our own beliefs and values, so that we can stay on track towards a rich and meaningful life. I am passionate in providing such a platform to support individuals like you.
Our sessions are suitable for anyone who wishes to sort out their big or small mind-boggling problems that are stressing them out. I have supported individuals to cope with their anxiety or depressive struggles, figure out their life directions, improve their self-confidence and make sense of their relationship struggles.
It will be my honour to be able to start a conversation with you.
With Warmest Wishes,
Nicole Boo
Counsellor
M.Couns, Counselling
My Qualifications
I hold a Masters of Counselling at Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). I am working towards being a member of Singapore Association for Counselling and work ethically under their Code of Ethics.
My professional qualifications for short term therapies include Essential of CBT by Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy – Beginner & Depression and Anxiety Disorders. As part of my personal interest towards grief and loss, I have also completed the following short courses - Introduction to Grief and Its Complications, An Integrated Model for the Bereaved, Grief Therapy as Meaning Reconstruction 8-Hour Practicum by Portland Institute For Loss and Transition
What is Chamomile Time?
That’s the name I give to my counselling sessions! I realise that there may be some prejudice towards the term ‘counselling’, being reminded of the mandatory counselling in other settings.
I hope to change the misconception of viewing counselling as an undesirable last resort solution to address life stresses and mental health concerns. I aim to offer preventive counselling sessions that you can adopt as part of your self-care plan. I am passionate to create a safe and comfortable ‘Chamomile Time’ for you to freely express yourself and to bravely challenge your own thoughts without reserve.
What to Expect?
Effective counselling highly depends on the relationship between you and your counsellor. You may only feel safe and comfortable enough to open up when you have a strong trust with your counsellor. Like any kind of relationships, trust takes time to build, so it is perfectly normal to feel awkward and uncomfortable in the beginning. Every counsellor is different in term of their approaches, style and even personality. Thus, it is completely fine if you find that our Chamomile Time is not helpful to you. It does not means that counselling does not work for you. It just means that another counsellor’s approach may suits you better.
For my approach, I adopt an integrative approach, applying techniques from:
Person-centered therapy - Believing that people have the ability to deal with obstacles and figure out their own answers. The emphasis will be focused on promoting self-awareness and self-reflection by staying in the present moment, experiencing and expressing feelings.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - A learning process that help you to be self-aware of your faulty thinking which lead to emotional and behavioural disturbance. The emphasis will be examining unhelpful assumptions and replace them with more effective belief.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy - Learning to embrace negative thoughts and feelings instead of fighting them. A different perspective that aims to help you to unhook yourself from difficult thoughts and feelings to focus on values and things that are most important to you.
Narrative Therapy - Believing that the person is not the problem; the problem is the problem. The emphasis will be to helping you to be have more self-aware of your capabilities that will assist you to reduce the influence of problems in your life.
During session, be prepared to:
Have a conversation with me
Answer personal questions to help me to understand you and your concerns better
Be ready to answer questions that may help to challenge your thoughts
Participate in simple exercises and receive homework that will help you, as and when required
Accept that counselling is not a quick fix to your problem, but rather it is a process to help you gain competency to overcome your problems
Accept that counselling will only work if you take personal responsibility of improving your own life
Not expect any advices or opinions as it is unethical for counsellors to impose their own values into the sessions
Don’t be afraid to:
Open up so that the session will be more beneficial for you
Be honest about your feelings
Ask questions you may have about counselling at any point
Let me know when you are not comfortable at any point during the session or not ready to talk about certain topics. We will work within your pace.
Provide me with feedback about the sessions so that the session can be adjusted to benefit you better.
About Confidentiality
As a counsellor, I am committed to keep your sharing in all sessions as confidential. As a private practitioner, I have the advantage of not being affiliated to any organisations. Thus, you can be assured that our conversations will not be shared with your school, your workplace and your family members without your permission.
However, here are some exceptions to this confidentiality rule:
Upon valid court order
When you are in danger of hurting yourself or someone else
When child abuse or elder abuse is suspected
When you need to be hospitalised
The last exception is, as part of our ethical guidelines, we have something call supervision. All counsellors have to have supervision. This means I need to talk through my work with another experienced counsellor. It is important that I get a fresh perspective from a supervisor to ensure the effectiveness of our counselling sessions. However, do rest assure that during the supervision, your name, address or any contact details will not be disclosed.
“We think we listen, but rarely do we listen with real understanding, true empathy. Yet listening of this very special kind is one of the most potent forces for change that I know.”
~ Carl Rogers, founder of person-centered therapy
Let’s Start a Conversation About You
