Anxiety Counselling and Therapy
Feelings of anxiety are a natural response to stress; whether it’s in your daily life, work, or relationships, there are always stressors that may evoke these feelings. When they become overwhelming or recurring, one’s overall well-being may be affected.
At In Focus, we provide anxiety counselling and therapy to help individuals manage anxiety, fear, stress and overwhelming emotions in a safe, supportive environment.
“What you are aware of, you are in control of: what you are not aware of, is in control of you.”- Anthony de Mello – author and psychotherapist
Anxiety is the body’s natural response to stress or perceived threat. It’s a feeling of fear or apprehension, often presenting physically as jitteriness and tension. In a fast-paced environment, like modern life, feeling anxious is common. Situations like job interviews, starting school or a new job, taking tests, or presentations can naturally evoke anxiety. While uncomfortable, anxiety isn’t necessarily negative. In some cases, it can help us stay focused and motivated. If you’re looking for anxiety therapy and counselling in Singapore, we can help you to work towards your goals.
Typically, anxiety is transient and doesn’t significantly affect our daily lives. However, if it persists, it increases in intensity or frequency, you may benefit from anxiety counselling and therapy.
Situations Where Anxiety May Arise
Anxiety can arise in various situations. Recognising these is important for taking charge of your mental health. Some include:
- Stressful Life Events
Major changes (new job, new school, relationship rupture, life transitions like parenting, caregiving, or retirement). - Chronic Stress
Ongoing stress (work, relationships, finances). - Health Issues
Physical illnesses or conditions, especially those involving long-term care. - Unresolved Past Issues
Intense, impactful, or traumatic past experiences. - Substance Use
Alcohol or long-term medication use (during consumption or withdrawal).
Seeking support through anxiety counselling and therapy can help you regain control, build confidence, and navigate challenges with greater resilience.
Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety
Anxiety can manifest in various symptoms:
- Irrational Fears
Constant alertness to potential danger, intense fear, anticipating the worst. - Excessive Guilt
Persistent belief you’ve done or will do something wrong. - Sleep Problems/Insomnia
Waking at random hours, difficulty sleeping. - Persistent Worry
Thoughts interfering with daily life.
- Dread and Apprehension
Sense of impending doom, low motivation. - Poor Concentration
Racing mind affecting focus. - Physical Discomfort
Heart palpitations, shortness of breath, headaches, dizziness, stomach pain, frequent urination/diarrhea, muscle tension/twitching, shaking, sweating, sleep difficulties. Extreme cases can involve panic attacks (severe chest pain, elevated heartbeat, choking, sweating, feeling like a heart attack).
If these symptoms are regular or overwhelming, or if you experience sudden surges of intense fear (panic attacks), your daily life and functioning can be significantly affected. Anxiety therapy can help manage these symptoms.
Types of Anxiety
Anxious feelings can show up in many ways throughout daily life. Some people experience nervousness in social situations, while others feel restless when facing unexpected events or big decisions. Concerns about personal goals, family matters, or future plans may also lead to ongoing worry.
Medically, people may be diagnosed based on different types of anxiety disorders. These names help describe how anxiety can show up in different patterns.
Panic Attacks:
Sudden waves of intense fear or discomfort that can happen without warning, and that appear throughout daily life.
Social Anxiety:
Deep fear of judgement or embarrassment in social or public situations, that debilitate the ability to function.
Generalised Anxiety:
A constant, persistent sense of worry or unease that can linger for months or years, often about everyday things like work, family, or the future.
Anxiety Disorder:
An umbrella term for when anxious thoughts and feelings become so persistent or intense that they are diagnosed as a mental health condition.
While these may be medical diagnosis, In Focus recognise how these symptoms can be debiitating for clients. Beyond the symptoms, we see our clients as individuals with struggles. Thus we aim to help clients make sense of their internal experience, manage and take care of their anxiety, reconnect with what matters most to them, and empower their lives.
Our Approaches
At In Focus, we take a client-centred approach, and we ease clients into a therapy environment where they can feel safe in exploring their emotional state. We aim to impart skills for self-directed emotional regulation, and provide a close sense of support in helping them address their challenges.
Additionally, our approaches are backed by psychological principles and neuroscience. Growth and change is possible regardless of age due to the flexibility of our brain (a.k.a. neuroplasticity). Counselling and therapy provides the experiences and new options possible for shaping how our brain grows and works. When the new neural networks are formed and re-activated with repetition and intentionality over time, they tend to run automatically. On this basis, we meet our clients weekly or fortnightly and help our clients work through their issues. Our approaches are informed by several proven methods of counselling, including Choice Theory & Reality Therapy and Emotion Focused Therapy. These are integrated with other complementary approaches in professional counselling such as Person-Centred Therapy. Based on an initial consultation, we select the most appropriate approach, or a combination of approaches, to find the best path in helping clients work towards healing and self-empowerment.
Choice Theory & Reality Therapy (CTRT)
CTRT emphasises empowerment through personal agency and the power of choice in creating meaningful change. It helps individuals recognise their current best attempts to meet basic psychological needs but which may have inadvertently compromised other needs. It helps individuals discover alternative and more effective ways while getting along with people who matter to them. CTRT is a versatile approach. At In Focus, CTRT is practiced in an empathic and compassionate way, pacing with clients’ readiness for change. At the same time, clients see hope in practical and action-oriented ways towards living a life of greater internal freedom.
Emotion Focused Therapy Approach
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) is based on the idea that emotions are important part of who we are. It helps clients access, understand, and transform emotional responses, especially the overwhelming and ‘numbed out’ emotions. EFT approach facilitates the process of connecting to the emotions in a safe way. Unlike behaviour or cognition driven therapies, EFT focuses deeply on emotional processing to create self awareness, lasting internal change and shifts in interpersonal dynamics.
To find out more about the various approaches, click here.
Our Anxiety Counselling Therapists
At In Focus, counsellors prioritise working with you to understand what matters most and how to best support you, rather than relying on a direct diagnosis or applying static labels onto clients.
We believe anxiety symptoms can indicate deeper issues, and we create an empathic, non-judgmental environment for exploring these issues through anxiety therapy. Working beyond diagnosis has been proven to empower individuals long-term, and helps them connect with their own emotional experiences.
Senior Principal Counsellor, Counselling Psychotherapist, Clinical Supervisor
Evelyn Rochelle Koh
Evelyn is a highly experienced counsellor and psychotherapist with over 20 years of practice, working with youths, couples, families, and individuals to support their emotional and mental well-being. She is a passionate educator and clinical supervisor, training and mentoring professionals across the helping fields, and brings warmth, clarity, and empowerment to her therapeutic work.
Senior Counsellor
Cheryl Lee
Cheryl is a dedicated counsellor driven by a deep passion to help others live life meaningfully. She works with adults, youths, and couples on a wide range of emotional and relational challenges, using an integrative approach grounded in Choice Theory Reality Therapy and Emotion-Focused Therapy. Cheryl creates a safe and empathetic space where clients can explore their struggles, reconnect with themselves, and move towards more empowered and fulfilling lives.
When Should I Go For Anxiety Counselling or Therapy?
If you are regularly experiencing the above symptoms, or if you feel that your daily life and functioning are being significantly affected by anxious feelings, it may be time to consult a mental health professional. Anxiety counselling/therapy could help you manage these symptoms and restore your peace of mind.
Seeking Help For Your Anxiety, Alongside In Focus Counselling and Therapy Services
Living with anxiety can be challenging. However, you don’t have to face these experiences alone. Even if there is a diagnosis, it offers information but it is not your identity nor destiny. Beyond symptom management, anxiety counselling provides help in learning to manage daily challenges, while therapy addresses deeper issues.
When anxiety interferes with daily life or feels overwhelming, it may be time to seek support. Some seek help with anxiety management skills (relaxation techniques, lifestyle changes, social support). However, many go further in personal growth, internal change, and improved relationships. Our counsellors are here to guide you and work with you on what’s most important and prioritise your needs.
Contact us today for anxiety therapy or anxiety counselling in Singapore.
What Our Clients Say
We’re grateful to share these testimonials, kindly given with permission. To respect our clients’ privacy, counselling clients’ names have been changed according to their preferences.
How to Get Started
Our counselling sessions begin from $150/hr for individuals and $200/hr for couples and family counselling. Each session lasts 1.5hrs on average to allow for meaningful exploration and processing. Sessions are held weekly or fortnightly. We recommend weekly sessions as lasting change happens with consistency, close follow-up and support, and deepening of the work over time. All sessions are conducted in person, face-to-face to support meaningful connection and engagement in a safe space.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if I need counselling help for anxiety or if it is stress that I can get through on my own?
There is a fine distinction between stress and anxiety. In both situations, there may be similar symptoms such as feelings of worry, increased heart rate, difficulty sleeping, and changes in appetite.
Stress is typically an internal response when facing external events such as deadlines, presentations, exams, interviews, starting a new job, or moving to a new place. It is usually short-term, and these internal experiences tend to pass once the event is over.
Anxiety, on the other hand, involves persistent feelings of worry, nervousness, apprehension, and dread, along with physiological symptoms like jitteriness, a racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, and insomnia. These symptoms persist even when specific stressful events have ended.
Lifestyle changes such as getting good sleep, exercising, maintaining good nutrition, and balancing work, leisure, and time with friends and family can help alleviate symptoms. However, if these measures are insufficient and daily functioning remains affected by anxiety, seeking anxiety counselling and therapy in Singapore can be beneficial.
What can I expect from anxiety counselling?
Anxiety counselling is a form of talk therapy that helps you better understand the issues associated with your anxiety. It provides clarity on what is important to you and helps you plan how to take charge and move forward towards your goals. Furthermore, you will also learn how to manage your feelings and symptoms more effectively in daily life.
During the process, you may uncover deeper issues underlying your distress. There is also the option of receiving further psychotherapy to work towards resolving these issues. If past experiences are impacting your present life and struggles, these can also be addressed in anxiety therapy, fostering healing and empowerment.
Do medications have to be taken together with counselling and psychotherapy to improve my anxiety?
Every individual’s situation, severity of symptoms, and preferences are unique. For many individuals, counselling and psychotherapy alone are sufficient when they actively apply what they have learned and make changes in their lives. For others, medications may serve as temporary support while they undergo counselling and psychotherapy. This is determined on a case-by-case basis. If you have concerns or questions about medication, these can be discussed during the counselling process with your medical provider to help you gain clarity on what may be best suited for your situation.
How long does it take to see improvement with anxiety therapy?
The timeline for seeing improvements varies from person to person. The key is consistency, openness and intentionality in the process. Our trained professionals are able to help you gain insights, develop new perspectives, and discover new ways of approaching your struggles and issues. At the same time, counselling and therapeutic outcomes are also collaborative in nature and deliberate effort in applying what has been learnt in sessions is also key to change. If you’re committed to making positive changes, keep hopeful and trust the process, anxiety therapy in Singapore can help you go a long way towards feeling more solid, at ease, and in charge of your life.
Can anxiety counselling work for long-term anxiety?
Absolutely. Anxiety counselling and anxiety therapy are suitable regardless of how long you have been facing these struggles. The key is an openness to the process and a willingness to commit to the change process. We understand people struggling with long-term anxiety may find it hard even to imagine what a different way of life might feel like where they feel more at ease and even safe. Thus, at In Focus, we are committed to our clients’ journey, and our belief is to see them through and support them in this change process.
Is there a difference between anxiety counselling and psychotherapy?
While both anxiety counselling and psychotherapy aim to help you manage anxiety, there are some differences. Counselling is typically more focused on addressing current problems and solving the problems.
Psychotherapy, on the other hand, is focused on going deeper into one’s experiences to help a person heal and grow at a deeper level. Depending on your needs, In Focus may recommend a combination of both to ensure comprehensive support.
Get In Touch With Us Today
Interested in exploring counselling and therapy? Leave us a message or call us at +65 8725 9303.
Visit our FAQ page to find answers to some of the most common questions.
If you need immediate help, please call SOS at 1800 221 4444 (24 hours) or send an email to pat@samaritans.org.sg
ABOUT US
At In Focus, we empathise with our clients as they go through myriad of life’s problems, stresses and challenges which are overwhelming at times. As these happened to us too. The only difference is, it is our profession to help others overcome these life hurdles so as to live life to the fullest.
OUR SERVICES
We have a range of services available for your consideration depending on your needs. You can get in touch with us for coaching services, corporate consultation, professional training, counselling and psychotherapy services. Please visit our services page to see what we offer.
CONTACT US
Phone: +65 8725 9303
Email: enquiry@in-focus.com.sg