Depression Counselling and Therapy

At In Focus, we offer depression counselling and therapy to help individuals navigate depressive feelings like sadness, hopelessness, and related emotional distress. If depression is affecting your daily life, work, relationships, or sense of self, you don’t have to face it alone—support is available.

Connect with a Counsellor

“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle

reaching out - depression counselling and therapy

It’s natural to experience periods of melancholy as a part of life. While these feelings are usually brief, they typically don’t last long. However, if feelings of sadness, low mood, and negative thoughts persist, they can intensify, affecting your quality of life, work, and relationships. If you are looking for depression therapy and counselling, you’ve come to the right place.

Signs And Symptoms Of Depression

Depression is more than just feeling down. It’s a deep, ongoing experience impacting every part of life, often associated with despair, emptiness, or hopelessness. While sadness is natural, depression goes beyond that. The feelings are persistent and accompanied by thought patterns and intense physiological sensations. Noticing these signs is the first step towards seeking support. Depression counselling can help you understand these signs.

Depression can manifest in various ways, including:

  • Persistent feelings of helplessness
  • Uncontrollable or unexpected crying
  • Fatigue and sleep difficulties
  • Anger or irritability
  • Changes in appetite
  • Difficulty experiencing pleasure or joy
  • Self-loathing
  • Reckless behavior
  • Thoughts of self-harm

These symptoms vary. Some describe it as “living in a black hole” or being followed by a “suffocating grey cloud.” Others feel lifeless, apathetic, or empty, finding it difficult to engage socially or losing interest in once-enjoyed activities. Despite how overwhelming these feelings can be, with the right help and support, it is possible to manage and even overcome these symptoms. Depression therapy offers this support.

Some Situations Linked to Depression

Depression may be linked to various factors or situations:

  • Life Changes:
    Major transitions (job loss, relationship end, relocation, significant losses).
  • Negative Self-Image:
    Long-term negative self-image, seeing oneself as bad, inferior, unloved, or unworthy, leading to harsh self-criticism.
  • Adverse Life Experiences:
    Abuse, neglect, or traumatic experiences can significantly impact a person. Unresolved emotional wounds may surface as depressive symptoms.
  • Chronic Stress:
    Ongoing stress (work, finances, caregiving) can contribute to burnout and depressive symptoms.
  • Medical Conditions:
    Physical health problems (chronic pain, long-term illness).

Benefits of Depression Counselling and Therapy

Depression counselling and depression therapy provide a safe, collaborative environment to address the complex emotions and issues associated with depressive feelings and thoughts. At In Focus, you’ll find a supportive space to gain insight, develop resilience, and work towards a more fulfilling life. Here’s what it can offer:

  • Self-Understanding:
    Gain deeper self-awareness, understanding your challenges and related issues.
  • Collaborative Approach:
    Discover and build healthy ways to manage emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, eventually overcoming them with personalised support.
  • Building Resilience:
    Strengthen emotional resilience, equipping yourself to face life’s ups and downs with a more empowered outlook.
  • Achieving Positive Change:
    Set meaningful, realistic goals and create attainable plans aligned with your personal vision for a healthier, more satisfying life.
counselling, therapy and treatment

Is It Time to Consider Depression Counselling and Therapy?

silhouette-flying-birds-broken-chains

If you’ve experienced prolonged sadness, low mood, or hopelessness, it may be time to consider support. If these feelings affect your quality of life, work, or relationships, it doesn’t need to continue. Working with a qualified counsellor or therapist means you don’t have to be alone. Not only is depression management possible, the process leads to personal growth and development.

Depression therapy can offer a compassionate space to explore the root causes of these emotions and find ways to manage them more effectively. At In Focus Counseling & Therapy, we’re here to walk alongside you, providing a personalised, empathic, and safe approach to help you reconnect with a more fulfilling and balanced life. Seeking support is an empowering step toward living in line with your aspirations. Our counsellor or therapist will work with you at a pace that respects your needs and goals. 

Contact In Focus Counseling & Therapy today for depression therapy or depression counselling in Singapore.

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 Depression 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.

More about our Professional Team

What Our Clients Say

"I have always been a confident and charismatic leader but desired to understand my emotions and be less angsty when dealing with inconveniences. I knew my childhood was not the best, but could not put into words why that was the case. Thus, I sought out psychotherapy. Cheryl was my counsellor and she asked questions that helped to develop my thinking and taught me skills and lessons that allowed me to grow outside of therapy. If this sounds like something that you want, but have any uncertainties or certain requirements, you can always arrange a call to discuss. I highly recommend the work done here."
K.M,25 years old, male
"Evelyn displayed a thorough knowledge of Dr William Glasser's work, how it was developed and comfortably able to develop this knowledge to us. She was keenly aware of our varied personalities and was able to step in and guide us as individuals. I felt acknowledged irrespective of what my views were or the many questions I had."
Angela Mitakidisformer manager, Mediation Services of Eagles Mediation and Counselling Centre
"Cheryl had been very supportive and respectful of my needs in this journey. I could sense her sincerity in addressing my needs and ensuring that she holds the space for me, making sense of the clutter in my head and also being affirming of the growth in the time that we had these few years. I appreciate how she maintains professionalism even when addressing issues and never taking a blaming stance. Overall I am glad to have had her guidance in this journey and would never forget the kindness and understanding she had extended thus far. 100/10 would recommend having Cheryl as your counsellor."
Y.T27 years old, social worker
"I received supervision from Evelyn for two practicum modules with William Glasser Institute (Singapore) - Basic Practicum and Advanced Practicum. She has been instrumental in providing a supportive platform for learning in my journey to be a certified Choice Theory / Reality Therapy practicioner. Evelyn's approach is gentle yet firm, nurturing yet assertive. She sees beyond the requirements of the modules and focuses on the growth of the practitioners in the professional and personal sense. In that aspect, I find the sessions enjoyable and energising, always leaving me motivated to learn more after each session. In addition, Evelyn provides timely feedback which helps me pace my own learning. Lastly I am impressed by Evelyn's dedication to supervision."
Andy Lamformer Centre Manager and Senior Counsellor of Whispering Hearts family Service Centre
"Overall experience of counselling and therapy with my counsellor Cheryl was very good. She created a safe and trusting space, allowed me to feel comfortable and authentic. Skills were very good in helping me identify themes in my life and helped me resolve issues that had direct impact on my present day functioning. Very applicable."
Anonymous29 years old, female
“I learnt to understand and use CTRT, and learnt how versatile it is to be applied to all types of cases. I enjoyed watching Evelyn’s role play demonstrations and to be guided with suggestions on how to conduct CTRT interviews”
Rachel Tan,Social Worker
"All in all, I think a good counsellor is a professional listener, who understands what you feel, can empathise with you, call you out on things you need to face, not tell you the answer but help you build mental resilience so you can face it yourself and find your own answer. In this regard, I think Cheryl is an exceptional counsellor."
E.W29 years old
"In the CTRT training, I liked learning from Evelyn's deep experience and Cheryl's sharp detail-focus was very illuminating."
AlsonPR and Comms Professional
Since 2020, In Focus Counseling & Therapy Services has walked alongside HCSA Dayspring on a journey of growth and development. Their presence has touched many of us - from providing vital mental health support for our staff and nurturing leaders through supervision, to enriching our team through training and throughtful consultations.... Working with trauma survivors requires immense emotional resilience, and In Focus truly understands this. Through their dedicated support of our staff's mental health and professional growth, they've become integral partners in our mission to help those we serve.
Maria Chuaformer Director of HCSA Dayspring
“I liked the clarity in explanation of CTRT and the role play practices in this training. Evelyn has a warm personality and was effective in facilitation of learning for participants. Both trainers Evelyn and Cheryl facilitate very well."
Serene LohCounsellor
"What I liked about the training were that the explanations by Evelyn and Cheryl were thorough and relevant in our training."
JoySocial Worker
“I have been attending counselling sessions with InFocus for the past 3 years. i started attending after a break-up and was feeling very upset and emotional. Cheryl has been very patient in helping me to sort out my feelings and holding a safe space for me to release my emotions. Thereafter the sessions evolved into counselling other aspects of my life, inparticular, recognising my inner child, being gentle and kind to her. Other therapy work included how to make better decisions and how to communicate better with others. After 3 years, I feel much more confident in myself and my ability to face challenges with a positive attitude."
Miss Tan

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

1
Reach Out
Call or leave a message via email, WhatsApp, or the 'Contact Us' page on our website briefly describing what you would like help with and your availability for us to get in touch.
2
Initial Complimentary Consultation Call
We’ll arrange a complimentary 20 – 30 mins consultation call with our counsellor / therapist, where you can share what you are going through and the support you are looking for. During the call, if you are not sure where to start, our counsellor / therapist will guide you by asking questions. You’ll get to experience speaking with our counsellor / therapist and get a sense of how we work
3
Begin Your Journey
If it feels like a good fit and you’re ready to begin, we’ll schedule your weekly/fortnightly sessions to begin your journey with your counsellor / therapist.

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

Counselling is a form of talk therapy that helps you understand and address the issues contributing to your depressive feelings. It’s a journey of self-discovery, where you gain clarity on what is important to you and create a plan to move towards a more joyful, fulfilling, and satisfying life.

During depression counselling, you may uncover deeper issues underlying the ongoing distress. You have the option to explore these further through psychotherapy, working towards resolving them. Depression therapy can also address how past experiences impact your current life and struggles, promoting healing and empowerment. 

If a person is experiencing a crisis and has very active suicidal urges, the priority is to keep them safe. Here are some helplines to approach:

  • IMH Helpline: 6389 2222 (24hr) 
  • SOS Helpline: 1800 221 4444 (24hr)

In the event of an immediate risk, call 999, or bring the person to the emergency room at your nearest hospital if you are able to do so safely. 

Stability and commitment to safety are necessary conditions for progress in depression counselling and therapy. 

When someone feels depressed to the extent of considering self-harm or suicide, they often feel very alone and unsupported. In addition to individual counselling, we encourage family involvement through family counselling and therapy, providing a broader support network to aid in the healing process.

Every individual’s situation, severity of symptoms, safety risk and preferences are unique. For many, depression counselling and psychotherapy alone are effective when they actively apply what they learn in sessions and make positive changes in their lives. In some cases, medications serve as temporary support while undergoing counselling and psychotherapy. These decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. If you have any questions, they will be addressed during the counselling process, incorporating information from your medical provider to help you gain clarity on the most appropriate course of action.

Depression counselling offers you help to address current challenges, and depression therapy helps you go further to understand and even heal from the deeper issues linked to depressive symptoms. 

At In Focus, we take a personalised approach in counselling and therapy. With both counselling and therapy, you will develop new perspectives, address personal issues that impact you at a deeper level and learn new ways to relate to yourself, others and the world around you and improve your overall well-being for the long term.

Yes, counselling can be a valuable resource for managing work-related stress and burnout, including those feeling overwhelmed by job demands, deadlines, or challenging work environments. When there are deeper issues linked to the present stress at work or feelings of overwhelm, such as an overwhelming sense of guilt or excessively harsh and critical stance towards self, therapy can be appropriate to also go further to helping you at a more profound level to unpack these challenges to address the core issues.

The duration of counselling and therapy is different for everyone, as it’s based on each person’s unique needs, goals, and personal growth journey. 

At In Focus, we take a collaborative approach, working closely with you according to your progress and aspirations. Intermittent review of the journey, progress and goals will be done together, supporting a path towards a more fulfilling and balanced life.

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

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Chan Pei Lin

Master of Guidance and Counselling (MGC)

Counsellor Masters in Guidance and Counselling (MGC), James Cook University Bachelor of Arts (Psychology), University of Buffalo New York State

I have always had a keen interest in working with children and youth. I find it fulfilling and meaningful to be working, supporting and guiding them, and I now have more than eight years of experience in this area. After graduating from the University of Buffalo, New York State with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, I started working with children and youth with Special Needs in early intervention. From my interactions with my clients over these years, I have come to see that being able to provide the emotional support that they and their families need is very important.

Being diagnosed with dyslexia and tactile defensives (Sensory Integrative Disorder), I remember the unconditional and judgement-free support I received from families and friends that got me through the various challenges. Therefore, I aim to offer the same unconditional support and judgement-free interaction to all my clients. Through my personal experience, I understand how crucial it is for individuals to develop a strong emotional foundation and a support network, especially those in similar circumstance. Therefore, I strongly believe in journeying and supporting individuals through stressful times, and in working with their loved ones through the strengthening of the bonds within the family unit.

I am trained in the major counselling and therapeutic approaches and also in Choice Theory Reality Therapy and Behavioural Therapy. My work is informed by Person Centred Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, and Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy. Beyond children and youth, I have counselled clients in other settings and age groups including young adults and families. I am particularly interested in supporting people in building resilience and skills to cope with stress, anxiety adjustments and overall socio-emotional needs. Given my own personal and work experience, I firmly believe that everyone deserves a chance in a fulfilling life. To better support my clients, I am currently pursuing my certification for Choice Theory and Reality Therapy after obtaining my Masters in Guidance and Counselling at James Cook University.

Evelyn Rochelle Koh

Senior Principal Counsellor, Counselling Psychotherapist, Clinical Supervisor

Master of Social Science (Counselling), CTRTC, EFT, EFCT
Clinical Supervisor & Instructor (Senior Faculty of William Glasser International & William Glasser Institute, Singapore)

Certified Human Behaviour Analyst (DISC)
Certified PREPARE-ENRICH

I developed a passion in counselling when I started out as a school volunteer counsellor working with youth. I saw the transformative power of the counselling relationship on the youths in school and even later in life beyond school. This was a life changing experience for me and I was spurred to setup my own private counselling and psychotherapy practice in 2004. That was a time when there were few counselling and consultation services in Singapore. Since then, I have been working with youths, couples, parents, working adults on their emotional issues and mental health and well-being through counselling and psychotherapy for over 20 years.

Beyond helping my clients within the counselling room, I believe in tapping on the multiplier effect to bring healing and strength to individuals, and relationships between couples and within families. I thus expanded my work and I now devote a large portion of my time towards raising the skills and competencies of the helping profession through lecturing, training, clinical supervision and consultancy services.

My area of passion and specialisation is Choice Theory, Reality Therapy, Lead Management (CTRTLM) because it is highly empowering. I thus find great joy in training counsellors, therapist, social workers, coaches, leaders and managers in this area.  I am also trained in Emotion Focused Therapy, Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and Gottman Couples Therapy and my work is also informed by therapeutic models such as Positive Psychology, Humanistic Therapy, Experiential Therapy and Systemic Family Therapy.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with organisations across different sectors, ranging from Youth Centers, Family Service Centers and Specialist Centers to the Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Ministry of Education (MOE). The latter two involved projects where I was able to share my passion for helping youth in Singapore. With the HPB, I helped develop the Peer Support Program for youth and conducted training for youth leaders from tertiary institutions and for those involved in the online peer support network “Youthpals”. With the MOE, I conducted cluster training for school counsellors and teachers on counselling and therapy skills to better help our students.

It is also my firm conviction that all situations of loss and pain can be opportunities for deep healing, growth and connection. I have thus been committed to providing regular training on the topic of “Grief and Loss” to social service practitioners through the Social Service Institute (SSI).

Curriculum Vitae

  • Registered Singapore Counselor with Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC)
  • Registered Clinical Supervisor with Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC)
  • Registered Social Service Practitioner with Singapore Association of Social Workers (SASW)
  • Professional member of the American Counselling Association (ACA)
  • Senior Faculty member as Approved Instructor and Supervisor of William Glasser International and William Glasser Institute, Singapore. At William Glasser Institute, Singapore, Evelyn is serving in the Executive Committee to advocate Dr. William Glasser’s teaching in Choice Theory Psychology, Reality Therapy and Lead Management.
  • External Lecturer/ Clinical Supervisor, Swinburne University of Technology
  • Clinical Supervisor, James Cook University Singapore, Monash University
  • Associate Adult Educator, Social Service Institute
  • Trained in Gottman Couples Therapy, The Gottman Institute
  • Trained in Emotion-Focused Therapy, York University, EFT Clinic
  • Trained in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy, International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy, Canada