Brenda completed her postgraduate clinical training in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, during which, she worked in various settings including the Black Dog Institute and the Anxiety Treatment and Research Unit at Westmead Hospital. Upon returning to Singapore, she spent many years providing psychotherapy and conducting assessments with adults at the Institute of Mental Health.
She has a breadth of experience having been placed in various contexts such as community, forensic, outpatient and inpatient settings. She has also spent a number of years as part of the Mood Disorders Unit, a multidisciplinary team, specialising in the treatment of mood disorders in the inpatient and outpatient settings. Taking her prior experience in group psychotherapy in Australia, she co-developed a short term group psychotherapy treatment for individuals with mood and anxiety disorders where the outcomes of the treatment was presented as a poster at the joint International Society for Affective Disorders and International Society for Bipolar Disorders in 2016. She also has experience in conducting brief focused group therapy for individuals with interpersonal difficulties.
A firm believer of education, she has conducted trainings for General Practitioners and spoke at public forums on issues relating to mental health. In addition, she has also provided clinical supervision to junior psychologists and students completing their postgraduate degree in clinical psychology.
Whilst she has worked with individuals ranging from relationship issues to characteristical problems, she has a keen interest working with individuals who struggle with anxiety and mood difficulties. She is trained in various therapy modalities including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Schema Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Interpersonal Social Rhythm Therapy, mindfulness-based approaches and group psychotherapy.
Brenda is no stranger to working sensitively and deeply with her clients, and is known for her personable, nurturing and exploratory style of psychotherapy which facilitates deeper self understanding and resolution for the clients she has worked with. She strives to honour her clients’ experiences and believes in working alongside her clients towards resolution of the difficulties they bring into therapy.