Counselling Psychologist
BPsych (Hons), M.A. (Applied Psychology)
Sumathi is a Registered Psychologist who completed her Master of Arts (Applied Psychology – Counseling Psychology) in National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University (NIE-NTU) and received her Bachelor of Psychology (Hons) from James Cook University. She was awarded the Community Care Manpower Development Award (mid-term scholarship for her postgraduate studies) in 2021.
Sumathi has over 7 years of experience in the social service sector spanning a wide range of populations. She was a Senior Youth Guidance Officer in Singapore Girls’ Home, Ministry of Social and Family Development for close to three years where she worked with adolescents presenting with complex trauma, suicidal ideation, self-harm behaviors and psycho-social difficulties. She later worked in an Early Intervention Centre to support children with additional needs (e.g. Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Global Developmental Delay) and their caregivers in improving their emotional regulation, attention and social communication difficulties. She also administered school placement assessments to right-sight children moving on to mainstream or special education schools and conducted caregiver workshops to support their transition into their next stage of education.
On top of her experience in working with children and adolescents, Sumathi has gained additional experience with adults and elderly from the community. The presenting issues that she is trained to assess and commonly consults for include depression, anxiety, trauma, OCD, insomnia and interpersonal issues. She was invited to give a talk to Disney+ employees on the role of media and its impact on people’s body image in 2022.
Sumathi employs therapeutic approaches from various modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Schema Therapy, Choice Theory/Reality Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and Positive Psychology. She is also trained in interventions for managing challenging behaviors of young children. She believes in adapting to the unique needs of clients, creating a collaborative therapeutic relationship and providing a non-judgmental and empathetic environment for them to develop and improve in the ways they aspire to.
In her time outside of work, Sumathi believes in taking care of her physical and mental health. Sumathi loves watching anything comedy, having delicious food with family and friends and reading a good book. Sumathi is able to provide therapy in English and Tamil, via face-to-face and Zoom sessions.
