Anorexia nervosa is defined as the never-ending chase for thinness by self-induced starvation despite progressive damage to almost every organ in the body which could result in death. It is the most life-threatening of all mental disorders, with one in five either dying from complications associated with starvation such as damage to the heart, brain and other organs, or from suicide. Anorexics often have a distorted body image of themselves and are gripped by a demonic fear of putting on weight. Even if they are abnormally weak or dangerously underweight, it is still not quite enough. They des ..read more

Join our principal psychologist, Neo Eng Chuan, in an interview with Dr Sandra Paivio, who is an expert in working with complex trauma. Below are highlights of the interview. Watch the video for more of the entire interview. Question: How did you come to this area of focus in your clinical work? Sandra: It was in the context of doing a clinical trial with Les Greenberg for my dissertation on “unfinished business”. There was a group of people in that sample who were dealing with complex trauma and they had a kind of special needs in terms of the processes that were implemented. I became very i ..read more

A radio conversation on complex trauma, its causes, effects, and effective interventions Join our principal psychologist, Neo Eng Chuan, in a radio interview with Joel Chua on 93.8FM Live Journeys Within to understand more about Complex Trauma, its causes, signs and symptoms, impacts on psychological well being, real life examples and psychotherapeutic approaches to treat and heal Complex Trauma. Click here! “The most profound thing that develops or evolves as therapy progresses is when the client transforms from someone who is so meek, so afraid of the perpetrator, to a person or a place wher ..read more

The writer has been exhibiting symptoms of major depressive disorder since he was a child. He has been to multiple counsellors over different issues before settling for the one at CaperSpring. Coming to terms that I needed help was puzzling to say the least. For a long time, I believed that being mentally ill would mean that I was abnormal. I thought that people who were “mental” had something inherently wrong. Suffice to say, my own stigma against mental illnesses stemmed from naivety during my childhood. We form our core beliefs at a very young age and these are influenced by the environment ..read more

Men in Mental Health #1: I was unaware of how to express my emotions and it made me depressed. The writer has been exhibiting symptoms of major depressive disorder since he was a child. He has been to multiple counsellors over different issues before settling for the one at CaperSpring. For the larger part of my life, it felt normal to not be expressive. Since I was a child, I expressed my emotions so rarely that even as I entered adulthood, it still felt embarrassing. It felt weird to put myself out there and I was content about not wanting to talk about myself. Eventually, I grew to become r ..read more

Straits Times recently reported[1]a spike in the number of child abuse cases, both physical and sexual, in 2018. The article highlighted two girls who were sexually violated by their biological father when their mother was at work. The father raped the older girl, who was 15, several times since she was in primary school. He apologised to her each time and made her keep secret from her mother. He also sexually abused her 11-year-old sister, leaving her angry and embarrassed. The older girl eventually told their mother, who reported him to the police. The girls were temporarily placed in a chil ..read more

What cause Extra-Marital Affairs (EMA)? How does it begin? Can a marriage survive after an affair? Will it ever be the same again? And how can the relationship heal in the aftermath? These questions will be addressed by our principal psychologist, Neo Eng Chuan, in an insightful radio interview with Joel Chua on 93.8FM Live Journeys Within. Here is the summary of the interview with time stamped for your reference. What predisposes a marriage to an extramarital affair (EMA)? [1:15] EMA is a multifaceted issue. In an intimate relationship, there are three fundamental needs: the need to be loved ..read more

A radio conversation on anger, how Emotion-Focused Therapy views and addresses anger management issues What kind of useful information can anger tell us? How can we help someone with anger management issues? Join our principal psychologist, Neo Eng Chuan, in an insightful conversation with Joel Chua on 93.8FM Journeys Within to shed light on anger, its role and how Emotion-Focused Therapy views anger and helps someone with anger management issues. Below is the summary of a radio interview with time indication so you can tune to the part you’re most interested in. What is anger? [2:38] Anger is ..read more

What is Trauma?Trauma refers to the psychological distress that follows a very stressful event in which a person directly or indirectly experiences threat to her/his safety. Examples of traumatic events are: being trapped in a burning building, being robbed at gun point; subjected to child abuse or neglect, victim of a sexual assault. It is normal to experience distress in the face of such traumatic events. In the aftermath, some people do not recover fully, and suffer lasting psychological disturbance that affects their personal, interpersonal and social lives. The most commonly known trauma ..read more