Gentle StArt
Low-Cost Counselling
Professional counselling for children, teenagers and adults, offered through our supervised intern programme at a fee designed to make longer-term therapeutic support more accessible.
Therapy should be within reach of the people who need it.
At Gentle Art of Expressive Therapy, we are committed both to supporting counsellors entering the profession and to making counselling available to people for whom standard private therapy fees may be difficult to sustain.
Our Gentle StArt programme pairs clients with postgraduate counsellors completing a Masters in Counselling and undertaking supervised clinical placement with us.
The setting is ours: a warm, unhurried, trauma-informed space in the heart of Chinatown. The care is real, the work is closely supervised, and the fee is one we hope more people can sustain for as long as therapy is useful.
Lower-cost counselling without having to justify why you need it.
The programme is intended for people who want therapeutic support but find standard private therapy fees difficult to manage.
- Students and recent graduates
- Families seeking support for a child or teenager
- People between jobs or currently on reduced income
- Freelancers and people without employer health coverage
- Anyone for whom full-fee therapy would make ongoing counselling difficult to sustain
You do not need to prove or explain your financial circumstances to us.
If the standard cost of private counselling is preventing you from accessing or continuing therapy, this programme exists to provide another option.
Support for adults, teenagers and children
Adults
Individual counselling for anxiety, low mood, grief, stress, relationship difficulties, self-esteem, life transitions and questions of direction or identity.
Teenagers & Adolescents
A confidential space to explore anxiety, school and exam pressure, friendships, family conflict, identity, mood, self-worth and other concerns affecting everyday life.
Children
Age-appropriate support using play, art materials, stories and conversation to explore worries, big feelings, behavioural changes, family transitions, grief and school difficulties.
Parents are involved at a level agreed at the outset.
You do not need to arrive with a diagnosis or a perfectly clear reason for coming.
Some of the concerns people bring to counselling include:
If what you are carrying is not on this list, you are still welcome to ask. We will let you know whether the programme is likely to be a suitable fit and, where appropriate, suggest alternatives.
A regular, confidential space with someone whose attention is on you.
You bring what is on your mind. Your counsellor helps you slow things down, make sense of what is happening, notice patterns and explore what you may want to do differently.
A first session is usually about getting oriented: what has brought you to counselling, what you would like to be different, what is currently happening in your life, and whether the relationship feels like the right fit.
Most sessions with adults and teenagers are primarily talk-based. Some of our interns may also use creative or expressive approaches such as art materials, imagery, Symbol Work or writing, depending on their training and your preferences.
If you would prefer simply to talk, that is equally welcome.
Working with children
Work with younger clients naturally involves more doing than talking. Play, art and creative materials give children ways of communicating experiences that can be difficult to explain in words.
In-person sessions
All Gentle StArt intern sessions are held in person at our Chinatown studio.
Being together in the room is particularly important for our work with children and young people, so online appointments are not offered through the intern programme.
If attending in person is not practical for you, please contact us and we can discuss whether another service within the practice may be more appropriate.
If you are enquiring for your child or teenager
We will usually begin with a conversation with you about what you have been noticing, what has been happening around your child, and what you are hoping counselling may help with.
Your child or teenager then has their own therapeutic space. What they discuss is treated as confidential within the normal ethical limits of counselling.
That privacy is an important part of building trust, particularly with teenagers.
You will not be left in the dark. Your counsellor will keep you appropriately oriented to the work and involve you where doing so is helpful, with your child’s knowledge wherever possible.
If anything raises a significant concern about your child’s safety, appropriate steps will be taken and you will be informed.
Counsellors in postgraduate clinical training
Our interns are postgraduate students completing a Masters in Counselling and undertaking a supervised clinical placement with Gentle Art of Expressive Therapy.
Sarah Teh
Counselling Intern
Sarah brings approximately five years of experience working with children, young people and families across educational, arts and research settings. Her approach is grounded in trust, empathy and the freedom to explore at each person’s own pace.
Drawing on Expressive Arts Therapies and Child-Centred Play Therapy, Sarah uses creative and play-based approaches to help children and young people explore their experiences and express feelings that may be difficult to put into words. She is currently completing her Master of Counselling and works under professional supervision.
They have undertaken formal training in counselling theory and practice, work within the scope of their experience and placement, and follow professional standards relating to ethics, privacy and confidentiality.
We match clients and interns according to the counsellor’s experience and training background, the client’s needs and preferences, and whether the enquiry relates to an adult, teenager or child.
Closely supervised clinical work
Every intern works under clinical supervision with experienced practitioners within our team.
Supervision provides a regular, confidential professional space in which clinical work can be reflected upon, supported and reviewed.
Is an intern counsellor right for me?
It is a reasonable question, particularly if you have not worked with a counsellor in training before.
Where the programme can work well
Intern counsellors are current in their training, closely supervised and generally carry smaller caseloads while developing their clinical practice.
The programme can be a good option for people seeking support around anxiety, mood, grief, relationships, stress, school difficulties, life transitions, emotional regulation or self-understanding.
When we may recommend another service
Intern counsellors have fewer accumulated clinical hours than senior practitioners.
Where someone is experiencing significant risk, complex trauma, active self-harm, suicidal thoughts, complex mental health difficulties or needs specialist assessment, we may recommend working with a more experienced clinician or another appropriate service.
We will discuss this with you during the enquiry and intake process rather than placing someone with an intern where the fit is not appropriate.
Gentle StArt at a glance
Sessions are reviewed together as the work progresses. There is no minimum course of sessions beyond your first appointment.
What happens after you enquire
You do not need to know which counsellor you want to work with before contacting us. We will help with the matching process.
Send an enquiry
Tell us briefly who the sessions are for, what has prompted you to seek counselling and when you are generally available.
Complete your intake
We will send you an intake form so you can share more detail. We can then clarify suitability and answer any initial questions.
Meet your counsellor
If the programme is appropriate, we match you with an intern and arrange your first 50-minute appointment at our Chinatown practice.
Interested in a Gentle StArt counselling session?
Send us a short enquiry and we will help you work out whether the intern programme is the right place to begin.
Enquire now
Gentle Art of Expressive Therapy
50b Smith Street, Singapore 058958
