How do counselling services benefit our community? Through counselling one individual at a time, we help to cultivate a gentler and kinder society, improve the level of care, build resilience in the next generation, and ultimately, the wider community. 

When counselling helps one person, it benefits the whole community.

By helping one individual achieve better mental equilibrium, it helps him/her to maintain better relationships with his family, colleagues and friends.  This leads to more harmonious relationships in his/her circles and impacts positively the wider community in many ways.

• Engendering a gentler and kinder community

Counselling helps individuals to make better decisions and choices in their everyday lives; thereby improving their mental health.

Through counselling, individuals learn to cope with mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, stress and anger with healthier options over unhealthy ones like emotional eating, substance abuse, gambling, online bullying or self-harm.

Our clients learn coping techniques to better handle the stresses and meet the challenges of working life.  As bosses and subordinates learn to deal better with friction and handle conflict, this can help to reduce aggression, burnout and bad decisions at work.

With the help of counsellors, spouses and parents learn to communicate, resolve conflict and relate to each other more effectively.  They learn not to take out their anxieties and frustrations on each other and their children.  This can help to reduce domestic abuse of both adults and children at home.

When we improve the mental health of individuals, we help to reduce violence and abuse in our families and at work.  We build a gentler and kinder community.

• Caring for our community of helping professionals

Helping professionals like social workers, healthcare workers, nurses, teachers, youth workers and childcare workers play critical roles in our community.  They tend to the needs of our sick, our children and the disadvantaged families in our midst.

Their frontline jobs often lead to anxiety, stress and sense of burden as they work to meet the needs of their patients/ people in their care.  The nature of their jobs can put them at risk of compassion fatigue which can lead to a decline in their own mental health.

EMCC’s subsidised counselling sessions for these helping professionals provide them with a safe space to process their experience, thoughts and emotions.  A channel to release their stress and an oasis to refresh their spirit.

Caring for our community of helping professionals ultimately improves and ensures a higher level of care in our community.

• Building resilience in the next generation

The role of teachers in building resilience in our next generation is crucial.  However, teachers cannot replace the role of parents and other caregivers at home.

Counselling aims to support parents and caregivers, to attend to their well-being so that they in turn can better attend to the vulnerable ones they are taking care of.  By having better mental health, they are more likely to maintain better relationships at home.  Less conflict makes for a more peaceful and loving family environment that is conducive for nurturing our next generation.

When children experience stability in their relationships at home, they experience emotional safety and security, crucial elements to building resilience and self-confidence. When faced with challenges, they are less fearful and more able to try and overcome by themselves, knowing that they are well-supported by family members.

Youth counselling is suitable for older children aged below 21 years old struggling to cope with family conflicts, peer or school stress, and/or exhibiting behavioural issues.  For younger children who may find it hard to describe their inner state verbally, therapy may take the form of expressive art, music, body movement or play.

• Building resilience in our community

The Covid-19 pandemic caused many businesses to fold and many individuals to lose their livelihoods.  The loss of an income can cause not just acute economic strain for the individuals and their families, but also emotional strain for all involved.  Losing a job is often accompanied with a sense of loss of confidence, purpose and identity.

Counselling provides these individuals with much needed assurance and emotional support while they attend courses to pick up new skills and try to find new employment at the same time.  Counselling for their family members also provides them with tools to better cope with the situation and support the spouse/ parent/ child who is coping with the loss of employment.

Where to get help

If you or someone you know would like to learn more about counselling, please visit our website for more information.  You may also find the articles below helpful.

https://emcc.org.sg/counselling/what-is-counselling/
https://emcc.org.sg/emcc_newsletters/decoding-mental-health/
https://emcc.org.sg/emcc_newsletters/questions-about-counselling-youve-always-wanted-to-ask/