Frequently Asked Questions

Counseling is a process in which the counselor and the client build up a relationship through personal interviews. The counselor will become the client's company and assist the client to view himself/herself from different angles. This will allow the client to have a better understanding of himself/herself and his/her surroundings so that he/she can have a proper appraisal of the way forward and know that there are different alternatives.
 
Our center have over ten psychological therapists, including experienced counselors, clinical psychologists and art therapist, specializing in different types of cases. Cases will be assigned to therapists according to their strengths and the needs of the clients.
 
Based on the needs of the clients, our counselors will employ different counseling techniques and methodologies. One of the most widely used psychotherapies is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It aims at helping the client to think and react in a positive and constructive way when dealing with problems. Our Center also offers family therapy which helps the client to have a better understanding of the current status of his/her family and the relationship between his/her family members and sort out ways to solve the problems his/her family currently faced. In addition to the therapies mentioned above, our counselors will also apply other counseling techniques such as behavioral therapy, art therapy, client-centered therapy and psychodynamic analysis in special cases according to the clients' needs..

If you are currently having emotional problems and your daily life, work or interpersonal relationship is affected as a result, you should make an appointment to meet with our counselors as soon as possible. Our counselors will conduct a preliminary assessment of your situation and help you identify your problems and find the appropriate solutions as soon as possible.
 
Most of the goods we buy come with a user manual, giving us operation and maintenance tips. However, baby does not born with a manual. When we face difficulties or problems, our parents can only help us with their own experience. Naturally, in our interaction with others, including our spouse, kids, colleagues and friends, we behave and react in ways we learnt from our parents. However, every person is unique in some way. It is impossible to interact with all the people we meet in the same way we learnt from our family. Therefore, we would encounter problems in interpersonal relationship and in particular, our relationship with those who are closest to us, such as spouse, kids, family members, boyfriend or girlfriend, is always tense. We do want some advice from time to time.
 
Most of us think that since there is nothing seriously wrong and we have not encountered any obvious difficulties, we do not need counseling. However, this is not true. All of us can benefit from counseling. We will understand ourselves better and improve ourselves. Counseling allows us and those around us to grow up. Through counseling, we will find out things about ourselves that we are not aware of before and this can help us eliminate our blind spots. It also allows us to explore what resources and capabilities we have and find out ways to make use of such resources and develop our abilities so that we will be able to face whatever problems that may arise in the future.

No. Without the explicit consent from our clients, our counselors will NOT divulge the personal information and the contents of their counseling sessions to other people. However, if the client reveals that he/she is going to hurt himself/herself or others, or is planning to commit a criminal offence, our counselor will consider referring the case to the relevant government departments or organizations.

Normally, there will be one 50-minute-counseling session per week for the client to meet with the counselor. As for the duration of the whole counseling process, it depends on the circumstances of individual clients. In most cases, a client will be able to have a deeper understanding of his/her issues and to address such issues after four to eight sessions. Noticeable improvements in kids can also be seen after four sessions of play therapy.

No. When admitting a new client, some questions will be asked so that our Center can have a general understanding of the nature of the case. Such information will be used to determine which counselor will best suit the needs of the client. Once assigned, the same counselor will be responsible for assisting the client until the whole process is completed unless the client requests a change of counselor.

Our Center provides psychological counseling services as well as clinical psychological therapy, art therapy, and play therapy. However, we will assess the client's emotional and psychological condition. If necessary, the counselor will discuss with the client and advise him/her to have medication concurrently. . We will also refer the client to a suitable family doctor or psychiatric doctor so as to speed up the client's recovery process.

You could explain to him/her that difficulties in family or marriage life are caused by relationship problems and both/all of you should solve the problems together. It is not as effective as it should be if only one of you get counseling help. If both/all of you can join counselling sessions together, the counsellor will be able to get a full picture of the problem by meeting with both of you/each of the family members. This will help solve the problem more effectively. However, don't be frustrated even if your spouse or family members still refuse to meet with a counselor. We believe that change will begin with the person who is willing to receive counseling as we will interact with and affect those around us. You can have counseling on your own first and learn how to communicate and get on with others. Those around you will change when they see that you have changed.

There is no such term as "psychological doctor" in the academic field. Generally speaking, psychological therapists such as psychological counselors and clinical psychologists are known as " psychological doctors" in Hong Kong.