A little bit of self-disclosure, I’m your everyday auntie counsellor. I have a mundane dressing style and a hip undercut hairstyle to match it. This is a short introduction about myself, my struggles, my journey into counselling and some things I do besides work, family, and friends.
I’m a mother of one hyperactive, super non-angelic cutie 6-year-old boy, a partner, a daughter, a friend to many good persons around me, a cat mama, a counsellor, a plant mama (I proudly announce I am a MCO gardener) and a human with struggles and triumphs. All these different roles make my life
Beauty filter is the most genius innovation for a phone camera
superbly colourful. By the way I described them, you may already know it is like driving from the foothill of Tapah to Cameron Highlands! With countless curves, trying hard to avoid near death collisions and then the best part is, by the time I reached my destination I’ll be so drained and exhausted that I missed the chance to enjoy my cup of “BOH” teh tarik overlooking the vast green tea plantation.
Puns intended!
I do enjoy my small victories in all my roles like when my boy showed care and empathy when he asked whether I’ve taken my dinner or when he shared a meagerly small portion of his snacks with me. It left me feeling so proud of myself for being a mama. At times, I also unshamingly bask on my clients’ successes when they told me about their breakthroughs and being in a better place after working hard on themselves.
My journey into the mental health arena started 11 years ago. It was not passion but a practical decision which propelled me to jump into the deep sea without a life jacket for Plan B. At that time, I had already been working for 13 years in a totally mental health unrelated field. My aim at that time was not to retire, I wanted to keep on working for as long as I could so I figured a mental health practitioner would be a perfect fit to my brilliant goal. The more lived experience I have, the more value I can bring to the table. That was how simple my mind was and still is. LOL. Moreso, I can use my mouth and brain without lifting any
This is an image of my boy's drawing of himself for mommy to remember him
muscles in my body. What I didn’t know back then that I needed to be physically fit
too to sit, listen and be engaged whole bodily to help my clients to move to a better place with their issues.
And this mental health field seemed very elusive and mysterious. I was hooked by my own curiosity and intrigued to solve this case just like Sherlock Holmes. LOL. I used to binge watch CSI, Criminal Minds. So, I studied Psychology (Bachelor of Science) followed by a Master Degree in Professional Counselling. The longer I am in the field, the more drawn I am into studying human experiences and the issues we face daily.
And VOILA! I’ve found my passion and my calling to broaden awareness of the felt human experience aka making sense of our experiences and empowering the community with transformations to their mental wellbeing.
I worked closely with adolescents, adults, and couples. At first, I wanted to work with children, so I had extensive training and supervision (I was a counsellor in a children’s home for 3 years) but the universe knows me better and it sent me individual clients and client couples instead. Bummer, there goes all my money! into training and again the process of getting trained returns. So, I embarked on the training for couple’s therapy modality.
My early trainings were in methods focused on behaviours and thoughts processes. As I worked more with clients, I felt it was not enough and lacking to a certain degree, it was incomplete for me to draw the bigger picture. Our emotions and connections with others seemed to be the missing shades in the picture. Without shades, there is no depth. (Disclaimer: This is just my honest opinion of my experience as a person and a counsellor, and this does not mean other methods do not work)
Then, I got certified in Satir Systemic Brief Therapy and now I am in the pursuit of a certification in Emotionally Focused Therapy. These 2 methods worked well together as I piece the experiences of being a person with issues surrounding relationships with our own selves or with others. I believe we have never not been in a relationship our entire life. My job as a counsellor/therapist is to help my clients to draw strengths within themselves to resolve unmet needs which always present themselves as overwhelming emotions, feeling of stuckness, feeling of anxiety, depression, and many more dysfunctional symptoms. Guess what? They really must do the legwork (figuratively) while I comfortably sit on my therapist couch tuning up my emo to have a felt sense of what my clients are going through and frying up my brain masterminding our next moves.
So, as my roles kind of set me on an overdrive, I must send this old car (that’s me) for servicing and spa aka as self-care on time. One of my little enjoyments is food. I love to eat and the spicier the food is the more “syiok” and fulfilled it is for me. My go to nowadays is Mala ala Sichuan style. I still like Thai food, Indian food, Malaysian food, Korean food, Japanese food, Middle Eastern food… FOOD! What I like most is the feeling of the stinging hotness on my tongue. That is what I called true “syiokness”.
To tame my wild thoughts, I have adopted gardening. I can spend hours in my small little garden trying to make it looked like the Garden of Eden (it has become a little jungle of sorts now…eeek). Also, I have just started spin class and am enjoying the intensity of the workout, and hoping secretly that I will have the physique of Jennifer Lopez soon because we kind of have identical booties. LOL. Oh, I like to play with my hairstyles just to keep myself relevant and not too outdatedly lame, I’m into exploring different colours. I wanted to do the Barbie pink, but my stylist told me the colour wouldn’t last so maybe next time when I have more time for myself then. And… I’m a vain pot too, I like
One portion of my messy little jungle
geeking out on skincare, like seriously reading research papers on the ingredients list.
So, that’s just me, original and spicy but not finger lickin’ good. I guess if you’re reading this now, it means I’m quite interesting to you. LOL.
Signing off with love and puns! Alix.
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