“Xinyi was exactly the positive influence I needed to turn my life around. I was first referred to her during a low point in my early adult life, and since then, she has been nothing short of a constant source of affirmation, wisdom, and support — even when I didn't necessarily believe I deserved these positive things.

At times, my mental illness would make me want to lash out at others, act sulky and just generally be a negative person whom my friends and family wouldn’t want to linger around. Worst of all, this toxic energy would sometimes trail me into the consultation room, but even then, Xinyi has never made me feel like a monster, nor did she enable or encourage me to keep up these bad habits. It was with this professional approach and her seasoned record of ‘psychologist superpower-ing’ that Xinyi was able to help me find my way to some semblance of healing.

On our earliest meeting when I was hospitalised after a suicide attempt, the first lesson Xinyi ever imparted to me was about self-compassion. Now that I have gotten the help I needed to better understand what that means (with the occasional slip-ups here and there, but that's what therapy is for), I wish to return some of that compassion with this reflection — to help share with others how I benefitted from therapy, and how you can too.

I believe anyone who has ever felt like they've lost control of their mental, emotional and social well-being would benefit tremendously from having someone like Xinyi in their life. She was the older sister I never had — and yes, while she wasn't the only reason I wanted to work on bettering myself, she sure was the catalyst to this state of peace I can now (at least, on most days) call mine.”