Faith-based counselling: what is open to everyone

Faith-based organisations carry a large share of Singapore’s counselling capacity. The question people usually have is whether the service is open to them and whether it is religious instruction or professional counselling. In the cases below it is the latter, and each states it is open to people of any faith.

• Club HEAL was founded in 2012 with a focus on the Muslim community and welcomes anyone, regardless of race or religion. Its work is psycho-educational and psychosocial rather than religious instruction, and it runs CREST teams within the national network for Marsiling, Sembawang, Woodlands and Tampines, which are free at the point of use. Contact 6899 3463 on weekdays.
• Counselling and Care Centre, under Methodist Welfare Services, established 1966. Clinical psychotherapy, sliding scale by income, explicitly open to everyone. See its own listing.
• Catholic Family Life, a Caritas Singapore member. Professional therapy with a published fee schedule, no religious restriction stated. See its own listing.
• Brahm Centre, Buddhist-founded, mindfulness-based, free to citizens and permanent residents. See its own listing.
• Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities runs five Family Service Centres, at Tanjong Pagar, MacPherson, Jurong West, Bukit Panjang and Bedok North, and states no religious restrictions apply.
• SBL Vision Family Service Centre, under the Singapore Buddhist Lodge Welfare Foundation, is open to anyone regardless of race, language, religion or nationality. Contact 6544 2263.

Three that do not offer this

These three come up often when people ask around. None of them runs a counselling service, so you would be making a wasted call:

• MUIS does not run a counselling service. The Marriage Counselling Programme often attributed to it belongs to the Syariah Court and its partner agencies, and has been mandatory since 2018 for Muslim couples with minor children before filing for divorce.
• Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple is a philanthropic donor body. It funds a great deal of social work in Singapore, but it does not provide counselling directly.
• The Hindu Endowments Board runs bursaries and financial aid, not counselling.