Weisim Ho
Psychotherapist

Experienced therapist who can relate to people from both Asian and Western cultures. A former banking lawyer, I have deep insight into the stresses and challenges of the corporate world and how they impact our personal lives, allowing me to bring a holistic perspective to my therapy.

I am passionate about helping people with their relationships, be it with themselves, their partners, families or in the workplace

Certified EFCT, EFIT and EFFT therapist by the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)

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“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”

~ Michelangelo

Who I am

My name is Weisim. I am a fully accredited and experienced psychotherapist who has been helping adults, adolescents couples and families since 2010.

My core training is in humanistic and integrative psychotherapy, person centred therapy, gestalt psychotherapy, somatic psychotherapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy.

The approach I use in working with couples and individuals is primarily emotionally focused therapy (EFT) (specifically emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) and emotionally focused individual therapy (EFIT)) which is grounded in attachment theory.

As an emotionally focused therapist, I am passionate about helping distressed couples find their way back to the sweetness and safety in their relationship, and passionate about helping individuals reduce the personal pain that we each carry and find a more peaceful, enlarged and fulfilling life. I am a mother and I also am passionate about improving distressed relationships between parents and children.

I worked for two years with Pieta House, a non-profit organisation in Ireland, with adolescents and adults who were struggling with self-harm and suicide, and supported their families. I have had my own successful private practice seeing adults and adolescents for the last 14 years and more.

I am a relationship therapist and am interested in helping people with their relationships – be it with themselves, their partner, parents, children, colleagues or others in their lives.

Personal Journey

I am a Malaysian and moved to Singapore for my A’ Levels and law degree from NUS, and worked here at a leading law firm before moving to Ireland. I lived in Ireland for more than twenty five years and am now transitioning back to Singapore, and I now spend my time in both countries.

It took many years for me to “crack the code” of the Irish and coming back to South East Asia is a kind of sweet homecoming (with many reflections) although ironically I find myself bringing a little bit of Ireland with me – importing boxes of Barry’s Tea and making endless cups of tea in my daily life in Singapore notwithstanding the tropical heat.

One could say that from my experiences, I am quite culturally fluid, being able to relate to the Irish and “Westerners” as well as people from this region – I speak Malay, Cantonese and Mandarin, and am familiar with the intricacies of the Chinese, Malay and Indian cultures and ways.

I am a lawyer by background and so am very comfortable in the corporate and business world as well as the helping professions - the first is focused on efficiency, outcome, speed and financial success - and the other is centred around people’s feelings and their struggles. I was a successful banking lawyer for many years (having worked for leading law firms in Singapore and Ireland and as corporate counsel in a global multinational corporation in Ireland) before switching careers to become a psychotherapist. When a close family member became terminally ill suddenly, I came to a realisation of our limited time in this life and had to grapple with the question how I wanted to spend that time. I realised that my happiest moments in my legal career was when I helped people in need in a personal way, the human stories of their difficulties meant a lot to me, e.g. in family law, divorce cases, criminal matters - for example the time when I defended a 16 year old boy in the criminal courts in Singapore, these were stories I could tell at the family dinner table.

I think my experience moving to different countries, and being able to relate to both the corporate and business world alongside the “deep and meaningful” of my psychotherapy world, adds to my experience and ability, hopefully, to relate to a whole breadth of clients from different backgrounds.

In my spare time I dance the tango, I love spending hours in the garden, I travel, write, hike and read – I love literature and poetry.

Accreditations:

Member of Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapists (IAHIP)

Member of Irish Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy. (IACP)

Awarded the European Certificate of Psychotherapy by the European Association of Psychotherapy which means that my qualification as a psychotherapist is recognised across Europe. (ECP)

Member of Singapore Association of Counselling. (SACS)

Member of International Centre of Excellence for Emotionally Focused Therapists (ICEEFT).

Member of the Irish Centre for Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT Ireland)

Certified Emotionally Focused Couples Therapist (EFCT), Emotionally Focused Individual Therapist (EFIT) and Emotionally Focused Family Therapist (EFFT) by ICEEFT

While it is possible for therapists to learn about Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) generally and to use the approach in their work, it is only possible to achieve ICEEFT certification after being assessed to have the required level of competence. I am one of the few certified therapists for Emotionally Focused Couples Therapists (EFCT) in Ireland, and also one of the few in Singapore. I am the first and only (for the time being) certified therapist for Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy (EFIT) in Ireland, and one of three in Singapore.