Janet holds a B.A. in Journalism (from 2000) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Counseling Psychology (2022). The years in between, she worked as an illustrator, editor, publisher, history guide, and educator. She explored Buddhism and New Age spirituality and created the Self-Love Oracle in 2016 (now published and distributed by Beyond Words, Inc.), and worked booths at Mind Body Spirit events in Singapore and Australia from 2012 to 2018.
Janet was always a voracious reader with interest in history, astronomy, and the esoteric before she turned her same fire for in-depth understanding towards spirituality and psychology. She considers herself an odd duck who hadn’t qualified for the Gifted Education Program, but never fit into regular school or societal norms either. Her first exposure to counseling work was as an informal listening ear to sex workers in the UK and US while working for BBH Media in Raleigh, North Carolina.
In 2022, Janet was a leader/facilitator of the Well-Being Circles (Wave 1), a community mental well-being program rolled out by the Happiness Initiative and MCCYS. She still freelances in art and leads museum tours at National Gallery Singapore, and also teaches creative writing with the Artistic Strategies Academy.
Asking “Why?”, questioning conventions, and utilizing creativity for expression are strengths that she has learned to channel into her work with after-school and museum-based learning. She is comfortable working with those of diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and neurotypes. With her most recent qualifications for counseling, she hopes to others who’ve struggled with dysfunctional childhoods, suicide loss, hypersensitivity, identity and purpose, divorce, single parenting, estrangement, narcissistic abuse, and self-worth (especially for LGBTQ+ and creatives lacking emotional suport).
Her approach to counseling is client-centered, humanistic, sensitive, and open-minded. She is currently taking and working with clients (favoring the Internal Family Systems framework and Polyvagal Theory) and in a Master’s program.
Some starting points and highlights from her writing below:
- What I Learned from Working at New Age Fairs
- What Working on Escort Websites Taught Me about Self-Love
- You can also find more of her work at Medium, where she is a Top Writer in the Mental Health category.
For projects or short queries, you can also contact Janet with the form below.