Individual therapy in Ho Chi Minh City
What is individual therapy?
The Approach
- One-on-One Exploration: Meeting individually to safely explore what brought you to therapy and what might be keeping you stuck.
- Deep Self-Understanding: Moving away from quick fixes or generic advice to instead focus on your core patterns, how you relate to others, and what blocks you from living the life you want.
Sessions are 50 minutes, available in person in Saigon Pearl, Ho Chi Minh City or online.
Providing support for adults navigating a wide range of personal and clinical challenges, including:
Areas of Focus
Emotion Regulation
Navigating intense emotions like anger, grief, and shame
Mood & Professional Growth
Anxiety, depression, and career coaching
Stress Management
Burnout and chronic stress
Relationships
Relationship difficulties and attachment patterns
Identity & Growth
Identity, self-esteem, and life transitions
Trauma Support
Trauma and complex PTSD (cPTSD)
What is it like to go to individual therapy?
Getting Started
Establishing Goals
Building a shared understanding of your hopes, wishes, and the obstacles in your way.
Exploring Challenges
Looking closely at specific situations where your difficulties feel most intense.
Mapping Dynamics
Identifying the underlying inner dynamics to chart a clear path forward.
How It Works
Building Clarity
Bringing hidden issues into conscious awareness to provide helpful clarity and understanding.
Creating Structure
Developing an outline for the work so you know what needs to happen.
Achieving Growth
Moving beyond simply managing symptoms toward reaching your positive life goals.
A Tailored Approach
Ongoing Evaluation
Collaboratively reviewing progress along the way and adjusting the approach as needed.
Personalized Focus
Ensuring the therapy is customized to feel meaningful and genuinely useful to you.
Clear Starting Point
Utilizing a comprehensive clinical assessment as the foundation of our work.
Who individual therapy is for
You might find therapy beneficial if you recognize yourself in any of these situations:
Repeating Patterns
You feel stuck in the same cycles at work or in your relationships.
Unexplained Emotions
You are carrying anxiety, low mood, or a persistent sense of emptiness you can’t quite explain.
Expat Dislocation
You are navigating the unique cultural and emotional challenges of living abroad.
High-Performer Burnout
You are highly successful on the outside but quietly approaching your breaking point.
Intentional Growth
You simply want to understand yourself more deeply and live your life more deliberately.
No Crisis Required: You do not need a formal diagnosis or a major life crisis to start therapy. Many clients begin simply because something feels “off,” and they are ready for a change.
My therapeutic approach
I draw primarily on two specialized therapeutic frameworks:
Evidence-Based Methods
Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Therapy (ISTDP)
Works directly with the emotional and bodily blocks keeping you stuck, focusing on creating meaningful, active change rather than simply talking about the past.
Mentalisation-Based Therapy (MBT)
Strengthens your ability to accurately understand your own and others’ inner states, which directly improves how you relate to people at home and at work.
Clinical Expertise & Cultural Perspective
Cross-Cultural Support
Uniquely positioned to support expats, Vietnamese individuals, and anyone navigating life between different cultures.
Rigorous Qualifications
A Norway-licensed clinical psychologist trained in Bergen and Oslo, bringing high Northern-European clinical standards to our work.
Unique Cultural Insight
Integrates evidence-based psychology with a deep, lived understanding of Vietnamese family systems.
Frequently asked questions
How long does individual therapy take?
It varies. Some clients come for a focused piece of work over a few months; others stay longer for deeper change. We review progress together and you decide the pace.
Do I need to speak fluent English?
Sessions are conducted in English, but you do not need to be perfectly fluent — what matters is that you can express what you are going through.
Is what I share kept confidential?
Yes. Confidentiality is a cornerstone of the work and is especially important within HCMC’s close-knit expat community.
Can I do sessions online?
Yes, online sessions are available and just as effective for most concerns.