Notice
Build emotional awareness by recognising feelings, physical sensations and moments when familiar patterns are activated.
Emotion Focused Therapy in Ampang
Your emotions carry meaning.
Emotion Focused Therapy offers a safe, collaborative way to understand emotional pain, recognise repeating patterns and respond to deeper needs with greater clarity and compassion.
Registered Clinical PsychologistMAHPC(CP)00565
EFT Level 3 trained / certifiedEmotion-led, evidence-informed care
Ampang or onlineEnglish, Mandarin or Malay
What is EFT?
Therapy that listens to what your emotions are trying to say.
Emotion Focused Therapy is a psychotherapy approach that helps you notice, understand, process and gradually transform difficult emotional experiences.
It begins with a simple idea: emotions are not weaknesses or problems to be removed. Even painful emotions can carry important information about what has happened, what matters to you and what you may need.
Sometimes the emotional response that once protected us becomes rigid or painful. We may withdraw before someone can reject us, criticise ourselves before others do, or feel overwhelmed without knowing why. Therapy helps slow these patterns down so they can be understood with care rather than judgment.
You are not broken. You may be caught in a pattern that once helped you survive.
Why emotion matters
Change becomes possible when emotion is met safely.
Working with emotion does not mean becoming more overwhelmed. It means learning to approach your inner experience with enough support, curiosity and steadiness to understand what it needs.
Understand
Explore what an emotion may be protecting, the experience beneath it and the unmet need asking to be heard.
Transform
Develop more adaptive emotional responses, including self-compassion, healthy anger, grief, assertiveness and connection.
What happens in a session?
A careful process, guided by your pace.
There is no expectation that you arrive knowing exactly what to say. A session usually begins with what feels most present or important to you.
- Begin with your concernWe clarify what brings you to therapy and what you hope might become different.
- Slow the experience downYou may be invited to notice feelings, thoughts, body sensations or inner voices as they arise.
- Explore patterns and needsTogether, we make sense of protective responses, unresolved pain and needs such as safety, acceptance or connection.
- Build a different responseOver time, therapy supports new ways of relating to yourself, expressing needs and responding in relationships.
Who may find EFT helpful?
Support for emotional and relational difficulties.
EFT may be considered when emotions feel overwhelming, distant, confusing or caught in repeating patterns. Suitability is discussed individually and no outcome can be guaranteed.
Anxiety and persistent worry
Understanding the fear, vulnerability or need for safety beneath ongoing tension and overthinking.
Depression and emotional numbness
Gently reconnecting with loss, needs, meaning and emotions that may have become difficult to access.
Self-criticism and shame
Recognising harsh inner voices and developing a more protective, compassionate relationship with yourself.
Relationship difficulties
Making sense of conflict, withdrawal, fear of rejection, unmet needs and repeating ways of relating.
Trauma-related emotional pain
Approaching painful experiences carefully, with attention to safety, readiness and emotional regulation.
Loneliness, grief and transitions
Creating space for what has been lost, what is changing and what still needs acknowledgment or support.
An integrative practice
EFT remains the centre of the work.
When clinically appropriate, sessions may also draw from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), mindfulness and creative expressive approaches. These methods are integrated thoughtfully according to your needs, preferences and readiness, rather than applied as a fixed formula.
Your clinical psychologist
Chen Kai Shen
Kai Shen is the founder of Side by Psych Wellness Centre. His humanistic practice is warm, collaborative and grounded in ethical, evidence-based psychological care.
- Registered Clinical Psychologist, MAHPC Reg. No. MAHPC(CP)00565
- Full Member, Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology (MSCP), CP1-0540
- Emotion Focused Therapy Level 3 trained / certified practitioner
- Master of Clinical Psychology, University of Cyberjaya
- Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) Psychology, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
Frequently asked questions
Before your first session.
Do I need to be good at talking about emotions?
No. Therapy can begin with whatever you can notice or put into words. The process is paced carefully, and your psychologist helps you make sense of your experience without forcing it.
Is EFT only for relationship problems?
No. EFT can be used in individual psychotherapy for anxiety, depression, self-criticism, grief, loneliness, trauma-related emotional pain and life transitions, as well as relationship concerns.
Will I have to revisit painful experiences?
Only at a pace that is clinically appropriate and with attention to safety and readiness. You may discuss concerns, limits and preferences at any point.
How long is a session?
Individual psychotherapy sessions are a minimum of 60 minutes and are available by appointment, in person in Ampang or online where clinically appropriate.
Is EFT guaranteed to work?
No psychotherapy can guarantee a particular outcome. Your psychologist will discuss suitability, goals and progress with you and may recommend other support when needed.
Healing Begins Side by Side
You can begin with a simple message.
Ask about appointment availability, whether this approach may fit your concerns, or what to expect from a first session. Please do not use WhatsApp or email for emergencies.