Having completed 9 months of work with Yi Shing, I feel that I have made significant progress in:

• understanding myself and my history
• identifying aspects of my history that have not been fully ‘processed’
• working through challenging problems and resolving unprocessed trauma
• reframing and better understanding the role of experiences, personality traits, skills and habits in my life
• re-orienting myself to move forward more happily and positively

I appreciate very much the systematic way Yi Shing sought to help me understand and frame my needs and goals for therapy. My initial hypothesis informed our thinking but was not allowed to constrain it. Yi Shing skillfully drew out new threads of thought and helped me re-think and re-frame familiar ones.

I particularly liked Yi Shing’s willingness to say ‘no’ or be decisive about what she felt confident were red herrings. All ideas and musings are not equal and Yi Shing kept a structured eye on our discussions to prevent us disappearing down unproductive rabbit holes. Interesting discussions were allowed to develop and take us to unexpected places, but repetitive or unproductive ones were politely closed down. This is obviously a judgement call supported by Yi Shing’s considerable experience.

EMDR was not something with which I was familiar, however having had the concept explained to me, we used the technique extensively. I went from open-minded sceptic to convert with regards to EMDR’s ability to ‘iron out’ unprocessed angst. It really does seem to work! Yi Shing’s obvious experience with EMDR means that is able to weave it in and around talk therapy in a way that feels organic and responsive to context and yet deliberate.

Yi Shing combines structure and technique with insight and wisdom. Spending an hour with her is always engaging, insightful and fun. I make no bones about saying I enjoyed my therapy. Of course, there were very challenging moments and plenty of high emotion and sadness, but I always looked forward to our sessions and always walked away feeling I had learned something new about myself or gone some way towards fixing something that wasn’t right.

I would wholeheartedly recommend Yi Shing to anyone looking to understand their lives a bit better, address challenges or traumas or re-orient themselves to face the future.

Client, in his 50s

A: I appreciate just how much information, skills, and practice was concisely provided during the two sessions. It was very useful for me to help de-escalate conflicts, appreciate my partner’s point of view better, and to better understand the nuances in my tone and body language which I had gotten used to, but was not aware was hurting my partner.

Yi Shing was very clear, patient, and kind. Her examples, and manner of engaging us ensured that what would be an otherwise dense and heavy topic was very approachable.

I also found it very useful to understand the underlying theory and research (and there was a lot), and Yi Shing made it very easy to understand. I would definitely continue learning from her if the opportunity arises.

B: More than just an overview course, Yi Shing discussed theory and then provided outlines of practical skills to use to de-escalate arguments.

It was helpful to understand my partner’s perspective and needs through the lens of attachment needs. As a person that prefers to have tangible tools to practice, I thought the short course was valuable for better understanding what communication methods work and do not work with my partner.

Yi Shing takes the time to hear what our arguments are about and asks us to rephrase how we could have said things while also providing examples to guide us along the way. I would like to continue learning from her and this class was a great introduction to couple’s communication.

A Couple, in their 30s

With her keen mind, expertise and ample of compassion, Yi Shing helped me work through a life time of abusive relationships. My life, my health, my work were all in a mess.

I took the big step to see Yi Shing, but I was not ready to unlock those memories, worried what might happen next. When I finally did, I was surprised.

When Yi Shing did what she called “overtaxing the working memory”, each time I ended up laughing, no matter how dreadful the memory was. The index of distress went down quickly. The memories faded. It was quite unbelievable.

I did my darn best to find the old pictures that scared me, just to check that they were truly gone. Some were blurred and shredded like a corrupted document. Others were there but I am looking from outside and afar. No longer trapped, powerless and scared.

Client, in her 50s

I have been a star performer all my life, so I was bitter when I didn’t get that promotion. My boss said I need to scold less and take feedback better. I considered my colleagues losers.

When my progress stalled, I sought out Yi Shing to get a dose of performance enhancement to get back on track to stardom.

I regaled Yi Shing with tales of my triumphs, but she asked about my bad rap in the office. I was not pleased. I blocked her “I was born this way”.

But that question dropped a little seed in my mind, and all tumbled out in one session. I grew up with bullies: my parents were harsh, critical and demanding. I had to be like them to defend myself. When my armour as a tough guy was removed, I was sad and fragile inside. My parents didn’t care for me. They only wanted a trophy son.

We “metabolised” (Yi Shing’s words) memories of those troubled years. At the end of our therapy, I became calmer. I was even patient with the “lesser beings” in my company.

A different me is back on track. It’s been hell of a journey, I learnt so much from our work together.

Client, in his 40s

Yi Shing explained brain plasticity. I didn’t believe her. Because my mood depends on that habit, I could not live without it. Under family pressure, I went to see Yi Shing, but I was filled with doubts.

This is a summary of what I learnt: my behaviour started after a series of setbacks I preferred to forget. This habit made me feel better, so I became dependent on it.

As we worked through those years, I noticed the urge to the old habit slowly seeped away. In the end, even when I deliberately, as part of the therapy, went to the places and met the people, I was not tempted.

I am still “clean” after a year. I want to tell others, especially the senior citizens, old dogs can learn new tricks, and then the old dogs can have a new life!

Client, in his 70s

My experience of the therapy has been outstanding: I learnt how to switch focus to change my behaviour instead of expecting my wife to change hers, to see things from her perspective, and to accept that certain things in life will not change and I have to learn to deal with them. We are calmer, and our marriage is on the mend.

Client, in his 40s

So many simple plain truths and basic good manners got lost in our fights, years of fights. It was like we forgotten, like Yi Shing said, we were life partners, not enemies. I could see all the wrongs about my wife but didn’t notice how I talked hurt her.

Through our sessions, we now have the skill to help us stop our painful arguments before they start. It is hard work, and we have to continue to work. But we are seeing early results: our home is less tense and cold. We feel better about each other.

Client, in his 50s

It was a journey of self-discovery: I learnt things about myself I never realised before, and why my partner and I were stuck in these cycles for so long. I learnt that my partner too could be suffering and experiencing pain. So instead of attacking to defend myself, I learnt to listen.

Although we have decided to part ways, we agreed on that with maturity and calm. I am at peace with myself and how my relationship ended. Therapy helped us to achieve that.

Client, in her 30s