Clinical Psychologist Singapore

Dr. Takashi
Obana

PhD (NUS) Existential Humanistic Psychotherapy
Jungian Tradition Bilingual English and Japanese

There are moments when the standard answers stop working. When you have tried to think your way through something, and the thinking has only taken you further in circles.

There are moments when we feel stuck despite our best efforts. Some things can only be said in your own language. Other things, workplace pressures, family expectations, or thoughts that persist despite your efforts to manage them, need a space where you don't have to explain or perform. We go slowly here. No quick fixes, no worksheets. Just careful, spacious attention to what's actually happening in your life.

日本語でのカウンセリングも承っております。

Dr. Takashi on stage Photo of Dr. Takashi

Education

  • PhD in Psychology, National University of Singapore
  • MA Psychotherapy, Seattle University, USA
  • MA Counselling Psychology, Sophia University, Tokyo
  • BA Psychology, Sophia University, Tokyo

Clinical Experience

  • 20+ years across Japan, USA and Singapore
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellow, N.1 Institute for Health / Yale-NUS
  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist, SACAC Counselling (2022 to present)
  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Tokio Marine Group (11 years)
  • Clinical Psychologist, Taisho University Tokyo (4 years)

Sessions available

  • In-person, Online, Home visits
  • English and Japanese

Who comes to see Dr. Takashi

Two communities,
one space.

Singaporeans

Patterns that persist.
Cycles that don't seem to break.

Patterns of thought that persist despite your best efforts. Intrusive thinking that doesn't respond to logic alone. Sleep disruption. Work related stress that has become difficult to navigate. Relationship strain. Family expectations that create ongoing pressure. You may have tried structured approaches or self help strategies. What you're looking for now is a therapeutic relationship that goes deeper than symptom management, someone who can be present with the full complexity of what you're experiencing.

You've found yourself caught in cycles you can't seem to break. The anxiety persists. Coping strategies provide temporary relief. Sleep difficulties. Workplace dynamics that feel increasingly difficult to manage. Family pressures. Relationship challenges. Outwardly, things may appear stable, yet internally, something feels unresolved. You're seeking support that goes beyond techniques and worksheets, a space where your experience can be met with full attention.

Dr. Takashi creates a space to explore what's beneath the symptoms together.

日本語対応 Japanese speaking clients

You are Japanese, living in Singapore.
Some things can only be said in your own language.

Living away from Japan brings pressures that are hard to put into words, especially in a second language. The effort of adapting, performing, and holding it together in English is real and it is tiring. Dr. Takashi offers a fully Japanese language therapeutic space, with a cultural understanding that goes beyond translation.

日常的な悩みから深い実存的なテーマまで、母語で丁寧にお話しいただけます。

What we offer

Individual Psychotherapy

Long form, in depth work with adults. Existential concerns, identity, life transitions, relationships, anxiety, depression, burnout, and the sense that something important is missing. Sessions conducted in English or Japanese, 英語日本語対応. Therapy can work at different levels. Some things can be structured, measured, and systematised, and there is real value in that. But not everything fits into a framework. Not everything can be turned into a technique.

Counselling (guidance and support) Psychotherapy: Structured approaches (e.g. CBT) Psychotherapy: Existential and Jungian approaches
What It AddressesDay to day concerns, emotional support, practical guidance through specific situations.Specific symptoms and behaviours that can be identified and managed directly through techniques.The underlying patterns beneath the symptoms, identity questions, cultural dislocation, and what is driving the thoughts that loop despite your best efforts.
Time FrameFlexible, often shorter term focused on immediate concerns.Typically short to medium term, focused on symptom reduction and measurable outcomes.Open ended. The work moves at the pace of genuine change, not a fixed number of sessions.
Therapist's StanceSupportive and guidance oriented, helping you process and decide.Active and directive, providing tools and frameworks to work with specific concerns.Present and unhurried. The therapist does not arrive with a preset agenda or worksheets, but with full attention to who you are and what you are bringing.
What It Asks of YouWillingness to talk through what is happening and consider different perspectives.Engagement with exercises, tracking thoughts and behaviours, and practising techniques between sessions.A willingness to sit with uncertainty, look honestly at your life including what isn't working, and let the process take the time it needs. Cultural context and identity are welcomed, not something to explain.
Best ForSpecific life situations, decision making, emotional processing, supportive listening.Acute symptoms, specific phobias, panic attacks, situations where a clear and bounded target exists.Persistent anxiety that doesn't respond to logic alone, identity and cultural belonging, workplace or relationship patterns that keep repeating, the feeling that something is missing even when life looks fine on paper, grief, life transitions, and questions of meaning.

The table above is not about ranking one approach above another. It is about being honest about what different kinds of work are actually for.

Dr. Takashi specializes in the Existential Humanistic and Jungian approach, a philosophy less commonly found in Singapore. While he can draw on structured techniques when needed, the foundation of his work is presence, depth, and authentic human connection rather than scripted interventions.

聴

trained across three traditions

Where existential depth, Jungian tradition and rigorous science meet.

Over two decades of training and practice, Dr. Takashi has drawn from three traditions. Not as separate tools, but as a single, integrated way of being with a person.

01

Existential Humanistic
Psychotherapy

Trained at Seattle University, one of the few programmes in the world dedicated entirely to the existential-phenomenological tradition. This approach does not reduce a person to their symptoms. It asks: what does this experience mean, and what is it pointing toward? It works with the whole of a life: identity, freedom, belonging and the search for meaning.

02

Jungian Depth
Psychology

Three years of intensive Jungian training and supervision at the Sanno Institute of Psychology, Tokyo, under Dr. Yasuhiro Tanaka, a certified Jungian analyst. This tradition brings the unconscious into the room: dreams, patterns, archetypes, the parts of ourselves we have not yet met. It is slow, careful work that goes where other approaches may not reach.

03

Scientific Rigour &
Evidence-Based Practice

Behind the clinical work is a research doctorate in experimental psychology from NUS and years of postdoctoral work studying how human beings process the world around them. For Dr. Takashi, existential and philosophical inquiry and scientific rigour are not in tension.

The Person Behind the Practice

A Therapist is Not a Blank Screen: Before the PhD, there was the band.

In his twenties, Dr. Takashi played in an underground punk rock band in Tokyo, not as a hobby, but as a committed pursuit of something that could not be expressed any other way. The music was raw, loud, and deliberately outside the mainstream. The album was released independently and is still available to listen to today.

He would go on to spend the next two decades studying the inner life with the same intensity he once brought to a stage. The quality of any therapeutic relationship depends, in part, on who is in the room. Dr. Takashi does not believe in the idea of a therapist as a neutral technician. What he brings into the room matters, a personal history that has nothing to do with textbooks.

◈

Refuse the performance

Punk rejected the polished, the safe, the commercially acceptable. Existential therapy asks you to set aside the version of yourself you have been performing and look honestly at what is actually there. Both demand a kind of honesty that costs something.

◈

Strip it back

Punk was personal in a way that pop was not. It came from somewhere specific and real. Existential and Jungian therapy insists on the same: your life cannot be understood through a generic framework, and the only answers worth finding are the ones that belong to you.

◈

Discomfort as the beginning

Underground music was not comfortable to make or to hear. Neither is the work of genuinely examining a life. Dr. Takashi does not try to make the process painless. He tries to make it worthwhile and to be fully present for the parts that are hard.

Dr. Takashi Obana

Professional Background

Over 20 years of clinical practice and research

2022 to Present

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

SACAC Counselling Pte. Ltd. · Singapore · Part-time

2021 to Present

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

The N.1 Institute for Health · Singapore · Full-time

2017 to 2021

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Yale-NUS College · Singapore

2016 to 2017

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Singapore Institute for Neurotechnology (SINAPSE)

2009 to 2020

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Tokio Marine Group · Tokyo · Full-time

2005 to 2009

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Taisho University · Tokyo · Full-time

Frequently Asked Questions

Is what I share confidential?
Yes — all session content is strictly confidential. Exceptions apply in cases of risk of harm to self or others, abuse or neglect of a minor or vulnerable person, or legal obligations such as a court subpoena.
Do you speak other languages?
Our services are available in English and Japanese.
Do you offer online sessions?
Yes, we offer online counselling via Google Meet. Online sessions are available for clients who prefer remote access or live outside Singapore. Please ensure you have a quiet, private space and a stable internet connection for your session.
What is the duration and fee for each session?
Each session typically lasts 50 minutes. Fees may vary for adults, couples, or child sessions — please contact us directly for current rates.
Do you offer couples counselling?
Yes, we provide therapy for couples of all backgrounds. Sessions are held with both partners present, unless otherwise arranged. Mutual consent and commitment to the process are required for meaningful work to take place.
Do you offer counselling for children or adolescents?
Yes. We work with children and teenagers, using age-appropriate approaches. Parental or guardian consent is required before sessions begin. While we may involve parents in parts of the process, we also respect the child's therapeutic privacy, depending on age and case.
Are your services covered by insurance?
Insurance coverage varies depending on your provider and plan. Some corporate or international insurance plans may offer partial or full reimbursement for clinical psychology services. We recommend checking directly with your insurer to understand what your plan covers.
Can you prescribe medication or issue psychological reports?
We do not prescribe medication nor offer clinical diagnoses. For formal assessments or psychiatric referrals, we can connect you with a licensed psychiatrist.
What are my rights as a client?
You have the right to be treated with respect and dignity, to confidentiality (within legal and ethical limits), to ask questions about the counselling process, and to decline or discontinue therapy at any time. You may also provide feedback or raise concerns at any point.
What if someone is at risk of harm?
If a client is at risk of self-harm, suicide, harming others, or discloses abuse or neglect, we are legally and ethically obligated to act. This may include breaking confidentiality to contact relevant professionals or authorities. We will inform and support the client through this process whenever safely possible.

Get in touch

There's space here for you.

No pressure. Just reach out, and we'll figure out the rest together. We'll respond within 24 hours.

Your information is kept confidential. For mental health emergencies, please see the note at the bottom of this page.

Important notice: The content on this page is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute a claim of therapeutic outcome or treatment efficacy. Psychotherapy is a regulated healthcare service and individual experiences vary. Dr. Takashi Obana is a Japan-certified Clinical Psychologist practising in Singapore. All services are provided in accordance with applicable professional and ethical standards. Personal narratives on this page are shared to help prospective clients understand the practitioner's background and values, and should not be interpreted as a guarantee or prediction of results. This page is intended to comply with the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act (PHMC) and applicable healthcare advertising guidelines in Singapore. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please contact the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) Emergency Hotline at 6389 2000, the Samaritans of Singapore at 1767, or visit your nearest emergency department.