Frequently Asked Questions

Questions on Therapy Sessions

About booking and therapy sessions

How does the matching of Therapists works?

The website will show you the list of recommended therapists based on the answers that you have on the intake form. From the list you have the option to choose which you would prefer to have a session with. We may suggest taking a look at the Therapist Profile by clicking on the button beside the therapist name to know their specialization

For a booked video call session, where will the video be hosted at?

Video calls sessions are hosted in our Safe Space platforms, both available through our website or mobile app. You can also refer to this link on how to start a new session.

https://intercom.help/safe-spacea/en/articles/5222666-how-to-start-video-call-session-client

We’d like to go to couple’s therapy, but we’re in different locations. Is that okay?
Yes. Our team will provide you with the information on your “Share Link” so you both can access the session together. This “Share Link” also works for family sessions.
Can I have session anywhere, even if I'm outside Singapore?

Yes, we offer Video Call Sessions that you can access from anywhere

Where can I get the details of my Face-to-Face session?

You can see the details (address, phone number, etc.) of your Face-to-Face session by going on your account’s Dashboard. Then, click the account of the therapist you selected for that session and clinic on the “information icon.” That icon (i) will show you all the details you need to go to your therapist’s office.

Is there any age limitations/restrictions to attend a session?

A person can enroll themselves if they are above 17 years of age (Tertiary level). However, if your child or the person you want to enroll is under 18 years of age we may need parental consent to proceed to the process of enrollment. Parental consent form: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1seIV-QC5tiDv3Np-yGDGlAblVeNOv3tZKlET6WPwY7A/edit

Can family or friends attend the session with me ?

We do understand and it’s great that you have a good support system. If you’re planning to do individual face-to-face counselling, your family and friends are able to provide support by going with you to your session but we will need to ask them to wait outside for you to finish. It’s usually a better session when you have 1:1 conversations with the therapist. If they need to be in the room and also contribute to the session, we suggest booking family / group face-to-face counselling (3 pax and more) where all parties are able to be present in your counselling session and work with you on the concern at hand. For Group / Family Counselling (3 pax or more) – “All individuals, including both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, should also self-test regularly with ARTs, especially if we participate in higher-risk activities or attend large-scale events. These ART kits are now sold at most supermarkets and convenience stores”.

I like my therapist. How do I book them again?
That’s great! Go back to your account. Under the Dashboard, you will see a button that will let you book your “last previous therapist.” After selecting the same therapist, simply book another time with them in the future.
How do online therapy sessions with Safe Space work?
Safe Space offers personalised online therapy sessions in Singapore. We ask the patient to fill out an assessment form so that our algorithm can match their needs to the right therapist. Safe Space online therapy sessions are tailored to the lifestyle and commitments of the patient. Licensed, qualified, and experienced Safe Space therapists provide each client with a bespoke course of treatment. After a consultation in which the ground rules and expectations are outlined, online therapy sessions will begin.
How do I book a specific therapist?

If you would like to book a therapist on Safe Space, we are happy to share details of the therapist that would most effectively meet your needs. You can also book a specific therapist by looking through our pool of experts before making a booking. When you book a therapist on Safe Space, we do use an algorithm to match you with the best one for you, but you always have the option of choosing one yourself. Just go through the booking process and specify your preference when asked.

I can’t book a session because there’s no availability in my therapist’s calendar.
If your therapist is fully-booked, reach out to the Support Team. They can double-check if there are any other open slots for you.

If you’re using a voucher for this specific therapist, the Support Team can then find you another therapist with an open calendar to match you with.

Do you have an online chat (text) counselling service?

Booking a pure online chat counselling session is not available. Safe Space™ launched with online chat counselling in 2019; feedback from both clients and therapists was that it was not helpful as the therapist could do determine tonality and facial cues to provide a proper assessment and effective action plan to help our clients. We’ve seen more progress with online counselling or Face-to-Face (in-person) counselling.

However, for special needs communities, e.g. deaf individuals, the chat feature is still available to converse with our therapists/coaches. If you fall under this community, please reach out to our team for support and we will guide you on the next steps.

What are Counsellors-in-Training?

These are highly vetted post-graduates working here at Safe Space. Don’t be afraid to book a session with our Counsellors-in-Training since they’ve been selected and verified by our team.

If you’d like to book a call with them, here’s our guide below:

https://intercom.help/safe-spacea/en/articles/5747950-how-to-book-an-appointment-with-our-counsellor-in-training

Do I need to turn my camera on for counselling sessions?
It’s not required, but we highly recommend that you turn on your camera. Counselling sessions are all about you. With the virtual aspect of communicating via the app, there may be vital changes your counsellor would need to monitor while they’re speaking with you. By seeing your face, your counsellor can help you better when observing your facial cues to provide a proper assessment and action plan.
Can I book a session if I'm at a different time zone?
Yes, you will need to log in to your profile before booking a session and you will be able to book and view a session that is reflective of your time zone.
Can I book a session on behalf of others?
Yes, you can book on behalf of others, but please help them to create a new account due to PDPC. This allows for the accurate progress tracking of the counselling sessions booked by each individual.

About rates and payment

What are the rates like for the sessions?
*Rates varies with Therapist and duration of the session. (https://intercom.help/safe-spacea/en/articles/5210225-how-much-are-your-session)
How do I pay for the session?
You can book an appointment with your preferred Therapist and make payment via Visa/Mastercard in the Payment Section.
Can CHAS cards be used to receive a discount at Safe Space?

“CHAS only works with GP doctors and clinics at present but Safe Space has submitted our application to be a service provider as well. Pending approval now on their end. More information can be found in our Instagram Highlight – Financial Help : https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17898726292422602/

About confidentiality

Is Client Data secured?

Client data is protected under the same level as PDPA standards safeguarding traditional consultations. Protected information is safeguarded through technical, administrative and physical safeguards.

Are you sharing my feedback with my therapist anonymously?
Yes, all the reviews submitted to Safe Space™ Surveys are protected. In addition, we show your reviews and testimonials to our therapists anonymously.

About reschedule, cancellation, and refund

I have just booked a video call consultation, but can I change to face to face consultation?

You could change to face to face consultation if the Therapist you booked is acquiring a face to face set up. You could cancel your appointment for video session and create a new booking for face to face.

Can I change my therapist, or is this fixed after my first session?
You can change your therapist after your first session. We usually consider the first two sessions with the therapist a getting-to-know-you stage, and if you didn’t find a good fit, you can simply go back to your dashboard and book a time with a different therapist that suits your needs.

If this is your first time booking for therapy, we recommend you do a 90-minute session to create a more seamless experience with your therapist.

In a 90-minute session, you can expect your therapist to build that rapport with you during that first thirty minutes and the remaining sixty minutes goes for the rest of the counselling session.

If you don’t need this, feel free to book a 60-minute session instead.

Am I getting another charge if I reschedule a session?
No. You will not be billed twice as long as your reschedule was not at least 24 hours before the session.
Can Face-to-Face be rescheduled?

Yes. But we can ONLY allow Face-to-Face rescheduling if it is done three days before the session.

What is your cancellation policy for refunds?
  • For all Face to Face bookings, cancellation to be done 72 hours or more before the counselling session
  • For video call bookings, cancellation to be done 24 hours or more before the counselling session

If a cancellation is made more than 24 hours (Video Calls) or 72 hours (Face to face) from the appointment schedule, client will be provided 100% refund.
If a cancellation is made less than 24 hours (Video Calls) or 72 hours (Face to face) from the appointment schedule, there will not be any refund.

For more information, you can also visit : https://app.intercom.com/a/apps/cgltl5q7/articles/articles/5678617/show.

How do I get refund for a cancelled session? How long does it take?
If there is a refund due for cancelled sessions, this will be processed within 5-7 working days and will be credited to the original mode of payment.

Questions on Gift Card

How does your Gift Card work?

You can purchase a gift card for your family, friend or relative for them to use for a session. You may get the Gift Card from this link: https://safespace.sg/booking/

How will the Gift Card recipient be notified on this?

Gift card will be sent in the form of email.

If my gift card is $100 but I want to work with a therapist that charges $150, may I top up the difference?

Clients are able to top up the difference of amount on top of vouchers amount for their booking. For more information please see: https://intercom.help/safe-spacea/en/articles/4941231-gift-vouchers

What is the validity of the Gift Card?

They are valid for 90 days (3 months) to encourage the client to seek treatment soon. The client must book the therapy session using the voucher code within 90 days. However, the therapy date can be after the 90 day mark.

For more information please see: https://intercom.help/safe-spacea/en/articles/4941231-gift-vouchers

I received a $160 gift card. Can I split it up and use it in two sessions?

Please note that each Gift Card can only be used ONCE. Any remaining balance can no longer be used. We advise purchasing multiple Gift Cards for separate bookings. For more information please see: https://intercom.help/safe-spacea/en/articles/4941231-gift-vouchers

Safe Space Business

Who is Safe Space™?

Safe Space™ is a B2B2C digital mental healthcare platform that offers a blended approach of human therapy and mental health education to maintain long term mental wellness.

What does Safe Space™ offer?

Safe Space™ provides organisations with the resources and therapeutic solutions that they need to keep their employees happy, healthy and productive. We deliver a comprehensive suite of mental wellness solutions to support organisations and employees to overcome their emotional obstacles.

Is Safe Space™ officially listed as a mental health care provider in Singapore?

Yes. Safe Space™ is officially listed as a mental health care provider in Singapore and is a certified allied member of the Singapore Association for Counselling (SAC). Safe Space™ is also HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant.

What types of mental health disorders does your team of therapists provide support for?

We have a wide range of clinical therapists and psychologists who support the following mental and relationship issues:

  • Stress, anxiety and depression (including bipolar).
  • Couples therapy, family therapy and grief.
  • Substance abuse, eating disorders and OCD
  • Personality disorders and trauma.
How can you say that the services you will provide to our employees are effective?

Safe Space™ offers tailored support for employers to help their employees overcome their mental health challenges, improve mindset, manage stress and increase happiness. With evidence-based therapeutic solutions, our approach is proven to decrease employee sick days and improve retention and productivity.

As an employer, what are the benefits can we get in using and partnering with Safe Space™?

As a partner, Safe Space™ will help your company.

  • Maintain employee productivity and mental wellness while they are working from home.
  • Reduce the associated business cost of high employee absence.
  • Increase business profits by improving the mental wellbeing of staff moving forward.
  • Delivering evidence-based and proven therapeutic solutions for employees suffering from any mental health issues.
What does the tiered access look like?

Safe Space™ has created a highly structured approach that helps users maintain their mental wellness and overcome mental health challenges. Support and resources have been carefully organised into three tiers to help users along their journey, wherever they are.

What are the tiers of access in Safe Space™?

As each company is unqiue, please book a meeting with our sales team to find a suitable option for your business needs https://share.hsforms.com/1IIGdtqb7SC6uGpn5EqUOcw4nkk9

What are the vouchers for?

Vouchers are mainly used for our therapy services. On average, the voucher’s value is S$120.00, but it still depends on how our corporate clients want to distribute the value.

How many therapists do you have right now?

We have over 70 therapists on our platform right now and are still growing.

Which languages can your therapists speak?

Currently, we have available therapists who can speak English, Bahasa-Malay, Mandarin, Japanese, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, Burmese, Bahasa-Indonesia and Punjabi. In addition, we are looking to add more therapists who can speak Tagalog (Filipino), Thai and Vietnamese.

My employee is looking for a therapist to whom they can send messages via text, as my employee doesn't prefer to do video calls or face-to-face counselling. Is this a service you can provide?

We currently do not offer pure online chat counselling anymore as we realised it’s not a good therapy session for the client. However, we do for the special needs community, e.g. deaf community, because they still do video call counselling, but their mic is on mute, and they can converse with our counsellor in the “Chat” function of the screen.

The therapist still needs to visually see you due to the need to know the client’s physical cues, e.g. face/eye twitch, etc., to analyse their client better.

My employee is afraid to attend the session alone. Can a family member or a friend attend the session with him/her?

If your employee is planning to do individual face-to-face counselling, their family and friends can provide support by going with them to their session. However, we will need to ask them to wait outside for them to finish. It’s usually a better session when you have 1:1 conversations with the therapist.

If they need to be in the room and contribute to the session, we suggest booking family/group face-to-face counselling (3 pax and more) where all parties can be present in your counselling session and work with your employee on the concern at hand.

Is there an option to change therapists if the employee and therapist don't click well?

Yes – our clients have complete control to change their counsellor if there’s no synergy.

How much do you charge for your webinars?

Our webinar sessions’ costs get cheaper when you purchase more. But anything more than 5 x webinars will be capped at $350.00 per hour. 

1 webinar – $500.00 per hour

3 webinars – $425.00 per hour

5 or more webinars – $350.00 per hour

We are interested in securing the cost savings for the mental health education the government is offering. Is our company eligible to secure such subsidies?

Safe Space has secured IHP WOW Funding which will give you up to S$7,000 worth of subsidies for education. You can view the eligibility requirements by clicking here https://workplacehealth.ihp.com.sg/. However, Safe Space™ would need to refer your company to avail of such funding.

We are not interested in your therapy services right now, but we are interested in the webinars you produce. Is it possible to get the webinars instead in the meantime?

Yes, that is possible. Our webinars can be purchased separately. We can work with you regarding the content as well and will need to know the company’s mental health objectives and outcomes for the webinar. Please book a meeting with our sales team to find a suitable option for your business needs: https://share.hsforms.com/1IIGdtqb7SC6uGpn5EqUOcw4nkk9

How do you make sure that the data you provide is safe?

We make sure that the data you provide is safe and secured; for more information, you can view our privacy policies here: https://safespace.sg/privacy-policy/

Does Safe Space provide 24/7 Support?

Currently, our working/therapy session hours are:

Weekdays – 7:00 – 00:00

Weekends and PH – 8:30 – 21:30

We are working to onboard therapists from the US and Europe to fill in the gaps in our business hours.

If employees need immediate attention on counselling, what is the shortest lead time for them to get to a therapist in Safe Space?

We can guarantee that you can book a session with our therapist within the next 24 hours. The usual wait time for other providers is between 1 week to 1 month. We also have a SOS Support helpline for employees to call at any time

Is Safe Space equipped to provide counselling/ therapy to employees based in various countries with different cultures such as the Middle East, Latin America, China, just to name a few?

Yes. Our therapists are from a very diverse group and bring in different levels of experience. Also, the majority of our therapists hold masters or above degrees in counselling.

How much time is required per workshop?

Each webinar would take 1 hour. 

Onboarding the employees would take around 30 mins (we can do a few sessions if needed).

Are any days/dates unavailable?

We will check the therapist’s availability; kindly allow around 2-3 weeks lead time to book a therapist for the workshops.

How many topics are covered per workshop? (how many workshops are required, e.g. if we select four topics, does this mean four separate workshops? )

One topic would be covered per workshop. 

Equipment needed for the webinars? (phone, laptop etc.)

The Zoom app will need to be downloaded (free) on the device used to access the webinar. 

We will be using Slido as an anonymous audience engagement tool, which can be accessed via any browser on Smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Questions for Therapists

I want to be a Safe Space Therapist. What are your requirements?
A minimum of five (5) booked hours per month, for video call counselling. Rates set should be the same or lower than the rates you charge outside of Safe Space and based on the local market rate of your country to entice clients to book you on Safe Space platform.
Can I run my own practice?

Running your own practice is not a conflict with Safe Space. We understand that your practice is your main source of income and for the hours that have not been booked out, please use Safe Space as a client sourcing platform to fill up the free hours.
When we say “business that is direct competition” we mean creating another Safe Space platform where the primary business is mental health (counselling) technology and not a counselling practice. This is not allowed. 

Can I conduct tele-counselling in my own practice?

Please continue to provide tele-counselling in your own practice as that is your main source of income.
When we say “business that is direct competition” we mean creating another Safe Space platform where the primary business is mental health (counselling) technology and not a counselling practice. This is not allowed.

Supervision sessions

You are able to seek supervision from Safe Space’ Clinical Supervisor if you do not have your own supervisor. Additonal charges apply and rates to be discussed between therapist and clinical superviosr. Clinical supervisor: Tan Soh Hiang and Dr Jasmine Yeo.

How will my counselling / coaching sessions be conducted?

Should you prefer to only do video call counselling for now due to COVID-19, we respect your decision and you are able to do that. We provide both Video Call and Face-to-Face counselling as options available to you to offer. They will be booked by potential clients for either the Safe Space website or mobile app. 

Do you have a recommended agency/provider for personal insurance indemnity?

Safe Space™ can provide professional indemnity insurance coverage for all therapists worldwide, including USA and Canada, via Beazley Insurance as long as the Consultant’s clients remain on Safe Space™, using the Safe Space™ platform.

If the therapist prefers to use their insurance, please make arrangements for professional indemnity insurance. For personal insurance before commencement of performance, the consultant will arrange any insurance required by applicable law and maintain that insurance in effect throughout the contract.

We recommend getting your insurance from the Singapore Association of Counselling (SAC) as it’s the cheapest – SGDS $125 per annum.