Karen Pooh Chuan Ling

Clinical Psychologist, Alliance Counselling, adj faculty at Yale-NUS and NTU

Singapore

Dr Karen Pooh is a Chartered Clinical Psychologist registered with the British Psychological Society and the Health and Care Professions Council in the United Kingdom. As a Ministry of Health scholar, she completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at University College London.

Karen works with clients of all ages and particularly enjoys supporting adolescents and adults who desire to form a better relationship with themselves and others. 

In London and Singapore, Karen has worked on a wide range of mental health issues presented in hospital and community settings. She is currently in private practice, Alliance Counselling. 

Karen's clinical approach is integrative and tailors her treatment plan in accordance with her clients’ multi-faceted needs. She uses a combination of evidence-based therapeutic modalities, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), third wave CBT, Systemic Therapy and Psychodynamic Therapy.


With a keen interest in Mindfulness, Karen completed her teacher training in Mindful Self Compassion (MSC). She decided to delve deeper into this area after she observed that many clients feel inadequate or are very hard on themselves. At the heart of her practice, Karen uses a compassion-based approach to enable individuals to tap on their strengths, boost their resilience, and grow in alignment with their core values.

Karen holds teaching appointments at Yale-National University Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Sigmund Freud University Vienna. Her research has been published and presented at international conferences.

Karen believes that mental health is more than the absence of illnesses and that individuals are able to flourish and live a meaningful life despite experiencing storms in their lives.