Registered counsellor Jocelyn Tan has opened Heart Collab Psychology in Taman Kajang Putra, aiming to make professional mental health support more accessible to residents of Kajang, Semenyih and Bangi.
Tan, a graduate of HELP University and Merrimack College in the United States, brings six years of professional experience to the centre. Its opening was marked by a ceremony attended by family and friends who supported her journey.
She said mental health services are more concentrated in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya, leaving some residents in surrounding areas with limited options. Those seeking professional support may need to travel to Kuala Lumpur, adding travel time and transport costs to an already difficult experience.
“Kajang has a special meaning to me because this is my home. I want to provide services closer to where I grew up,” Tan said.
She hopes the centre will also challenge the idea that people should seek therapy only when their problems become severe. Many, she said, spend time questioning or blaming themselves, or feel their struggles are not serious enough to discuss with a professional.
Tan emphasised that therapy is not about becoming a “perfect” version of oneself. Instead, it can help people understand the fears and emotions behind their difficulties, such as anxiety about disappointing others.
Clients often initially seek help for academic pressure or feeling overwhelmed at work, she said. As sessions progress, other concerns may emerge. Workplace stress, for example, may be connected not only to workload but also to difficulty saying no to a superior.
“What we want to understand is why saying no feels so difficult for you, and what emotions or fears lie behind that difficulty,” she said.
Anxiety is among the concerns Tan commonly encounters. She noted that young people’s exposure to large volumes of online information, alongside social media comparisons, can leave them dissatisfied with their appearance, achievements or lifestyles.
Affordability is another barrier to care. While Heart Collab Psychology has a fixed fee structure, Tan said it considers the financial circumstances of clients with limited budgets and offers more affordable packages for those who need continued therapy over five to seven sessions.
The centre may also engage trainee therapists in the future to offer lower-cost services. Tan stressed that trainees would not practise independently and that their sessions would be supervised by qualified professionals.
Beyond individual counselling, Tan hopes to expand mental health education through workshops and community programmes. She has previously worked with Sunway University, Universiti Malaya and student organisation AIESEC on workshops covering topics such as stress management and self-care. The programmes used a train-the-trainer approach, preparing selected facilitators to share practical skills with larger groups of students.
Tan said she is keen to collaborate with more schools and corporate organisations, and the centre is planning workshops for people who may feel hesitant about seeking therapy.
The centre’s name reflects her approach to counselling. “Heart” represents the humanity of both client and therapist, while “Collab” refers to the partnership involved in therapy. Tan said clients should feel free to speak about concerns, whether large or small, and that therapists should not position themselves as authorities who simply tell clients what to do.
“I do not do therapy to my clients. I do therapy with them,” she said.
Over the next one to two years, Tan hopes to reach more people who could benefit from professional support and help them understand that they do not need to wait until their problems become severe before asking for help.
For more information, visit https://heartcollabpsychology.com or contact +60 16-857 0855.
