By turning towards yourself and the world, you create new possibilities for living with greater authenticity and deeper meaning.
My therapeutic philosophy draws from two ancient Greek wisdoms: “Know thyself,” and “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Quick Background
- Yale-NUS College, Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology
- James Cook University, Masters in Guidance and Counselling
Professional Experience
- James Cook University Counselling Office
- Shan You Counselling Centre
Hi, I’m Gary Wee: A Counsellor working towards full SAC accreditation.
I specialize in working with young adults who struggle with feeling like they don’t know who they are, and that the life they’re living isn’t really theirs.
You might be high-functioning on the surface, doing well on paper. Nothing is obviously “wrong”. But nothing feels quite “right” either—something still feels off.
Maybe you feel that you’ve chosen the wrong career and it’s too late. Or you got the job stability you thought you needed, but you’re feeling increasingly disillusioned. You’re unsure whether to switch jobs or pursue a master’s degree. At some point, you don’t know who you are outside of work. When the weekend comes, you’re at a loss about what to do while feeling anxious that you should do something.
For some of you, it shows up in how you relate to yourself and others. You reflect deeply and understand yourself quite well. But you’re still repeating the same patterns. Although you desire deep connections, your friendships are drifting apart as everyone gets busy. Conversations often feel surface-level and distant. You may find yourself rethinking your relationship with family—especially around responsibility, expectations, and filial piety.
Perhaps, on a deeper existential level, life feels meaningless to you. Or maybe life has never quite felt meaningful before because you’ve been following a path that was never really yours to begin with. Your peers seem to have it all figured out: they enjoy their job, found their partners, and “settled down”. You might not fully agree with that life trajectory. Yet, you can’t help but feel like you’re falling behind. You question if life is really just about this rat race.
Although it’s impossible for me to capture all experiences here, if you resonate with any of these experiences or my way of working, let’s meet for an honest conversation about what you seek.
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How I Work
Being more philosophically minded, I put focus on uncovering and clarifying the hidden meanings of the words you, the client, use and tend to gloss over as a given, but in reality, are unclear and contradicting. Therein often lie the answers you seek. Here, I help you develop your capacity for inner searching.
Trained in Existential-Humanistic Therapy, I work relationally in the here-and-now. Your relational patterns with people in your life will show up in your relationship with me. Real work occurs when we attend to our relationship that is alive in the therapy room, not just abstractly talking about relationships. Here, you learn to stay with your body and emotions.
We will engage in dialogue. I will ask you questions and offer my observations. You’re encouraged to do the same. I will not give you answers. Not because I don’t want to, but because even if I wanted to, I’m cannot since no one has ready-made answers for life. In this process, you will reach your own stance about how you want to live. Then you’ll really feel that your life is yours—not anybody else’s.
Integrating Philosophy and Psychology
Only attending to your emotions isn’t always the most helpful. You’d come to see that many of your problems aren’t simply psychological but necessarily philosophical in nature. When I say philosophical, I do not mean abstract philosophy like formal logic, intellectual debate, or theoretical argument that seem only reserved for philosophers, academics, or intellectuals.
Where Psychology Meets Philosophy
I mean exploring the deeply human questions about how you actually and practically want to live in your everyday life or life as a whole. Unbeknownst to many of you, you already have a “personal philosophy”, which is how you view yourself, others, the world, life, morality, ethics, etc. These views reveal what you believe life is all about, how you should act, what is important, what is expected of others, what is honourable and fair, right or wrong.
You express that philosophy everyday through your actions, emotions, hopes, plans, and choices, from “big” life questions like “what is a ‘good’ life?” to the seemingly trivial matters like “Should I spend more than $5 on lunch or make my own?” Even tiny, everyday decisions reveal a philosophy of life. Underlying your distress are often philosophical questions like the following: What is a “friend”? What is “love”? What is “fair”?
Hence, part of our work together would be spent on flashing out your current “personal philosophy”, clarifying it, and exploring what you wish to change or preserve, while integrating it with psychological work (emotional and cognitive). This makes for a more encompassing approach that reflects your actual experience living life, which involves contemplating difficult questions about life, yourself, and other people, managing your emotions, and knowing how to organize your thoughts.
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