Welcome to Tesserae
Looking for a child psychologist in Singapore?
If your child is having meltdowns, refusing school, or struggling with big feelings, looking for a child psychologist is a sensible place to start.
We’re not psychologists. We’re a behaviour support team led by a doctoral-level Board Certified Behaviour Analyst. For some children that’s the more direct route. For others, a psychologist really is the right call. Here’s the difference, so you can decide.
Not sure which professional your child needs?
Singapore has several kinds of child specialists and the labels overlap. Here’s the short version:
- Child psychologist: diagnoses conditions and provides talk-based therapy for anxiety, mood and trauma. A good fit when you need a formal diagnosis, or when your child can talk through how they feel.
- Child psychiatrist: a medical doctor who can diagnose and prescribe medication. A good fit when medication is on the table.
- Behaviour support, which is what we do: works on what your child does day to day. Routines, emotional regulation, following instructions, coping in class. No diagnosis needed to start.
Plenty of families end up working with more than one. If what you describe sounds like a job for a psychologist or psychiatrist, we’ll say so. We’d rather point you to the right person than take on work that won’t help your child.
Why We Focus on Behaviour
We use Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), a structured approach that works on what happens in real life rather than what happens in the therapy room. For a child who’s melting down, refusing, or shutting down at school, it helps because it:
- Works on the specific situations that go wrong. Mornings, transitions, homework, the classroom.
- Teaches your child what to do instead, so frustration has somewhere to go that isn't a meltdown.
- Gives you and their teachers the same strategies, so things hold up when we're not there.
What Changes for Your Child
Every child is different, but these are the changes families come to us for.
Say What They Need
When your child can’t get their point across, frustration comes out as behaviour. We teach practical ways to ask, refuse, and be understood, so there’s less need to melt down in the first place.
Connect With Other Children
Looking, listening, taking turns, joining in. We work on the building blocks of friendship, then practise them with peers rather than only across a table with an adult.
Handle Big Feelings
Anger, anxiety and frustration are normal. What matters is what your child does with them. We build coping strategies your child can use in the moment, not just talk about afterwards.
Get Through the Day
Mornings, transitions, homework, sitting through a lesson. We work on the routines that keep falling apart, so the day takes less out of everyone.
Why Trust Us with Your Child
A Different Speciality, Properly Qualified
Psychologists train in assessment and talk-based therapy. Behaviour analysts train in how behaviour is learned and how it changes, which is why much of our work happens in the situations where things actually go wrong.
Board Certified Behaviour Analyst (BCBA) is the international qualification for that speciality. Every programme here is designed and reviewed by one, and our clinical team is led by Dr. Dominic Leong, the only practicing doctoral-level BCBA (BCBA-D) in Southeast Asia.
No Diagnosis Needed to Start
Diagnostic routes here can mean months of waiting before anyone actually starts helping. You don’t need a label, a referral, or a report to begin with us, and we can support your child while any diagnostic process runs in parallel.
We Work With Everyone Around Your Child
Being the go-between for different professionals is exhausting. We work directly with your child’s speech therapist, occupational therapist, psychologist or school so everyone is pulling towards the same goals. We coach you and their teachers too, because you’re with your child far more than we are.
We Build for School, Home and Everyday Life
Skills only count where your child actually uses them. For many children that’s school, and we’re specialists at helping them participate in the classroom again, working hand in hand with teachers. For others it’s mealtimes, bedtime, the playground, or a birthday party. Wherever the hard part is, that’s where we build.
Our Process
Book a free discovery call
Get in touch and book your call. We’ll respond within 1 working day.
Complimentary 20-min Discovery Call
Meet one of our BCBAs. We’ll listen to what’s happening with your child and tell you honestly whether behaviour support is the right fit, or whether another professional would serve you better.
2 Hours Initial Consultation (If needed)
Our team uses structured tools and observation to understand your child’s current skills. From that we design a plan built around your family’s actual routines.
Support Begins (If needed)
We set clear goals and review progress regularly. You’ll get regular updates, and we’ll work alongside your child’s school or other therapists where that helps.
Testimonials
What Parents and Partners Say About Us
Not sure if we're the right fit?
Tell us what’s going on with your child. If behaviour support is the right route, we’ll explain how we’d approach it. If you’d be better served by someone else, we’ll tell you that too and point you in the right direction.
Book a complimentary discovery call.
A 20-minute call with one of our BCBAs. No cost, no pressure, and no obligation to book anything afterwards.