Dr Francis Heng, Visiting Consultant

PhD (Criminology)

Dr Francis Heng holds multiple qualifications in Social Work, Psychology and Criminology, under scholarships from the Ministry of Defence and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).

He was Head/Chief Counsellor and Clinical Adviser for the SAF, where he spent most of his working career. He pioneered counselling, paracounselling and 24-hour counselling hotline services for Singaporean service personnel and national servicemen and set up similar services for the Bruneian Armed Forces. In a voluntary capacity, he developed paracounselling services in the Catholic archdioceses of Singapore and Kuching, as well as for the Airlines Pilots Association of Singapore (ALPAS) where he sits on their advisory panel.

From his clinical work spanning more than three decades, he has wealth of experience in managing problems ranging from stress/relationship/vocational coping difficulties to trauma related issues stemming from critical incidents. He specialises in the treatment of trauma issues, bereavement, personal crisis, and anxiety disorders.

Dr Heng is also well versed in youth mental health and social issues, as chairman of the Panel of Advisers to the Youth Court. Most recently, he was a keynote speaker at the 2021 Shan Huien International Symposium on Multi-pluralism Work for Young People, Taiwan (“Mental Health Issues Among Youth in Singapore: Implications for Social Work”).

Dr Heng also has a passion for teaching. He teaches Crisis Intervention at undergraduate and Master’s levels at both the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and Swinburne University of Technology. He is currently the chairman of SUSS’s Advisory Committee for Counselling degree programmes. He has also lectured at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and universities abroad.

Services Offered:

Counselling and Therapy

Psychotherapy