Singapore to increase family counselling capacity as number of cases grows

The strengthening families programme was established in 2021 to support families who may face greater challenges in managing marriage, parenting and other family relationships.

Eleven FAM centres across Singapore provide family counselling to support such families. This includes providing psycho-emotional support and equipping families with skills and resilience to deal with stressors and resolve conflicts.

Families can book face-to-face or online counselling sessions with the centres.

“Preliminary findings have shown that family counselling has improved mental well-being, marital adjustment and child psychosocial functioning of (the programme’s) clients,” MSF said.

Since July 2024, all couples with minor children must go through the coparenting programme run by FAM centres before they file for divorce, Mr Masagos said, adding that this would hopefully prevent disagreements later over child access.

Speaking during the debate on his ministry’s spending plans for the coming year, Mr Masagos said that as MSF works to ramp up capacity, it will continue to make family counselling more accessible and provide self-help resources online to better support families.