History of SAC

SAC was founded in 1982 by the late Mr Anthony Yeo, hailed as Singapore’s “Father of Counselling” for his pioneering role in the development of the profession in Singapore.  In 1982, three staff from the Counselling and Care Centre (CCC) attended a conference-workshop in Salatiga, Indonesia and made a bid for the subsequent conference-workshop to be held in Singapore. Though unsuccessful, it provided the impetus for the then Deputy Director of CCC, Ms Ginny Heng, with a plan to set up a local association that would be affiliated with the Association of Psychological and Educational Counsellors of Asia-Pacific (APECA).

Together with Mr Yeo, the then Director of CCC and other staff therapists, the seeds for the registration of SAC were sown, with the constitution of APECA used as a basis for formulating the first constitution for the registration of SAC.

Given that there were only a small number of counselling professionals in Singapore then, the original intention of SAC’s founding members was, therefore, to keep membership inclusive. This meant that social workers, pastors and educators who may have had little to no formal counselling qualifications but with counselling experience, were accepted as members.

In 1981, CCC initiated the first formal counsellor-training programme which formed the basis for membership qualification.

Given its affiliation with APECA, a milestone was achieved in 1986, with SAC sponsoring and organising the first APECA conference-workshop in Singapore.