Nicholas Gabriel - Author, Entrepreneur, Psychologist & Mentor

10/01/2026

As an adolescent psychologist and President of the Youth Work Association (Singapore), I have spent years walking alongside young people whose struggles are often invisible, yet deeply felt.

In Singapore, youth mental health challenges and addiction do not exist in isolation. When left unaddressed, they ripple across families, schools, and entire communities. That is why I am honoured to be part of the Caritas Singapore COMPASS Symposium, a space created by and for professionals who work with young people every day.

This symposium brings together youth workers, social workers, educators, counsellors, therapists, psychologists, and practitioners across the youth, mental health, and addiction sectors, to reflect, learn, and respond collectively to the realities facing our youths today. Through evidence-based insights, honest dialogue, and cross-sector collaboration, COMPASS aims to turn shared understanding into meaningful impact.

🎤 My panel, “Living the Struggle,” will explore what it truly means for youths to live with addiction or behavioural disorders in Singapore. Alongside one senior practitioners and a former youth addict, we will unpack the lived realities of struggle, recovery, and support, highlighting the systemic gaps, emotional toll, and critical touchpoints that shape a young person’s journey toward healing.

If you work with young people, this is not just another symposium, it is a call to strengthen our collective capacity to care, respond, and advocate more effectively.

👉 Visit the registration site to find out more and register. Let us come together to build a more compassionate, informed, and resilient ecosystem for our young people.



https://www.caritas-singapore.org/compass/

22/11/2025

Glad to be able to support the National Council Against Drug Abuse - NCADA in facilitating conversations with parents, youths, teachers, and the community on the topic of va**ng.

It is increasingly apparent that va**ng is the gateway to drugs consumption, and there may be so many things we are still uncertain or unclear about.

Join in the upcoming Masterclass on Supporting Youth in Va**ng Cessation to find out more.

Join our experts in the legal, medical, addiction and youth work space to:
✅ Understand youth va**ng and etomidate abuse
✅ Explore strategies to support their quitting
✅ Understand the laws on youth va**ng

You may choose to attend either one of the Masterclasses kindly sponsored and supported by RHTLaw Asia, Resilenz Clinic, Amicus Curiae Pcs and SGFamilies.

Run 1
🗓 Masterclass: 27 Nov 2025 | 5.30pm – 8.30pm

Run 2
🗓 Masterclass: 18 Dec 2025 | 5.30pm – 8.30pm

Should parents, teachers and even youth workers or practitioners working with youths like to dive into skills development and or practice, on how to engage youths on va**ng, the following workshops are available at a token fee.

🗓 Workshop Run 1: 3 Dec 2025 | 10am – 4pm

🗓 Workshop Run 2: 22 Dec 2025 | 10am – 4pm

Don’t miss this chance to gain practical insights and tools to support youth! Do share with those interested and those who may need this.

Register Here: https://forms.office.com/r/KeyYs4vQHq

22/11/2025

Fancy seeing so many youths rise and early this morning for "What’s In That Puff? The Truth about Drugs and Kpods", organised by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the National Youth Council (NYC) to engage youths and parents.

Drugs and kpods are obviously still a concern in the community, and I am glad we can engage each other like this openly, to understand each other, the current trends, know about the resources and support available, and in general just to be educated or informed from different perspective - relationship, law, medical, social science, government, etc.

I found out some of the following:-

Rising numbers overall reported in 2024.
- 2% increase from 2023 on arrests of drug abusers
- New drug abusers rose by 5%
- Repeat abusers remained high

Most commonly abused drugs.
- Methamphetamine (61%)
- He**in (28%)
- Cannabis (6%)

Youth at increasing risk.
- Young people (below 30) make up 28% of all arrests.
- Arrests for those below 20 increased by 25%.
- Over half of all new abusers (54%) were under 30.
- New abusers below 20 jumped by 38%.

These show something - Exposure and vulnerability are rising among our youth.

Changing attitudes toward drugs
- 90% of youths think drug abuse should remain illegal, this is lower than adults (96%).
- 79% of youths feel cannabis should remain illegal.
- Social media, global narratives, and peer influence may be normalizing these substances.

THERE IS HOPE. The numbers in attendance - youths and parents - show that we are interested to address this. We can most definitely do it one step at a time, and together!

Family conversations make a difference.

Among youths who talked to their parents or guardians about drugs, from a 2023 national perception survey, 91.7% said it deterred them from trying.

Our voice matters more than we think. So let's start with one conversation at a time. I am glad this forum with Dr Charles, Boon, MOS Mdm Rahayu Mahzam and myself are able to get this going for MCCY-NYC.

LET'S START THE CONVERSATION TODAY.

Talk to your children, your teens, your students, your peers. Stay informed, stay engaged, and protect the next generation from the growing risks of drug misuse.

Together, we can keep our youth safe.

04/11/2025

This past weekend was one filled with hope and joy. The other reason was because I spent it with a lot of men talking and learning about all things man!

Hopeful that many men also take their lives and well-being seriously. Joyful because I am not alone on this journey of growing old as a man for myself, my family, my wife and my children.

I also specifically shared about the topic "Man! You Were Not Born for P**n", my neuroscience-informed reflection on love, the brain and the modern man.

It sure looked like I managed to "turn-on" the men! 🤣 And I am glad I did. I took a couple of months to research and prepare for my topic.

True to my findings, the men at the FoRM II Conference were listening intently about what I found from brain research the impact of p**n on our brains, and how it would affect us men. Many men around the world responded in similar fashion and some even took serious action against the use of p**n.

This also gave me hope because if men can take this seriously, I know their lives would turn around for the better, because relationships with people who matters in their lives would improve, and they would be happier, more satisfied and real about their own lives.

This also brought so much joy to me as men's lives with children, teens, and spouses would be improved significantly, as the researches would suggest.

Here's the summary of what I shared last weekend. Grateful that Amicus was willing to allow me to share on their platform.

https://www.amicuscuriaepcs.com/man-you-were-not-born.../

**n

03/11/2025

This past weekend was one filled with hope and joy. One of the reason was because we launched our GGMobile truck at The Shelter Company for the first time!

It truly was a remarkable journey, transforming an initial idea into a tangible reality. It was a collaborative effort, with various stakeholders contributing their unique expertise, dedication and effort going above and beyond to materialise this fully.

To me, there is so much hope because in this dark world we live in today, these individuals and organisations brought light.

And those who will now benefit from this tangible reality of help, support and social intervention, brings joy because their world will likely be a better place to live and be.

Look forward to it spreading the hope and joy to everyone it reaches!


IMDA Singapore Pools Samsung Electronics Singapore Logitech G AFTERSHOCK PC Josephine Teo Rahayu Mahzam

GGMobile, Singapore’s First Gaming Live Stream Studio in a Truck with GGLife Goes on an Islandwide Tour in 2026 to schools and public spaces

16/07/2025

Today was the launch of the HEART Professionals Network at - and here’s why it’s a big deal for all of us in Singapore.

The Singapore Psychological Society (SPS) is stepping up in a strategic and powerful way, partnering with the Home Team, Social Workers, Counsellors, and Psychiatrists to boost our national psychological response to emergencies.

This is not just about being prepared for terrorist attacks or disasters, it is about protecting the mental well-being of everyday Singaporeans, especially our young, who are increasingly at risk from drug abuse, radicalisation, scams, and online exploitation.

With SPS at the table, we are not just responding, we are shaping policies, sharing expertise, and ensuring that psychological support is baked into our national crisis management plans. This kind of collaboration strengthens our resilience not just as professionals, but as a nation.

This is psychological science at work for the public good. Proud to be part of a profession that does not sit on the sidelines. 🇸🇬🧠💪

A regional platform was also launched for professionals like forensic and legal psychologists and researchers. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

21/06/2025

Great conversation team!!

Thank you for what you do so passionately and helping those in need.

The gaming world can be so misunderstood to many, especially parents. How then can we engage our children when they constantly turn to it, some times against parents’ better judgement.

Some ideas for your consideration here.. Have a listen! Enjoy!

24/05/2025

Another year and another wonderful weekend of sharing and learning.

It has been a tremendous journey of growth with the Comeback team since we started in 2019.

Our learning, reach and resources have grown significantly. We are excited about the ventures we are getting into this year.

Watch this space!

Thank you to all who spent your Sat morning with us at the Parents Webinar: Understanding Games, Gamers and Game Dependency 9th Edition. We hope what we have shared is helpful to you.

Here’s the link to the content shared in articles and videos: https://linktr.ee/comebackworld

06/05/2025

As the nation-wide efforts to support youths with mental health concerns and issues continue, our SPS members have put together this edition of "Exploring Youth Mental Health" for everyone and anyone.

I am really appreciative of the team and members for focusing on Youth Mental Health in this edition on the Singapore Psychologist, the Singapore Psychological Society's quarterly flagship magazine.

Good read all around. It covers a variety of youth mental health topics.

I particularly enjoyed the one on "How to Help Youths Build Humour to Improve Their Mental Health".

Humour can indeed help improve the mental health of youths. It can be used "to reframe negative thoughts in funny representations; this can create a psychological distance for the person to stay apart from the negative thoughts in order to maintain positive mental health", as one article highlights.

Another article I enjoyed is on "Ecotherapy & Outdoor Self-Care for Youth". While the benefits of ecotherapy are clear, encouraging young people to spend more time in nature can be challenging, the article proposes to:

1. Start small
2. Leverage technology
3. Incorporate social elements

Have a good read! Spread this resource. Let me know some of your take aways from the numerous articles published in this edition of Singapore Psychologist. Any other helpful tips to add to the resource here as well?

https://singaporepsychologicalsociety.org/resources/singapore-psychologist/

27/04/2025

IT IS BACK!!

Our annual Parents Webinar on understanding games, gamers, and game dependency is back! We will have Mandarin simultaneous translation on Zoom again as well. 🤗🤩

Recognizing the increasing need for parents to manage children's gaming due to mobile device access, the webinar acknowledges gaming's prevalence and the ineffectiveness of complete restriction, while addressing concerns about excessive gaming and the underdiagnosis of game dependency.

The webinar aims to equip parents with frameworks to understand these topics, improve communication and relationships with their children through communication strategies based on youth brain development.

Date: 24 May 2025 (Sat)
Time: 8.30am – 11.30am (SGT)
Cost: Sponsored
Venue: Zoom Webinar

More Info and Registration: https://bit.ly/UGGG2025I

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Event Info 活动信息 Date: 24 May 2025 (Sat) Time: 8.30am – 11.30am (Singapore Time)Cost: FreeVenue: Zoom WebinarRegistration Link: https://bit.ly/UGGG2025 NOTE: A unique zoom link will be emailed to you to join the webinar. Please sign up using the email address you use for your Zoom account. ...

24/04/2025

“Va**ng is a big issue amongst youths in Singapore.”

Is this your observation and or experience?

Heard anyone mentioned this before to you?

Having difficulties with your “va**ng youths”?

Want to just find out more?

Come let’s discuss and learn about youth va**ng issue together!

If you are a parent, teacher, coach, youth worker, social work, mentor; as long as you are working with youths, and confronted with youth va**ng issues, come! Join in the discussion!

You never know what you will take away!

**ng

The harmful effects of va**ng are well known. The introduction of Kpods have no doubt made things worse. What theories could underpin our discussion with youths on this issue? When do we broach this discussion, knowing that having it premature could damage our r/s with youths and opportunities to journey with them on other issues like mental health, family, school, etc. How do the different systems, such as legal, social service, education, etc. all interact with better synergy for a more concerted effort to tackle the issue of va**ng? Sign up below and join us for a discussion. We want 2 hear u!
**ng

12/04/2025

Grateful that one of our HYSEN community member has agreed to join me on the show at 11am this morning. It’s really important to support and learn from each other.

So JOIN US by tuning in. Can ask us questions too!! See details below:

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*HYSEN: Helping Youths Succeed Empowerment Network
https://nas.io/HelpingYOUthSucceedEN

In a world where teens face mounting pressures and feel increasingly misunderstood, how can parents truly support them? We explore the science of adolescent development and introduce practical coaching strategies. Learn how to bridge the gap and build empowering relationships with the youth in your life.

WhatsApp your questions to 963 11938.

Family Ties with Susan Ng. Saturdays at 11am, 4pm & 10pm on .

Listen to Family Ties podcasts here:
https://www.melisten.sg/podcast/playlist/family-ties-2592636