PSYCHOLOGIST · EDUCATOR · LEARNING DESIGNER

Life's transitions bring anxiety. You don't have to navigate them alone.

I'm Irna Silawaty, M.Psi., Psikolog, a psychologist helping young people and the families who love them, with evidence-based methods and international training. Available in Bahasa Indonesia or English, wherever you are.

Counselling

One-to-one sessions if you're experiencing stress and anxiety through school, university, early career, or life far from home. Using CBT and ACT as primary approaches, we work together to understand what drives it, build skills to manage it, and move toward a life aligned with your values.

Parents seeking guidance on supporting their child through these seasons are also welcome.

Adolescents and young adults · Bahasa Indonesia or English ·
60-minute sessions via video call · Onsite arrangements available.

Book a session → lynk.id/irnasilawaty

Speaking & Training

Seminars and workshops on youth mental health and wellbeing, self-regulation, career and life direction, grief and loss, supportive parenting, social-emotional learning (SEL), and counselling skills — for students, parents, educators, helping professionals, and communities.

Onsite and online · Bahasa Indonesia or English

Consulting

Program development for youth-focused organizations, from initial needs analysis to facilitator-ready materials and training of trainers. Familiarity with instructional design principles and ADDIE framework with Kirkpatrick-informed evaluation.

Bahasa Indonesia or English

I know what it feels like to grow up anxious. As a teenager, I carried worries I couldn't name and questions I didn't know how to ask. What I needed then, but didn't have, was someone who understood and helped me navigate what I was feeling. That experience is what led me to pursue psychology and build my practice.

Since 2010, I have worked within the education system to support young people and their families. I know young people's world from the inside: the academic pressure, the ups and downs of friendships, the uncertainty of not knowing who they are or where they are headed, and the helplessness parents feel watching their child struggle from a distance. These days my work includes young adults building lives beyond school — new cities, new countries, new versions of themselves. I help them grow through all of it and toward self-acceptance, purpose, and resilience. Together, we do the quiet work of helping them bloom where they are planted.

At the end of my university training, long before online mental health support was familiar in Indonesia, a friend and I started Sepulang Sekolah. It was a Facebook group where teenagers could safely ask the questions they didn't know how to bring to anyone else. It was the beginning of understanding what young people actually need, and how to reach them where they are.

When the pandemic hit, that experience prepared me for volunteering with SEJIWA, a national psychological first aid hotline launched by the Indonesian government. I honed my online counselling skills through encounters with Indonesians in crisis, at one of the most anxious moments in recent memory.

I also came to understand that young people need more than someone to talk to — they need community, skills, and spaces to grow into who they are becoming. In 2020, a friend and I co-founded BLOOM, channeling that understanding into content, seminars, and workshops for young Indonesians. Looking ahead, I hope to build a group therapy practice. While this modality is still rare in Indonesia, I believe it holds real promise as a more accessible, powerful form of mental health support for young people.

I have developed programs for schools and organisations working with young people, and delivered 60+ seminars and workshops to audiences as diverse as students, parents, educators, helping professionals, and international communities.

Education

  • Master of Psychology (M.Psi.) & Psychologist · Educational Psychology · University of Indonesia · 2008–2010 UI-Sasakawa Scholarship · Graduated cum laude
  • Master of Education Management · INTI International University, Malaysia · 2025–2026 Full Scholarship · Graduated cum laude
  • Bachelor of Psychology (S.Psi.) · University of Indonesia · 2003–2007 Graduated cum laude

Licensure & Certification

  • Licensed Psychologist · Himpunan Psikologi Indonesia (HIMPSI) · Valid until 21 September 2026 SIPP No. 20100499-2019-02-0772 · Verify at himpsi.or.id →
  • THE Accredited Counsellor · Times Higher Education & Common Purpose
  • Certified School Psychologist (Psikolog Sekolah) · Badan Nasional Sertifikasi Profesi (BNSP) · 2022–2025
  • Certified Distance Learning Facilitation (Metodologi Pelatihan: Pelaksanaan Pelatihan Jarak Jauh) · Badan Nasional Sertifikasi Profesi (BNSP) · 2021–2024

Selected training and professional work.

Training

  • Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) — Primary & Advanced CertificateCBT Australia · Dr. Monica O'Kelly & Dr. Dom DiMattia
  • Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) — Primary & Advanced CertificateAustralian Institute for Rational-Emotive Therapy · Dr. Monica O'Kelly & Dr. Dom DiMattia · Accredited by the Albert Ellis Institute, New York
  • Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)Psychwire · Dr. Russ Harris
  • Introduction to Group Therapy (4 weeks) & Training Process Group (40 weeks)The Sacramento Center for Psychotherapy · Haim Weinberg, Ph.D., CGP
  • Mindfulness for StressBreathworks · Fidelma Farley
  • Mindfulness Based Wellbeing in a CrisisMindWell Education · Amy Burke & Kevin Hawkins
  • Emotional Agility for Wellbeing at WorkSusan David, Ph.D.
  • AFS Global CompetenceAFS Intercultural Programs & Massey University

Professional work

  • Psychological First Aid (PFA) Training FacilitatorHimpunan Psikologi Indonesia (HIMPSI)
  • Assessment Specialist, AS & A Level PsychologyCambridge Assessment International Education
  • Module Developer & Training of Trainers Facilitator — STARLET Life-Skills ProjectWahana Visi Indonesia (World Vision Indonesia)
  • Parenting Seminar Speaker — "Good Parenting" for Refugee Parents & CaregiversChurch World Service (CWS) Indonesia · UNHCR refugee program
  • Teacher Workshop Facilitator — "Komunikasi yang Efektif" (Effective Communication)Sekolah Lemuel

Co-Founder · 2020–present

BLOOM

Vision
A community that helps youth bloom where they are planted.

Missions

  • Promote mental health.
  • Facilitate self-acceptance and change.
  • Equip youth with skills for purpose and resilience.
Follow BLOOM on Instagram @bloomforyouth.id →

Publication

Silawaty, I. (2021). Mengembangkan kebijaksanaan remaja di masa pandemi [Developing adolescent wisdom during the pandemic]. In R. Sahrani, M. Mawarpury, H. Nisa, & Afriani (Eds.), Tinjauan pandemi COVID-19 dalam psikologi perkembangan [COVID-19 pandemic review in developmental psychology] (pp. 168–194). Syiah Kuala University Press.

Research

Efektivitas Penggunaan Strategy-Attribution Retraining dalam Meningkatkan Motivasi Belajar Siswa SMA yang Menunjukkan Sindrom Gagal (The Effectiveness of Strategy-Attribution Retraining in Enhancing the Motivation of High-School Students with Failure Syndrome) · Master's thesis, University of Indonesia
The Social Architecture of a School: A Case Study of Social Capital and Collective Well-Being in an Indonesian Secondary School · Graduate final project, INTI International University

The next season can be a growing one.

For inquiries, write to me at irna.silawaty@outlook.com.
I'll respond personally.

Email me