**DSL & Head of Counselling, Korean International School & Co-founder & Psychotherapist, Mindsight Limited **
Anson Lam is a psychotherapist and safeguarding specialist with over 20 years of experience in international education. She is a proven leader in developing high-performing student support teams from the ground up.
At KIS, within just a few years, she founded and scaled the school’s counselling service and spearheaded the safeguarding infrastructure, transforming both departments from non-existent to COBIS-accredited standards. Anson’s work as DSL goes beyond day-to-day safeguarding. She has integrated safer recruitment into HR processes, developed comprehensive staff training, and built a whole-school safeguarding culture. She is currently working closely with the GSC team to lead KIS through the endorsement program, with the aim of becoming the first GSC-endorsed school. In parallel, she built the counselling department from the ground up through university partnerships with HKU, Monash University, CityU, and Shu Yan University, ensuring that students from Reception to Year 13 receive developmentally appropriate, evidence-based support.
Committed to nurturing the next generation of practitioners, Anson also supervises Master’s in Counselling student interns from various universities, guiding them toward qualification and equipping them with a deep understanding of both safeguarding and counselling within schools. Anson specialises in anxiety, depression, ADHD, ASD, parent coaching, and family transitions (including divorce). Fluent in Cantonese, English, and Mandarin, she brings her practical, collaborative approach to supporting school communities and families in her private clinic.
Building a Culture of Care: How to Launch and Scale Critical School Support Functions in Record Time
Two departments. Three years. From zero to internationally praised. Here’s how we did it.
- The First 90 Days:
- Launching Counselling: Securing resources.
- Defining our mandate. Earning trust.
- The Scaling Playbook
- From Counselling to Safeguarding: Leveraging credibility.
- Training the whole staff. Partnering with the Board. Safer recruitment in practice.
- The Accelerator: Why COBIS and GSC fast-tracked our growth
- Key Takeaways + Q&A: Three actionable tips to build or transform your teams.