Nathaniel Chua earned his master’s degree in counseling from the Alliance Graduate School in Quezon City, Philippines in 2009, and his undergraduate degrees in psychology and marketing management from the De La Salle University in Manila, Philippines in 1988.
Nathan spent the first 20 years of his career running a family business with his mom and sisters.
He has been in practice since 2009 and spent the first nine years of his counseling work mainly using psychodynamic and existential psychotherapy.
In 2018, he started adding mindfulness approaches to his work, during which time he discovered one of several models of therapy grouped together under what is called the Third Wave of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
In 2019, Nathan Chua found the effectiveness and efficiency of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a model of therapy developed by Dr. Steven Hayes, worthy of adoption into his practice. He has attended workshops about ACT and RFT (Relational Frame Theory, the science behind ACT) conducted by Dr. Steven Hayes, Dr. Russ Harris, and Dr. Matthieu Villatte, who he is privileged to have as a consultant!
He also had the privilege of attending one of Dr. Andrew Christensen’s workshops about his approach to couples therapy called, Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT), and works with Dr. Blake Evans, a certified IBCT therapist, as a consultant for addressing concerns of couples and families.
Nathan is an active member of an international organization called, Association for Contextual Behavioral Science or ACBS, where he became the first ever Filipino chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Special Interest Group (DEI-SIG). This group aims to empower ACT therapists from around the world by affording them opportunities to share and improve their therapeutic insights and skills. Its advocacies do not just include alleviating human suffering but also empowering people towards pursuing purposeful and worthwhile lives.
On November 17, 2023, Nathan had the privilege of presenting a talk for an international audience of therapists from Low or Middle Income Countries (LMIC) about Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy. Certificate of Presentation below:
He is also a part-time blogger, podcaster, and YouTube content creator. He posts his content on his website www.onelifeonly.net to reach as many people as possible with the use of the most effective approaches in therapy.