Interview with Nathaniel Chua, ACT Therapist & Couples Aficionado
In the 1950s and 60s in the beatnik scene of upstate New York when people suggested meeting a friend of theirs the question back was always “Sure, but do they have anything to say?” meaning, “Am I going to learn anything from this person? Are they going to blow my mind? Change my perspective?”
Recently, I sat down for an interview with Nathaniel Chua, an ACT Therapist from the Philippines who has been doing some really great stuff with the ACT Matrix. And immediately after the interview finished I took off my headphones and was in awe of exactly how much Nathaniel has to say. . . about using the matrix with couples (his specialty), helping men with urges of infidelity, and the state of psychotherapy overall.
This interview was supposed to be a video, but due to an error on my end the video did not record, but we do have clear and crisp audio for you above.
Here’s a little bit about Nathaniel, in his own words:
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.
If you are wondering about the big time gap between his graduate and undergraduate studies, Nathan spent the first 20 years of his career running a family business with his mom and sisters, and pursued counseling and psychology in his midlife.
He has been in practice for 13 years and spent the first 9 years of his work mainly using psychodynamic and existential psychotherapy.
In 2018, he started adding mindfulness approaches to his work, during which time he discovered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
In 2019, Nathan Chua fell in love with ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) and has attended workshops about ACT and RFT (Relational Frame Theory) 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 work with couples and families.
Nathan is also an avid blogger, podcaster, and YouTube content creator. He posts his content in his website www.onelifeonly.net to reach as many people as possible using his own helluva history which drives him to help others who need it.
Please visit Nathaniel’s website:
and you can get in contact with Nathaniel by email at nathanielchua@onelifeonly.net