Once Upon a Time: A Journey Through The Ugly Duckling and Within
Carl Jung saw fairy tales as mirrors of the basic patterns in our psyche, reflecting universal human experiences and the archetypal journey toward wholeness. Fairy tales carry timeless psychological and emotional value, continuing to resonate deeply with us today.
In this experiential workshop, we will journey through Hans Christian Andersen’s classic story, The Ugly Duckling, reflecting on its universal themes of the outcast, while uncovering personal insights. At its core, the story illuminates the feeling of being different in a negative connotation, of being “othered”—and how such experiences ultimately lead to a profound realization of one’s true nature.
We begin by creating a reflective, sacred space to engage with the story, not just with our minds, but with our hearts and souls. Through storytelling and introspection, participants will be invited to immerse themselves in the tale, noticing the images, emotions, and themes that arise. Creative practices such as free writing will help facilitate dialogue with what emerges from the psyche, exploring how the duckling’s journey mirrors our own unique paths.
Group sharing will deepen our understanding of the symbols within the story and foster a sense of shared humanity. No prior knowledge of Jungian psychology is required, just an open heart and reverence to engage meaningfully with this profound tale. Shelly Mok, counselling psychologist and Jungian analyst, will be your storyteller and guide.
Beyond the Bedroom: Medical and Psychological Dimensions of Sexual Health
This workshop provides a highly comprehensive framework for addressing sexual health, dysfunctions and disorders within the unique cultural and clinical landscape of Hong Kong. This session bridges the critical gap between biomedical models and advanced psychosexual strategies. This offers a deeply integrated perspective on human sexuality that is directly applicable to contemporary clinical practice.
How organic medical conditions, complex hormonal shifts, and intricate pharmacological factors, particularly the prevalent sexual side effects of commonly prescribed psychiatric medications, intersect with psychological variables would be critically analyzed. The evidence-based diagnostic pathways tailored specifically for local Hong Kong practice would be introduced. These frameworks will help clinicians effectively differentiate between underlying physiological root causes and psychosexual barriers, such as acute sexual performance anxiety, relationship distress, and deeply ingrained cultural stigmas or traditional family expectations.
Through case studies and interactive clinical discussions, the workshop delivers actionable, multidisciplinary intervention strategies. How to seamlessly synthesize traditional medical treatments with psychological modalities, including targeted sex therapy, cognitive-behavioral techniques and mindfulness practices would be discussed. By fostering vital, ongoing collaboration between the psychiatric and psychological fields, this session equips Hong Kong clinicians with the practical tools necessary to conduct culturally sensitive assessments, break down shame and communication barriers, and design holistic, multi-modal treatment plans that restore relational intimacy and long-term sexual and psychological well-being.
The Business of Healing: Navigating Insurance and Multidisciplinary Synergy in Private Practice
Running a private practice in Hong Kong requires both clinical skills and a practical understanding of the local healthcare market. In this featured talk, Dr Yat Chow discusses how psychiatrists, counselling psychologists, counsellors, and psychotherapists can collaborate effectively in private settings.
Drawing on his experience in Hong Kong’s private sector, Dr Chow will address the practical aspects of cross-disciplinary referrals and medical insurance coverage for counselling and psychotherapy. The session explores how practitioners can better navigate existing insurance structures, strengthen collaborative care, and build a sustainable private practice.
A Reflective Session of Professional Identity: Bridging Counselling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy
Mental health professionals may hold multiple professional identities within their practice. Some may pick different roles in the workplace, such as working as both a case manager and a counsellor, while others may seek dual professional registrations for practical reasons, such as developing different specialities, obtaining protected titles, or demonstrating multiple professional recognitions.
During counselling practice, professional identities can sometimes become blurred by multiple roles and related expectations. As clinicians use themselves as an important tool in therapy, a clear, solid, and integrated professional identity can support clinical and ethical decision-making, as well as precise case conceptualisation. Therefore, reflecting on and integrating professional identity can be an important part of professional development.
Drawing on the presenter’s lived experience as a counselling psychologist and expressive arts therapist, this workshop invites clinicians to reflect on professional identity as a dynamic process shaped by personal experience, professional practice, and the wider social context. Through reflective practice, participants will explore the relationship between Counselling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy and consider how multiple professional identities may interact within their own practice.
- Discussion on professional identity
- Introduction to reflective models
- Exploring professional identity through Counselling Psychology and Expressive Arts Therapy as lived experiences
- Practice of creative reflection for professional identity development
From Alienation to Alliance: Reflective Journeys of Counselling Psychologists Trained in Sign Interpreter-Involved Psychotherapy
This seminar presents experiential reflections from counselling psychologists who completed Hong Kong’s first research-informed systematic training in sign interpreter-involved psychotherapy. Designed and facilitated by a registered counselling psychologist (the first author) specializing in multicultural counselling training and psycholinguistic phenomena, the pilot scheme combined experiential-dialectical workshops with process-oriented group supervision and a clinical practicum.
The cohort comprised seven master’s- to doctoral-level counselling psychologists with over three years of clinical experience, prior multicultural counselling coursework, and Hong Kong Sign Language proficiency ranging from none to fluency. Three cohort members will reflect on how these three training dimensions impacted their clinical competence, professional identity, and therapeutic effectiveness.
Initial training stages revealed common challenges among therapists, including feelings of nervousness and alienation within the triadic dynamic and a tendency to overemphasize a problem-saturated Deaf narrative. Through reflexive workshops and supervision, therapists moved beyond stereotypical Deaf-Hearing differences toward integrating a holistic, multiple-identity perspective. This shift fostered recognition of shared human experiences, clients’ internal strengths, and positioning Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing (D/HH) clients, instead of service providers, as experts of their lived experiences. Therapists were guided to establish a collaborative workflow with sign interpreters within nuanced clinical realities, bolstering therapists’ professional integrity and capacity to form meaningful therapeutic alliances with their D/HH client, yielding full retention.
The audience will gain insights into how multidimensional, experiential multicultural counselling training facilitates the co-construction of culturally and psycholinguistically responsive practice, supporting therapists’ growth while contributing to enhanced mental health care for the Deaf community.
Note:
Speakers in joint sessions are listed alphabetically by surname. Special panels and institutional groups are listed by paper authors or chronological order of tenure.
All presentations are in English unless otherwise noted. The programme is subject to change without prior notice.
