Dr. Shuqiao Yao Memorial Scholarship

I grew up in a typical Chinese family where emotions were rarely discussed, let alone mental illness. It was not until I was 16 years old that I realised what had plagued me since childhood was social anxiety. It came as such a relief -- all this time, I had come to believe that I was just not as strong or as capable as other people, and it was such a relief to know there was a name, a tangible explanation for myself. It was then that I knew I wanted to be a psychologist, and I wanted to help other young people who were silently struggling to get connected to care. I wanted young people to know that they are not morally flawed, and that there were skills and coping strategies they could learn to overcome their distress -- and most importantly, that they did not have to do this alone. I went on to train as a clinical psychologist (and on the way, becoming the first person in my family to attend university, and the first woman to be financially independent) and I founded The Brightly Project, a mental health organisation working with high schools in Hong Kong, Singapore, and China, where me and my team developed a mental health app that provides mental health education to adolescents and helps connect them with caring adults at their school. More than 10,000 students have used our program. I am continually focused on learning and bringing evidence-based tools back into East Asia. For example, I am currently receiving training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), which is a treatment that has shown efficacy for young people struggling with emotion dysregulation (resorting to self-harm and suicidal behaviours to cope). As of now, there are no DBT centres led by doctoral clinicians in Hong Kong or Singapore -- and it is my goal to bring DBT back into East Asia, where suicide and self-harm rates are very high among young people. Aside from being a passionate and effective clinician (I love seeing my adolescent patients overcome and thrive, changing their trajectories and uncovering their potential), I am also actively engaged in psychiatric research. I am currently pursing a PhD in psychology and neuroscience -- using machine learning and AI to uncover mechanisms of depression and anxiety, and to understand how individuals learn and change during psychotherapy interventions. By better understanding how interventions work, we can design and tailor more effective treatments for individuals. Receiving this scholarship would be an honour and an acknowledgement that my dedicated efforts are in the right direction. Thank you for considering my application.