Hatty Wong, M.Psy in Counselling Psychology, RP
Associate
Have you personally experienced the feelings of being alone, stuck, confused, directionless or not knowing who to turn to when you need someone the most? Afraid of burdening those you love with the issues you are facing or fear of others not understanding you? If the above captioned how you might be feeling, I would be happy to work with you to explore the issues troubling you and that you will not be going through the emotions on your own.
One of the most difficult yet courageous step when seeking therapy is reaching out. I strongly believe that no significant therapeutic progress can be achieved without first having a strong therapeutic relationship with my clients.
I normally approach much of my work from a Cognitive Behavioral, Dialectical Behavioral or Solution-Focused approach – but as each client and their concerns are unique in its’ own way, I am also quite versatile in my approach.
I have worked with a number of individuals ranging from ages 7 – 65+ from diverse populations to help them work through a variety of issues such as: stress, anxiety, depression, traumatic experiences, self-harming behaviors, substance misuse. I have experiences working with those in the LGBTQ community and marginalized groups.
My passionate to pursue a role in mental health began in grade school. Growing up, I lived next to a Psychiatrist who not only empowered and motivated me to pursue my dream to work in the field of mental health. Of course, at times, he would try to persuade me to follow his footstep! That said, I remember vividly being educated on the different types of mental health conditions and medications at a young age.
In following my dream, I then went on to complete my H.BS.c in Science specializing in Psychology. Shortly after, I took on a Research Assistantship position in the Department of Neurosurgery at St. Michael’s Hospital where I was overseeing the recruitment, clinical interview, psychometric assessments and data analysis. The CIHR funded project “Understanding Traumatic Brain Injury in Vulnerable Population” provided me the valuable opportunities to interact with individuals who were homeless, youth in care (Crown wardship), mandated by law to participate in PAR groups and those who were traumatically brain injured and presented themselves at the head injury clinic. To conclude my experience with this project, I also had the opportunity to publish a research study as a third author on recognizing the symptoms of concussions.
During my time in completing my Master’s degree in Psychology, I had the opportunity to complete my practicum hours at two correctional facilities where I participated as a co-facilitator in DBT groups, provided individual psychotherapy sessions to those incarcerated and assisted in psychometric testing. It was from these experiences thus far I had developed a deeper understanding into the various psychological difficulties
people encounter as well as learning to understand an individual from a biopsychosocial level. In conjunction, I also secured my second Research Assistantship in the Sexual Behavioral Clinic at CAMH where I was involved in the recruitment and testing of research participants mandated to attend the clinic.
I am a Registered Psychotherapist (College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario) and I am also in the process of working towards becoming certified as a Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). I also work as an Associate under the supervision of Licensed Psychologist Scott Gosse.