How I met counselling - Sabrina (Wing-Lam Wong)

Counselling was not “a thing” back in the 2000s in Hong Kong when my younger self probably needed the most. I was surrounded by teachers, social workers,clinical psychologists and adults who were confused about how to support a child processing big changes (school, house move, new siblings etc.).

Naturally, my childhood dream would be to be a teacher or a social worker (psychologist at the time sounded too professional for me) because I want to support people, just like how I was supported. Until the day I met counselling and psychology, an option that I didn’t realise I could have - to be a counsellor.

To tell the full story of how I met counselling, I have to talk about drama and theatre (another passion of my life). During the turbulent time of my teenage years, I was inspired and rescued (no exaggeration here) by drama and theatre. From acting to directing, scriptwriting to backstage crew, I was everywhere.

I channelled my suppressed feelings through acting, and learnt to communicate with others through directing. At the age of 18, I wrote and directed a script that every cast member can relate themselves with and expressed their suppressed feelings through the script and characters. Then, I thought to myself, only if we can combine drama and psychology together.

“Mental Health”, “counselling”, “therapy” in the 2010s are starting to gain attention but still carry stigmatism of only people who suffered from severe mental illness would require the support. I remained naive towards the concept of counselling until my results from the public exam steered me to a different path.

My Maths subject had never been great, a minimum passing grade meant I couldn’t go to any mainstream university to study psychology. My teacher at the time flipped through the career pathway guidelines and pointed to the only private university that offered a double degree in Counselling and Psychology. I read through the course outline and made my decision. I didn’t know if I could get in but I remembered I loved the way the interview was conducted (each of us will need to think of an animal that represents us and explain why). The curiosity of the lecturers wanting to understand us through a non-directive way was an eye-opener! It can be so natural, so gentle and so much holding floating in the air.

And I guess, from that moment on, I had fallen in love with being a wounded healer, to listen to other’s lives’ stories and celebrate with them.

To know more about my experience, please click here