Born and raised in Hong Kong, I am a cisgender female, the eldest among my two other sisters. Although I grew up in what other people called a loving family, I had always felt empty and inadequate. At home, I also witnessed domestic violence and experienced emotional neglect. My learning environment and the mainstream culture in society also internalized a lot of stress, and self-sabotaging ideas, leading me to constantly criticize myself, demand perfection, and reject love and support. I have witnessed the people around me and experienced personally how stressful, anxious, and detrimental it is to live in an intense, high-paced city; and also how helpless and hopeless people can be, when facing challenges in various aspects of life, not receiving constructive support, and struggling alone in life. The deteriorating situation may result in chronic mental health disorders, mental breakdown, and in one of the worst-case scenarios, causing individuals to end their lives attempting to be free and relieved from never-ending hardship. I was encouraged by my friends to seek help from mental health professionals for support in building a healthy self-image and interpersonal relationships. I still remember how hopeful and relieved I was when I left the clinic. That was a turning point in my life. Since then, I realized the importance of taking care of our mental health, receiving professional support from therapists and have been an advocate for personal therapy. During 2017 -2018, I experienced multi-betrayals from a romantic partner with whom I had a toxic, destructive relationship, and some close friends by then. I have been trapped in constant belittlement, tears, anger, desperation, and depression which had a great impact on different aspects of my life. Without consciously noticing, I isolated myself from my community, my self-image was crushed, it was very difficult to build trust with men, and very triggering in intimate relationships. I lost my direction and motivation in life and had suicidal ideations. I also engaged in maladaptive coping methods to feed my desperation for love and care. As an individual who has practiced painting and drawing since the age of four, my instinct surprisingly led me to art-making during the most devastating, destructive period of my life. That was a critical experience with the healing power of art-making. It has become of one my favorite rituals to take care of my mental health, apart from meeting my therapist regularly, dwelling in nature, cooking, watering my plants, and working out. Today, I am a current graduate student of Art Therapy at New York University, learning to become a professional, and culturally humble art therapist.

Born and raised in Hong Kong, I am a cisgender female, the eldest among my two other sisters. Although I grew up in what other people called a loving family, I had always felt empty and inadequate. At home, I also witnessed domestic violence and experienced emotional neglect. My learning environment and the mainstream culture in society also internalized a lot of stress, and self-sabotaging ideas, leading me to constantly criticize myself, demand perfection, and reject love and support. I have witnessed the people around me and experienced personally how stressful, anxious, and detrimental it is to live in an intense, high-paced city; and also how helpless and hopeless people can be, when facing challenges in various aspects of life, not receiving constructive support, and struggling alone in life. The deteriorating situation may result in chronic mental health disorders, mental breakdown, and in one of the worst-case scenarios, causing individuals to end their lives attempting to be free and relieved from never-ending hardship. In my late 20s, I was encouraged by my friends to seek help from mental health professionals for support in building a healthy self-image and interpersonal relationships. I still remember how hopeful and relieved I was when I left the clinic. That was a turning point in my life. Since then, I realized the importance of receiving professional support from therapists and have been an advocate for personal therapy. During 2017 -2018, I experienced multi-betrayals from a romantic partner with whom I had a toxic, destructive relationship, and some close friends by then. I have been trapped in constant belittlement, tears, anger, desperation, and depression which had a great impact on different aspects of my life. Without consciously noticing, I isolated myself from my community, my self-image was crushed, it was very difficult to build trust with men, and very triggering in intimate relationships. I lost my direction and motivation in life and had suicidal ideations. I also engaged in maladaptive coping methods to feed my desperation for love and care. As an individual who has practiced painting and drawing since the age of four, my instinct surprisingly led me to art-making during the most devastating, destructive period of my life. That was a critical experience with the healing power of art-making. Today, I am a current graduate student of Art Therapy at New York University, learning to bring my practice in art, my personal experience, my enthusiasm to serve people, counselling skills, and psychology theories together. I hope to walk with individuals in their difficulties with the new profession, a powerful modality of psychotherapy, and bring light, restoration, love, and hope to their lives. Apart from my personal experience, my work experience also contributed to my decision to choose to work in the mental health field. Before my graduate study, I had been working in the art and creative industry for a decade. For the past three years, I had the opportunity to work as an art teacher at Artify, a private art school that follows North American art education philosophy. During this period, my human-oriented teaching reached over 200 local students, aged 3 to 18, with around 10% of my students having special needs, such as autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning difficulties, speech delays, and emotional distress. The positive impact on my students was recognized not only by the students themselves but also by the center director and parents. The work experience allowed me to notice the therapeutic elements in art but I was far from understanding how art therapy works. However, at one point, I noticed my limited understanding of the population. It brought me to pursue a child psychology diploma, learning more about their development, and various models to interact with them so that they would feel understood and supported. During the course, I also had a chance to learn briefly about art therapy. It was an eye-opening and very intriguing experience! From the class materials and the sharing of the professor, I learned how significantly the non-verbal modality could benefit children suffering from domestic violence and sexual abuse who could not express their traumatic memories with words. It provided them with a non-triggering, and neurobiologically appropriate platform to tell their stories, so that therapists and counselors could understand the clients’ situation more. At that time, I have been actively exploring my career path and seeking a meaningful job that echoes with my heart. Therefore, I was very inspired by the modality which is a combination of my strengths, my interest, and my passion. In the same year, the largest protest in Hong Kong's history happened. During that, I experienced social injustice deeply for the first time in my life. A lot of people are traumatized. People suffer from post-traumatic syndrome disorder (PTSD), anxiety issues, and depression, particularly adolescents and young adults who are abused and harassed. My heart was torn. It reminds me of the other collective traumas happening in other parts of the world. For instance, 911, school shootings, and wars. The social movement reminds me of a dream that was buried in my heart since my early 20s — to be a first responder in disaster relief and war zones. During those days, I saw constant reports on wars in the Middle East from the news and it was when a devastating earthquake happened in China and Japan. My heart hurt when I witnessed people suffer and I had a strong urge to be there and give a helping hand. I wanted to support people at their meekest moments when they need help the most and I know that there are some qualities and abilities innate to perform that. However, I was not qualified because I didn’t have a credentialed profession. I was not as helpful at the site as the registered counselors, social workers, and medical doctors. Therefore, while being trained as a professional, culturally humble art therapist, I am very excited to know that I am on the way to serving individuals with neurodivergence, mental health disorders, trauma, and marginalized communities with the mental health profession. Since I began my graduate studies at NYU in September 2022, my academic and professional achievements have exceeded my expectations. I am truly grateful for the wonderful support from the professors throughout my journey, as well as the opportunities given to me as an international student. Academically, during the Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 semesters, I have completed 8 courses, including theory classes and practicum, with a grade of A. My dedication and eagerness to learn have been rewarded with a 4.0 GPA. As a trilingual speaker, my art therapy services have reached clients from diverse multicultural and socio-economic backgrounds in New York City. During my art therapy internship at OHEL Family Services, I had the privilege to provide individual and family art therapy services in both in-person and virtual settings as part of the Early Childhood Mental Health Program. My clients included children and adolescents with neurodivergence, such as autism, ADHD, intellectual disability, speech disorders, anxiety, and emotional distress, immigrant families, and adults with trauma. One of the highlights was the transformation of a young boy with multiple disabilities, including severe autism, ADHD, speech delay, and anger management issues, over the course of a 6-month weekly art therapy treatment. When he first started, he was reluctant to engage in social interactions and could only participate in art activities for a short period. However, with sensory art therapy interventions, he gradually began expressing himself verbally in both Mandarin and English, developed better emotional regulation skills, engaged in reciprocal conversations and interactive activities, and extended his art activity involvement to over 30 minutes without encouragement. Additionally, he gained higher self-esteem, a sense of competence, and a willingness to take up responsibilities. This remarkable transformation was well-recognized by the client's parents, school teachers, and my clinic supervisor. This year, I am interning at the outpatient psychiatric unit of BronxCare, a hospital in the South Bronx in New York City. I facilitated individual and group sessions, providing art therapy to high-risk clients with mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, major depression, PTSD, borderline personality, anxiety disorders, bipolar, and so on. Behind their psychotic symptoms, the patients are individuals who are just like us, have dreams for their lives, and deserve to live a carefree, happy life. Apart from my internship, I actively participated in other art therapy services to serve the community. During the Spring 2023 semester, I joined NYU's art therapy project with the NYC Department of Homeless Services to serve asylum seekers. I facilitated art therapy interventions with a wide range of participants coming from different countries, including adults, adolescents, and children, to support self-expression and build positive relationships. The work was significant as it empowered clients to navigate their challenges through self-expression. This fall, I joined the art therapy community program organized by the Rubin Museum in New York City to provide a healing experience to the general public. I facilitated group art therapy to allow participants to self-express in a safe space and provide emotional support. The demographics of the participants are very wide, consisting of people from different ethnicities, cultural and social backgrounds, and mental health needs. Many participants informed that the art therapy group provided them with a nourishing experience and a moment for self-reflection and self-care.