Speakers

Ms Agnes Chia

Miss Agnes Chia graduated with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Economics and also a Masters of Social Sciences (Social Work) from the National University of Singapore. She began her career in the social services since 2000 and joined Care Corner in 2001. It was then when she started working with families, groups and micro-communities. Miss Chia is currently Group Director of Care Corner Singapore Limited overseeing its youth services, family and community services, family violence specialist centres and Circle of Care early childhood intervention services.
Miss Chia is passionate about locality development and community organization. She has developed and implemented several community programmes and local self-help programmes in the course of her work. Having worked with families who faced challenges relating to poverty, financial difficulties, single parenthood, homelessness and addictions among others, Miss Chia’s research interests lie in the impacts of asset-poverty on child development and family development. More recently in the past decade, Miss Chia has also further developed her practice on issues concerning family violence assisting persons who experience spousal violence, elder abuse, child abuse as well as disability abuse.
Miss Chia is also well-versed in social leadership, social administration and organizational development for the non-profits. She serves as the Vice-President of the Singapore Association of Social Workers and volunteers her time in several other boards and committees in the social service sector.

Dr Mathew Mathews is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies. He leads the Society and Identity research cluster where he examines issues surrounding societal cohesion. His research includes those on race, religion, immigrant integration, family, ageing and poverty.

Mathews is also interested in the impact of social programmes on societal concerns and has been involved in a number of evaluations on the usefulness of various government initiatives. Mathews has taught various courses relating to social policy and has published in a range of academic outlets. He is currently on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Intercultural Studies and has served on various government and non-governmental boards and communities.

He is President of Alive Community Network and sits on the advisory boards of OnePeople.sg and Hua Mei Centre for Successful Ageing. He also is a Research Advisor to the Ministry of Social and Family Development and is part of the VWOs-Charities Capability Fund Panel.

Ms Maimunah Mosli is currently the Principal Family Therapist leading the Family Therapy Institute PPIS. She has been working in PPIS for the last 16 years.

She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work with Honors from Curtin University, Perth Western Australia in 2003. While pursuing her degree, she worked with the Muslim Women Support Centre of Western Australia where the bulk of her work includes helping Muslim Immigrants who sought refuge by coming to Australia.

Couple with her experience and interest in helping Malay Muslim Families, Maimunah obtained her masters in Family Systemic Psychotherapy awarded by Middlesex University and Institute of Family Therapy (UK) in 2008.  She too obtained her Diploma in Clinical Supervision from Counseling and Care centre in 2010.

Sean Ng Chye Shin has been serving in the Ministry of Education since 2006 and is currently a Lead School Counsellor in Guidance Branch. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (United States) in 2001, and attained his Masters in Professional Counselling with a specialization in Family Therapy from Swinburne University of Technology (Australia) in 2010. He has 14 years of counselling experience, and has worked with students between the age of 7 and 18, their family members and other stakeholders. He is currently supporting the professional development of school counsellors through clinical supervision and has a keen interest in school counselling research and policy. He is married to a teacher and is kept busy at home with 2 young and spontaneous daughters.

Vivienne is Chief Psychologist at the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).  A clinical psychologist by training, she oversees psychological services within MSF and the social service sector, in areas such as disability; parenting and marriage; vulnerable families; gambling etc.  Until 2013, she headed the Clinical and Forensic Psychology Branch (CFPB) within the Rehabilitation and Protection Group (RPG) at MSF, which provides trauma treatment and offender rehabilitation, and conducts research and program evaluation.

A Colombo Plan scholar awarded through the Public Service Commission, Vivienne worked for 9 years at the Institute of Mental Health & Woodbridge Hospital before joining MSF in 2000.  During this period, she received a year’s specialist training in the United States in trauma psychology, in the areas of disaster management and treatment of sexual abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder. A member of National CARE Management System and Head CARE (MSF), she is activated and deployed during civil emergencies/disasters affecting Singaporeans.

Dr. Lee Boon Ooi is Senior Lecturer at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology and has received post-doctoral training in Social and Transcultural Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry, McGill University in Canada. In addition to his current role as the Programme Leader for MA in Counselling and Guidance, he teaches several courses in counselling. For research, Dr. Lee is interested in the relationship between culture and mental health, particularly, in indigenous psychologies, indigenous healing systems, cultural psychopathology, health beliefs, and illness representations. His research is interdisciplinary combining psychology, cultural psychiatry, and medical anthropology. Besides teaching and research, Dr. Lee has practised counselling for more than 20 years.

Cecilia has been heading the Bachelor of Counselling Programme for three years, and  has recently launched a Graduate Diploma in Professional Life-coaching.

Prior to this stint at SUSS, Cecilia was Senior Guidance Specialist at the Ministry of Education, supervising school counsellors and drawing up their professional development framework.

Before becoming a civil servant, Cecilia was in the counselling field for close to a decade at two family service centres.  Working with clients across the life-span counselling students, adults, couples and families,  Cecilia’s heartbeat resonated most with families who were marginalised and disenfranchised as a result of incarceration and poverty.

Cecilia’s vocational journey first began in teaching and teacher-training at two secondary schools and the National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University, respectively.

Troy is a Correctional Rehabilitation Specialist in the Singapore Prison Service, where he currently serves as the Senior Assistant Director for Correctional Rehabilitation Services in the Pre-Release and Drug Rehabilitation Centres. Troy oversees more than 50 Correctional Rehabilitation Specialists, who run “psychology-based correctional programmes” and assist the uniformed staff in trying to establish a “transformational environment” in their respective institutions.

He is active in promoting the development of the “Correctional Rehabilitation Specialist” profession, which attempts to utilize knowledge, skills, and values from psychology, social work, and counselling, in supporting offenders in their journeys of desistance.  Troy also co-teaches a module on offender rehabilitation at the NUS Social Work department.

Troy has an M.A. (Applied Psych) in Counselling Psychology, and Graduate Diplomas in Solution-Focused Brief Therapy and Social Work.

Mrs. Juliana Toh has more than 30 years clinical experience working with individuals, couples and families. She pioneered family therapy training in Singapore in 1990 and has been involved in training, supervision and consultation of systemic practice amongst the mental health professionals in Singapore.

Dr Munidasa Winslow has worked in general psychiatry and addiction medicine at IMH since 1988. He was one of the pioneers responsible for the setting up and development of addiction services both in the hospital and in the community. His last appointment was as chief of the Addiction Medicine Department, IMH.

He has been a pioneer in addiction and impulse control disorders (alcohol, substance dependence, gambling, gaming, sexual compulsivity etc) in the Asia-Pacific region. He is a sought after speaker at addiction conferences around the region. Despite being a fully qualified psychiatrist, he has taken the time and effort to maintain and develop his therapy/counselling skills as seen by his being accredited as a certified master addiction counsellor and a certified clinical supervisor.

He has published and presented widely on both general psychological and addiction issues. He continues his academic and research interests through his academic appointments with NUHS and teaching in many counselling courses. His passion is to help therapists develop and hone their skills to effect real change in those they seek to help.

Dr Winslow is also the founder and executive director of Promises Pte Ltd, which is a mental health & addictions consulting and training company established to help healthcare professionals and individuals in Singapore.