Ellie Han Yung Lin (BSc (Hons) Psychology, 2014), who is currently a registered clinical psychologist and co-founder of The Happy Leaves Autism & Special Needs Therapy Centre, shares her career journey with us.
The Happy Leaves Autism & Special Needs Therapy Centre aims to provide a full spectrum of autism and special needs from diagnosing to offering therapy. Ellie was happy to set up the centre and to share the different ways in treating the children with autism and special needs in the community.
She describes her journey from her first job to her current career as a shift in her career field with no regrets.
Ellie’s journey to her current career path was through much research over the internet and speaking to people especially her former lecturer, Dr Daniel Seal who helped her understand more about being a clinical psychologist.
She applied for a master’s degree right after she graduated from UNM and worked in various NGOs and hospitals during her master’s. She continues her professional career development by undertaking educational courses including expressive art therapy and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) workshops.
One of the challenging aspects of her career is time management, as she always has lots of events, workshops and consultations. The other challenge is switching the role or vibe as required when attending to different people. For example, she would be more playful while running a child therapy session and creating a warmer environment when attending psychotherapy sessions.
Ellie’s most rewarding aspect in her career is the sense of accomplishment she gets when she sees her clients grow. In addition, there is great satisfaction when her client’s express appreciation towards her work.
She chose University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) to pursue her bachelor’s degree because of the University’s excellent reputation. UNM provided an excellent foundation for research and journal reading. She recalls her time at UNM with fond memories. She enjoyed being with her friends, going to Broga Hills, and admiring the scenery and vivid colours on campus of the water fountain, blue building, and much more. Also, not to mention our warm and loving alumni.
Ellie is currently pursuing her PhD study in the area of Autism at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and will be the external clinical supervisor for Taylor’s University masters’ students from next year. She is also one of the Industry Advisory Panel for Taylor’s University School of Education in 2021. In addition, her team is working to establish and offer training for their early intervention programme.
For future students, her advice is not to rush and make decisions and to not feel you are not good enough if you are not following other people’s paths. Instead, ask when you have a chance, experience if you can.
Get involved with our Career Journey series - share your journey with us by dropping an email at AlumniRelations@nottingham.edu.my
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Posted on 21st September 2021