When passion meets purpose, the journey is nothing short of fulfilling. Jemie Wang, Founder of Flourish Cove Psychology, embodies this sentiment as she navigates the intricacies of mental health care. With almost two decades of experience, her role as a Clinical Psychologist is much more than a profession—it’s a calling that offers deep personal meaning.
In this interview, Jemie Wang reflects on her evolution in the field and the passion that drives her to impact lives every day.
Highlights
Jemie Wang and the Meaningful Path as Clinical Psychologist
Q: What do you love most about your job after more than a decade?
A: As a Clinical Psychologist and having worked in the mental health field for close to two decades, I especially love the fact that my chosen profession is both purposeful and also offers a sense of deep personal meaning.
With regards to purpose, given the willingness and trust of my clients, I get to hold space for their stories of shame, pain, vulnerability, loss, anxiety, trauma, resilience, courage, hope, and recovery. These are personal stories that do not usually get shared with others, if at all. I find it deeply satisfying to bear witness to their stories, and to work in close collaboration to navigate their healing and growth journeys.
This offers me a sense of deep personal meaning as I see myself living out my life purpose through my therapeutic work with my clients.
It is this sense of purpose and personal meaning that keeps me on the path.
Q: Can you describe Jemie Wang’s typical day at work has evolved over the years?
A: Given the changes in the workplace settings that I have worked in, across different public and private organisations, the typical day at work has never quite been the same through it all and have most certainly been evolving.
I had spent most part of my working career as an employee across different stints in public health institutions. At one of the organisations, initially, a typical work day involved only hospital-based work. This was where I was conducting regular screening for emotional health concerns, and conducted therapeutic work in the clinic or the wards. Of course, there were the non-direct work, where I get to learn and exchange ideas with multidisciplinary colleagues at team discussions and conduct learning sessions.
Subsequently, my role evolved as I actively sought out exposure and work in community settings, in addition to hospital-based therapeutic work. This meant that I get to travel around to the local public schools to provide more accessible psychological assessment and therapeutic care for students.
At another public health stint, my work evolved as I was managing outpatient work, inpatient work, and also served at the community-based clinic located within one of the local polyclinics.
More recently, my work has evolved into being more of a “portfolio” of work, where I work in my own private practice, hold a locum position in public health as a visiting psychologist, and was also teaching as an adjunct psychology lecturer.
Q: What initially inspired you to pursue this career, and has that inspiration changed over the years?
A: As an arts student in my school years, it was quite a natural gravitation towards the Arts Faculty in the local university where Psychology was offered as a major. Like many psychology students, I was curious about learning about what makes humans tick and the inner workings of my own mind. I believe I was also in my own way, seeking an “antidote” to my own personal challenges.
Over the years, this personal inspiration remains, and yet it has also evolved – towards being more in service of others, particularly those who experience ongoing mental health or related emotional difficulties because of attachment issues and childhood trauma. I have witnessed such deep suffering and strength in the stories that have been so vulnerably shared with me.
My inspiration has now become more than what I started with. It has become a lifelong personal mission, for me to equip myself with the ongoing learning and specific know-how to effectively support my clients in their own healing and post-traumatic growth journey. This way, they can lead the flourishing lives they deserve!
Q: What has been your most memorable experience on the job, and how has it shaped Jemie Wang’s career?
A: One of the most memorable part of this long journey will have to be the first chapter, where I started off working at the Institute of Mental Health in Singapore as a fresh psychology graduate. Because of this opportunity, it has sparked off my passion in the mental health space and truly enabled me to get knee deep in the work where I met patients who experienced First Episode Psychosis. Without this, I can only imagine how my career would have panned out quite differently. As the other job offer I had back then was in quite a different area of work, ie the justice and rehabilitation field.
Q: What skills or qualities are essential for long-term success in your field?
A: As psychologists can move into different areas of work scope, so what I am covering applies specifically to some of the skills relevant for those doing direct clinical work.
Given the nature of work where we handle anything from mild distress to the more severe or pathological end of the spectrum, it is essential that we are mindful of our own limits in terms of emotional capacity. This can mean actively setting boundaries, between work and personal life, the type of work we can or cannot do, and proactively refueling in ways that fits us. Sometimes, it may also mean resuming our own personal therapy if our clients’ personal material are stirring things up within oneself, possibly hinting at what’s unresolved in ourselves.
Given that our work is in aid of alleviating the challenges that our fellow humans face, it is key that we hone our skills to be deeply compassionate and to also be guided by our sense of purpose. This is because there will be much challenges our clients go through that we may or may not have gone through ourselves, and the extent of the problem may seem inconceivable or insurmountable.
Only when we can bring a compassionate listening ear and heart then can we learn to suspend unhelpful judgment. And when we are anchored by our purpose, then can we tenaciously journey alongside together with our clients, as a fellow sojourner.
Q: How does Jemie Wang handle challenges or difficult situations at work, and have your strategies changed over time?
A: In the context of clinical work, challenges can vary in the degree of difficulty. For instance, from milder issues like persistent late coming, to something like verbal aggression and supporting our clients with their self-harm or suicidal thoughts.
Instead of avoiding the topic or being afraid to bring it up, I find that as I have matured in my practice, I am better able to confront the topic, and seek to have an open conversation about the issue at hand.
For instance, I remember my first year of work in the mental health space, where I was worried that asking about suicidal thoughts will make things worse for my clients. Now, I can say that I am able to follow my clients’ invitation and truly hold space for them to share their inner most pain that led to such suicidal thoughts. They usually do feel much relief when they are listened to with such care and acceptance.
Q: What is the most rewarding part of your job now, compared to when you first started?
A: When I first started in the mental health field, I was a mental health Case Manager where I was supporting my patients’ recovery journey along with their caregivers, within a multi-disciplinary team in a psychiatric hospital. But I always knew that I really wanted to progress to post-graduate training to do “deeper” psychological therapy work with my patients.
So, it feels most rewarding that I have been able to take the small steps over the many years to be trained in a wide variety of therapy modalities, and now have acquired further specialisation and enhanced my therapeutic capabilities. This, I would say, is bringing me closer and closer to what I envisioned doing all those years ago, and I find this type of therapy work with clients deeply satisfying.
Q: How do you stay motivated and engaged in your work after so many years?
A: Many colleagues who know me would often see me trying to learn a new thing. This to some, may seem like I have too much time or money to spare or simply lacking focus. But to me, staying curious and having a thirst for learning, is how I stay motivated and engaged, as I seek out current, effective methods of working, while staying very much evidence-based.
Q: What advice would Jemie Wang give someone considering a career in your field, especially for the long haul?
A: Be prepared to be always learning, not just from formal courses and training, but also through our own personal experiences and our clients’ experiences, so that we become more skilful and the “masters” of our craft. In this line of work, we ourselves are the tool to be sharpen, and it can only be done by being life long students, never resting on our laurels in our learning, and being truly and sensitively attuned, connected to the realities of our clients’ experiences.
Q: How have you balanced your work with your personal life over the years, and has your approach changed?
A: It has definitely changed quite a lot, especially since I have converted from working on a full—time basis as an employee in public healthcare to being self-employed on a part-time workload in private health settings since I became a first-time mother.
My mindset to work has shifted, as I made it a priority to set a work schedule that fits with my personal goals as a mother, as much as possible. These are intentional choices that I believe are what will help me navigate my role transitions in the best possible way. But everyone will have their unique circumstances, so, we do what works best for ours.
Balancing Growth and Compassion
Despite the changing nature of her role, Jemie Wang has maintained her dedication to the clients and her profession. With every step in her journey, she has embraced new challenges and continuously honed her expertise.
As Jemie Wang reflects on her journey, it’s clear that her commitment to mental health will continue to evolve, bringing hope and healing to many more lives.
