Ethel Tan

I am a mental health advocate and an aspiring clinical psychologist. I am passionate about helping people actualise their personal goals and supporting them through difficult times. My research interests lie in all aspects of psychological well-being, including etiology, assessment, and intervention strategies, with a special focus in mood disorders and personality disorders. I would love to learn more about psychological therapies and explore creative ways on how different treatment modalities might be adapted to the client's presenting problem. 

My previous work experience includes working as a student researcher in the National University of Singapore where I administered clinical structured interviews to a clinical population to assess their psychological symptoms for a range of psychological disorders. As a result, I have a sound understanding of how various mental disorders may present in a person. I also interned as an Assistant Therapist in a special needs development centre where I shadowed occupational therapists, educational therapists and speech therapists to learn how the different modalities lead to positive outcomes in the child. During my internship, I also initiated research projects on the efficacy of social stories and developed accessible packages for families to utilise. 

As an final year undergraduate, I am working on my Honours Thesis on the topic of maladaptive perfectionism, emotional dysregulation and internalising symptoms in university students. Consequently, I am familiar with an array of statistical methods like Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). I am also adept with data science methods such as network analysis and data wrangling using R, the programming language. Moreover, I took a class on Psychological Therapies, where I amassed knowledge on traditional CBT, mindfulness approaches, DBT etc. and am experienced at writing case formulations.

I am very excited to learn from clinical psychologists and work alongside with them to better support the clinical population. 

I previously worked as a student researcher where I administered clinical structured interviews using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I) to assess participants (both from a clinical sample and undergraduate sample) for psychological symptoms of mood disorders. In my previous internship, I was an Assistant Therapist for children with special needs, my supervisors have commended me for my initiative and empathy skills in their letter of recommendation. I am also comfortable with working in a team and being people-oriented as I have held an executive position for volunteer community projects and served multiple leadership roles throughout my schooling days. I strongly believe that my interpersonal and collaborative skills will be a good fit for your multidisciplinary team.

During my undergraduate studies, I developed strong research and critical thinking skills. My relevant skill set includes knowledge the different forms of psychological therapies such as mindfulness approaches and DBT, writing of case formulations for clients, programming skills and data science skills, such as network analysis methods and data wrangling. I am also currently doing my Honours Thesis on maladaptive perfectionism, emotional dysregulation and internalising symptoms in university students. Consequently, I am also familiar with an array of statistical methods like Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM).