Intrepid psychotherapist helps quake children look forward

In addition to her work as a psychotherapist, Monica Wong Hiu-hung teaches counselling at The Chinese University. She is also studying for a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the Alliant International University.

She runs the Psych-Art Therapy Association, a group of professionals who practise a combination of psychotherapy and adventure training for disadvantaged children. Every six months, she takes groups of volunteer therapists to Sichuan to counsel survivors of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake in 2008 and train doctors and graduates in the area.

She is a writer with ten books to her name; the latest is being translated into English and will be published in the US next year. A mother of two, she and her husband like to hike, but it’s difficult to work out when they manage to find the time.

When I suggest it’s a lot of hard work, Wong plays it down, “Isn’t that the Hong Kong spirit? Hong Kong people are like that”, she says, laughing.

“I’m so lucky. If I keep it all to myself it’s too much. I should share”, says Wong. She is driven by an intense interest in psychology and therapy and a desire to help those less fortunate than herself.

When we speak of her work in Sichuan, it’s as if she herself feels the pain of the survivors she works tirelessly to help. When she first arrived in Wenchuan, in the immediate aftermath of the quake, she was overwhelmed by the pervasive smell of dead bodies.