Celia Chan Hoi-yan has a life mission to serve others, but felt her experience as a volunteer church counsellor and her undergraduate degree in psychology were not enough preparation for a career in social work.
Since graduating from the University of Hong Kong's Master of Social Work programme in 2001, she has counselled groups including recovered Sars patients, women undergoing in vitro fertilisation and young people with emotional problems.
Encouraged by the course, Ms Chan is developing her own approach using art therapy - drawing, clay modelling, even dancing - to overcome the difficulty some Chinese experience have expressing emotion.
As a research counsellor at the university's Centre on Behavioural Health, she also does research and conducts training programmes on subjects such as stress management for teachers, nurses and social workers.
Ms Chan said the course sharpened her sensitivity to people's problems, helped turn theory into practical application and made her look beyond the initial reason a person sought counselling.
For example, a boy brought to the university centre recently for aggressive behaviour turned out to have been affected by differences in his parents' approaches towards him and their relationship with each other.
