Candice Powell

Recently appointed CEO of Mind Hong Kong, Candice Powell has practised as a clinical psychologist for more than 13 years, following extensive training and research in various aspects of psychological intervention both here in Hong Kong and overseas. She traces her interest in psychology to her childhood and, especially, her mother, who “always listened patiently and non-judgementally and then analysed it with me, allowing and respecting my decisions”. After experiencing emotional distress while at college, Powell says she “realised that ‘how to embrace emotions’ is a life issue for everyone.” It was then she began to study clinical psychology. Before joining Mind Hong Kong, she led clinical psychological services at the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, where, using a hybrid mode to reach out to people with emotional disorders, she established an eClinic offering psychological services, as well as promoting mindful parenting. In her current position, Powell seeks “to create a more significant impact on society by ensuring no one in Hong Kong has to face a mental health problem alone”. Perhaps surprisingly, she says psychologists suffer, too: “There was a period when I was under too much stress, which made me sleepless at night. As a clinical psychologist, I’ve also led an insomnia treatment group, so I thought I must solve the insomnia problem to convince others. My husband said, ‘You’re a person first, then a psychologist.’ After I heard this, the burden on my shoulders loosened. The courage to embrace our imperfections is vital to our wellbeing.”