Meet our Team
Abigail Lee,
President
As a counsellor and play therapist in private practice, I firmly believe in the therapeutic power of play to bring about healing and restoration for children and their families. With play being the natural language of children, and toys being their words, I continuously marvel at the insight they glean in the sessions. Just like how a plant needs water, children and their families need encouragement as they press through the challenges of life. What a joy and privilege to come alongside them and experience healing through PLAY!
Ng Sook Wai Jaime,
Vice-President
Stressors faced by families are often seen as a part of life, unexamined in our hurried circumstances. We become perplexed, stressed and anxious. I see my work as providing a pasture in the city - a pasture to lie down, to look around, to pause. I hope the pauses will offer us better recalibrated lives. And to feel a lot better.
Helping families and professionals grow healthier through play, offering playfulness in work, in families and in relationships has been very rewarding.
Let pause. Let play.
Dr. Alicia Pon,
Honorary Secretary
I am a strong believer and an advocate of the use of play, sand, arts, and somatic experiences. I utilize somatic work, play and sandplay therapy in my work with my clients and teach on these modalities in the community and the University.
Like Virginia Axline (1947), I believe that all meaningful change comes from within. Hence my goal as a mental health professional and an academia is to leverage and maximize each person’s innate abilities and potential for healing and transformation.
Wei Kaiyin,
Assistant Secretary
Play therapy, has helped me to become acquainted with the inner worlds of children where words are inadequate to describe the depth and intricacies of their complex experiences.
Through the years of trial and error and under the guidance of many play therapist mentors who have been generous in sharing their knowledge and experiences, I have come to appreciate the therapeutic powers of play when we allow our playful selves to connect.
As a provisional member with the association, and a social worker in the field of palliative care, I endeavour to grow in my capacity to support children whose loved ones have life limiting illness, as these children teach me about love, courage and the wonders of each day.
Joanne Ng,
Honorary Treasurer
As I work with children diagnosed with cancer, I am inspired by their amazing capacity to express themselves in the magical world of play. I hope to help them move towards healing and growth, developing stronger and more connected relationships with their parents through play.
As a child I loved going on adventures through imaginative play! Now as a therapist, I enjoy engaging with sensory materials, working in the sandtray and any form of creative expression in the playroom.
Lee Sock Kuan,
Assistant Treasurer
Play is not just a bridge into the mysterious but exciting world of a child but also a door to my inner child. As I become reacquainted with my playful self, I discover and rediscover many wonderous things inside and outside of me. I am grateful to many play-based therapists before me and my children clients who taught me how to play. For through them, I have been given the precious gift of play. I hope to share this gift to many others who cross my path.
Desmond Liew,
Committee Member
I am a father of 2 boys. I believe that miracle can happen in the play room. The play room is a place of transformation. It is a place where the child can see his own existence; the child to discover he has a voice; it is a place where the child make many decisions; It is a place where the child find his destiny and the strength to live it. The play room is a place where transformation can take place.
Debbie Lin,
Committee Member
I am a counselor in private practice and a mother of 3 adult children. I enjoy baking and nature. Play is the most natural self-healing method childhood affords (Erik Erikson). I am able to empathise with young parents as I have been through that journey.
Lim Shen Yong,
Committee Member
As a teenager awkward with words, play provided a platform to explore, learn and heal. Now as an adult who is more comfortable with words, play is a platform for me to connect with my youth clients. Play has no age limit but the potential to help youth-at-risk to gain greater insights and transform to responsible individuals.
As a huge fan of Doraemon, I loved how Nobita, together with his friends, learnt through their trusting relationship with Doraemon. I want to be like Doraemon to my youth clients, supporting them through our therapeutic relationships.
Cheryl Lee
Committee Member
As an expressive arts therapist and social worker with strong passion in working with vulnerable children, I strongly believe that children (and everyone across all ages) learn, grow and heal through the creative arts and play.