JCU Singapore Clinical Psychology

Joanna Barlas

Associate Professor
joanna.barlas@jcu.edu.au

Chad Yip

Senior Lecturer Clinical Psychology
chadcheweun.yip@jcu.edu.au

Using simulated clients to enhance the training of clinical psychologists

Chad Yip

03 Feb 2025 - 31 Dec 2025

We will use actors as simulated clients (SCs) in the first semester’s Masters in Psychology (Clinical) coursework subjects. Actors will accurately portray specific symptoms or behaviours, allowing students to gain hands-on experience with diverse psychological issues in a low-stakes environment. This approach will hopefully provide students with realistic, culturally diverse practice, helping students build confidence and competence before interacting with actual clients. Quantitative and qualitative feedback will be collected from students.

Blended Learning and Innovation Grant

Joanna Barlas

01 Jul 2017 - 30 Jun 2018

JCU Learning & Teaching Innovation Grant

Joanna Barlas

01 Jan 2025 - 31 Dec 2025

Temasek Foundation Youth Connect Restful Minds Initiative: Tier 3 (moderate intensity services)

Chad Yip

01 Oct 2024 - 30 Sep 2026

This project involves the training and evaluation of a sleep intervention for youth in Singapore. Following the Singapore Ministry of Health's Tiered Care Model for Mental Health Care Delivery, the intervention will be a Tier 3 (moderate intensity services) intervention. Clinical psychologists will be trained to implement the Transdiagnostic Intervention for Sleep and Circadian Dysfunction (TranS-C) for Youth. Programme evaluation will be undertaken for both (a) the training of the clinical psychologists and (b) the clinical outcomes of their clients.

KKH-CCF Psychosocial and Supportive Care Programme for Paediatric Oncology

Chad Yip

01 May 2025 - 31 Jan 2027

In collaboration with the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, the Children's Cancer Foundation funded the Psychosocial and Supportive Care Programme for Paediatric Oncology. The aim of this programme is to develop a holistic paediatric oncology and supportive care programme. This project is a collaboration between the KKH Psychology Service and JCUS clinical psychology staff to develop and evaluate relevant psychological interventions.

Development of the Singapore Workplace Wellbeing Scale

Chad Yip

08 Oct 2025 - 31 Dec 2025

The present research described the development of the Singapore Workplace Wellbeing scale which identified the factors that influence employee wellbeing in the Singapore workplace context. Participants from various industries in Singapore completed an online survey containing a battery of measures including the new workplace wellbeing measure in two separate studies. Study 1 involved (N = 318) conducting a parallel analysis followed by exploratory factor analysis on items generated from a qualitative study by Yip et al., (2024) in which the authors identified 13 distinct factors that contributed to workplace wellbeing and concluded that expression of these factors was unique to the Singapore context. A confirmation factor analysis was conducted on study 2 (N = 303) which confirmed a 13-factor scale with 99 items. These factors were support from boss, fairness, autonomy, meaningful work, co-worker relationship, role clarity, work-life balance, learning and professional growth, person-organization fit, employee engagement, employee recognition, flexitime work, accomplishment, and organization support. The new scale showed sound construct reliability, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant, and nomological validity. Importantly, the scale showed significant and positive association with job performance and flourishing, but a significant and negative association with burnout and the negative emotional state of depression, anxiety, and stress. The scale has significant potential to be used as workplace wellbeing screening tool and in research in the the Singapore context. Implications, future directions, and limitations of the research are discussed.