We understand transition from high school to university life can be exciting and stressful for most of you. There will be huge adjustments that you have to make such as adjustments to new learning and teaching styles, assessment styles, writing practice. That said, it can also be a challenging yet rewarding experience you will ever have in your life. Those who are well prepared will thrive.

To help you get better prepared and flourish for a new and exciting chapter in life, we have provided a full array of programs. Through these programs, we hope you will learn to make smart decision, work time management to your advantage, develop important habits like self-control, a positive attitude, stress management as well as organization skills that will go a long way to ensure that you stay on top of your university study.

• Psychology of Building Friendship and Charisma
This talk aims at enhancing students’ understanding of their personality and how personality could affect their interpersonal relationships. Focus would be placed on learning practical skills in improving confidence, interpersonal communication, and friendship building.

​​​​• Psychology of Smart Learning
Students in the HKUST are known for a high standard of academic excellence and desire to learn. University life encourages you to realize learning aspiration and maximize your potential in attaining goals. Let’s learn how to have better academic adjustment, understand your motivation to strive for excellence, and establish goals for self-development so as to give yourself the best start possible!

​​​​• ​Psychology of Happiness
Positive psychology has shed light on ongoing insights into personality, mood and cognition. Research and experts agree that we all can learn how to bring more meaning and satisfaction into our lives, so as to feel happier!

​​​​• ​​On Your Mark! Get Set! (for International Students)
University life is a time of academic pursuit, personal growth and development, as well as a time of challenge! It is our pleasure to facilitate you to learn, to explore and to flourish in your time at HKUST. The beginning is very important for all new students in understanding and knowing how to adjust to the new academic, social and cultural environment so that you are ready to unfold an enjoyable and fruitful university life.

​• ​​University Years To Go (for Mainland Students)
University life is a time of growth and development, as well as a time of transition and challenge! It is our goal to facilitate you to prepare, to explore and to flourish in your coming university years. Let us get you started for your understanding and knowledge on how to adjust to the new environment in order to pursue a fruitful university life.

​• ​​Building a Resilient Habit
Resilience is the ability to "bounce back" from adverse situations, such as trauma, tragedy, threats, or other significant sources of stress. There are several factors contributing to people's resilience. One of them is the way people think. In this workshop, we will understand how our thinking and beliefs would affect our emotions and behaviors, and to learn more rational and resilient thinking styles in facing life frustrations.

​• ​​​​Psychology of Finding Your Way
This workshop help you develop a sense of self, define your own personal objectives and evaluate the extent to which they meet your personal goals. This is a good opportunity to understand and maximize your potential in attaining your future life direction!
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​• ​​​​​Psychology of Self-care
University life can be fruitful, but challenging. There will be ups and downs from time to time. Emotions and behaviors are all interconnected with each other, and influence our mind, emotions and actions. As a result, it is important for us to manage our own emotions in constructive ways to alleviate stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflicts. Self-care starts with accepting yourself that we have blind spots. Through self-reflection and positive thinking, you can let out everything you have been holding back and to ponder on life to pursue your dreams and goals.

​• Getting the Love You Want
Conflict is a normal part of any relationship. This workshop will offer practical tips on conflict management and step-by-step resolutions to improve relationships. Students will be guided to understand more on what constitutes a conflict and the importance of healthy conflict resolution.

Hustle and bustle of university life could be stressful and frustrating. Our mind always preoccupies with projects and tasks. We may easily fall into negative emotions and worry over the past or the future. Mindfulness is the practice of maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness of our mind, body, and surrounding environment non-judgmentally. By being attentive to experience the present moment, we could regain our energy, enhance our wellbeing, and cultivate our true happiness.

In all four sessions, Ms. Christine Cheung, mindfulness practitioner who has twenty years of experience in practicing mindfulness and the founder of “Mindful Joyful Parenting” taught us practical mindfulness exercises to deepen our awareness, build our self-acceptance and bring us inner peace. Students experienced mindfulness exercises such as mindful breathing, tapping exercise, and mindful sitting to bring attention back to here and now. Sometimes we inevitably undergo strong emotions, as such, Christine introduced how mindfulness techniques reconnect our body and listen to our mind to stay with those storm-like emotions.

Different mindfulness practices and tips were shared to be an integral part of our daily life. Students would be able to relax their body and mind, be aware of themselves, stay with their emotions, live mindfully, and cultivate their inner peace after the sessions.

Postgraduate study can be exceptionally demanding yet satisfying. To maximize students’ learning and face together your worries about school work and career prospects, we are pleased to invite Ms. Michelle Li, Registered Education Psychologist to introduce TPG Students of Generalized Anxiety Disorder and teach them some short-term & long term coping stress strategies.

By the end of the session, students grasped an understanding of potential stressors, bodily symptoms and impacts of stress, as well as effective management techniques through experiential learning exercises.

A positive work environment is built on good relationships with your supervisors and co-workers. Effective communication is one of the key elements for good relationships.

We are pleased to invite Dr Lucia Yeung, former Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Management at HKUST and Head of Professional Development in the former Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching. She currently supervises students on applied business management projects and teaches graduate courses at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand. In the workshop, Dr Yeung shared with RPG students different style of supervision and practical tips (3A strategies : Agenda, Ask, Action) to manage the relationships with their supervisors.

“I wish I did not make that mistake!” Are you very conscious of your own performance and fearful of making mistakes? Have you noticed yourself wanting to be perfect in what you do? It is impossible for us to achieve perfection in everything we do. Such unrealistic expectation is a common cause of stress and anxiety. This online workshop explored how perfectionism influences our performance and mental wellbeing, and offer suggestions on how to accept our imperfections.

Life at university is probably one of the most fruitful, enlightening, busy and challenging time of one’s life. How can we juggle among different aspects of university life? How can we achieve the most out of limited time?

This online workshop introduced students to the basic principles of time management, planning and self-monitoring. Student Counselor shared practical time-management strategies such as SMART, ABC principle, Pomodoro Technique to help students maintain a study-life balance.

With the new norm of coronavirus outbreak, you may be bound to spend more time indoor. It also means you may spend a lot more time surrounded by your own stuff. Our addiction to consumption may fill up our closets, cabinets, cupboards and even countertops. They all add up so fast that our consumption habits often outpace the space available to store our belongings. Pretty soon our homes look more like a storage instead of a rejuvenating retreat from the hustle of daily life.

Our workshop in January is definitely a good start of this year to help you simplify life in practical steps. Ms. Sharon Lam is a certified professional organizer at the Japan Shuno Licensing Association. She started Home Therapy to provide decluttering and organizational services in Hong Kong since 2018. She shared with us the 80/20 rules, the 15 stuff to get rid of right away and showcased the KonMari Folding Method to orgranize our closet and shoe cabinet to help you get a sense of accomplishment, let go of the past, uplift your mood and regain energy.

Do you feel like your mind “goes blank” during exam period? Do you feel like your heart is racing and difficult to breath or concentrate during assessment?

As a university student, it is perfectly natural to feel anxious and nervous in taking an assessment or examination. A moderate level of anxiety can sharpen our concentration and performance, as well as to keep us motivated. In this workshop, Ms. Michelle Li, Educational Psychologist shared with us the symptoms of General Anxiety Disorder and short-term/long-term effective management strategies to alleviate stress for academic success.

With self-compassion, we give ourselves the same kindness and care we would give to a family member or a good friend. There are three elements of self-compassion: Self-kindness, Common Humanity and Mindfulness. Self-compassion and Mindfulness practices offer a foundational way to foster our self-care, strengthen awareness, lower stress levels and live from the heart.

In all evening practice sessions, Dr. Adrain Wan, Certified Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) Teacher (CMSC) taught us practical ways from the Mindful Self-Compassion Program to calm our minds, relax our bodies, and sooth our hearts. A variety of meaningful practices on self-kindness and mindfulness were shared to be an integral part of our daily life. Students would be able to unwind their body and mind for better sleep quality, and develop daily routine in practicing mindfulness and cultivating compassion after the sessions.

According to Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist who popularized emotional intelligence, there are five key elements of emotional intelligence: Self-awareness, Self-regulation, Motivation, Empathy and Social Skills. People with high emotional intelligence will be able to understand, use and manage our own emotions in constructive ways to alleviate stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflicts.

In this workshop, Ms. Kate Yu shared on integrating psychological theories into practical tips for students to navigate social and emotional obstacles to our well-being. She guided us to gain insights in human emotions and social interactions through some interesting thought-experiments and case studies. We are inspired to value self-care and empathetic communication in facing stress and adversity in life, thus gaining more confidence in handling our own emotions and in turn rendering timely support to our beloved ones.