Have you ever wondered why we have different beliefs about supernatural occurrences? Some of us who are fans of horror movies or avid readers of ghost stories can feel excited about this spooky period! Another group of us may feel extra cautious and more sensitive to our surroundings. On the other hand, it is business as usual for some, as we go about our days normally. According to YouGov (2018), two thirds of Singaporeans believe in ghosts. So, why do some people believe in ghosts and others don’t? Let us have a closer look at this in our article!   How do we conceptualize other ..read more

Emotion is defined as “a complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioural and physiological elements.” (American Psychological Association, 2019). However, there are many views to what emotions mean and it is difficult to pinpoint a single definition. Unlike humans, animals are unable to explain whether they can feel emotions and the scientific opinions on this topic has been divided. Charles Darwin believed that humans and animal share similar core of fear, anger, and affection (Rose, 2020). Currently most researchers agree that animals can experience pain and comfort (Rose, 2020 ..read more

How common is bullying at workspace? Singapore has one of the highest levels of workplace bullying, according to a Kantar survey (Ng, 2020). Shockingly, in 2020, it is reported that almost one in four employees in Singapore have felt bullied, undermined and harassed (Ng, 2020). Considering that bullying is a scary and confusing experience, it is probable that many remain silent about their situation.   How do I know that what I am experiencing, or witnessing is bullying? There are times when we may ask ourselves, is this strict management or is this crossing the line towards bullying? Th ..read more

  View this post on Instagram   A post shared by InPsychful (@inpsychful)   Celine (Interviewer) Hi Cam! It’s great seeing you again. Can you introduce yourself to our viewers? Camellia (Principal Psychologist)    Hello, I am Camellia, or you can call me Cam, the co-founder of InPsychful. I am a psychologist at InPsychful, and we also run programs. Recently, a newly minted card game creator, called Overbaked! Celine (Interviewer) That is a new game that we actually see here. So previously you shared with us about Emotional Fitness. And now that we see that we have ..read more

Have you ever thought about what success means to you? In our Asian context, common definitions of success would be academic and career accomplishments. However, we may soon realize that such focus may not be the best way to succeed as the world changes rapidly more than ever. In a broader sense, there are some skills that may be able to serve our youths better as they face different types of challenges today. One of such skills is emotional fitness, which can be important in the youths’ success not just in academics, but in life. Before we move on, you may not have heard of this term previou ..read more

“Failing academically at a young age taught me to be emotionally resilient, and that nothing is out of reach as long as I set my sights on it.” – Camellia Wong   Hello Camellia! We would like to find out more about you, can you introduce yourself? Hi everyone, I’m Camellia, Co-founder and Principal Psychologist at InPsychful. What was your journey like from being an EM3 student to becoming an award-winning psychologist today?Well… the winning of awards wasn’t part of the plan, it happened to come along during my doctoral studies in Chicago. As an Em3 kid, there were a lot of people who ..read more

“Green light, red light”, green tracksuits and red jumpsuits. Without mentioning its name, you may have thought about the global hit, Squid Game. This Netflix show is the most popular and talked about in the world today. This is surprising, given that it had almost no serious marketing or ad campaign (Rosenblatt,2021). Individuals have created fan art, short videos, dressed up as characters and made memes related to this game. This show is about a game, where desperate people who are in great debts were invited to join in hopes of receiving the grand prize of 38 million dollars. The catch is t ..read more

What is a chou chou? Chou Chou – which literally translates to “smelly” in Mandarin, refers to a comforting item, which could be a tiny bolster, pillow stuff toy or blanket. Chous chous are also known as ‘bantal busuk’ in malay (meaning “smelly pillow”). You may even have one or know someone who does! For those with chou chous, you may have had them since you were a young child and it seems to be irreplaceable and a must-have before you go to sleep.  Some of us seem to have attachments to Chou Chous, even in our adulthood. Such attachment to objects is defined as “the experience a person ..read more

Many of us would agree that having a pet is likely to bring us joy and laughter. Amidst the pandemic, various animal welfare organisations have noted a rise in the number of adoptions. For instance, Causes for Animals has found an almost two-fold increase in the adoption of dogs and cats (Khoo, 2020). Organisations such as Just for Paws and Chained Dog Awareness In Singapore, have observed a spike in enquires for adoption and fostering of dogs (Khoo, 2020). Indeed, numerous articles and websites which suggests that pets do bring us benefits for our mental health and wellbeing. Having pets seem ..read more

Prevalence of bullying in schools From having to intentionally exclude someone from a group to physically harming another party, bullying is far from unusual in schools. According to Children’s Society, about 1 in 5 primary school students have reported to be a victim of bullying (Children’s Society, 2007). Some local studies, found a 30% to 50% rate of bullying in schools locally (The Straits Times, 2003; The Straits Times, 2008). From time to time, we observe news about cases of bullying in various institutions and it is not difficult to imagine having many more cases that goes unreported ..read more