基本HTML版本
3
POSITIVE LIVING
UMP
大學廣場
MAR 2014
I
n recent decades , mindfulness has been popular i zed in
psychology as a means to make positive changes to individuals'
way of living and prospects towards life. It aims to cultivate
a nonjudgmental, intentional awareness to the moment-to-
moment unfolding of experience. Individuals simply observe
their happenings and not to be caught up by them. Through
the process, individuals realize the transience of all sensations,
percept ions, feel ings, thoughts, and mater ial phenomena,
and over t ime, become less sel f-centered, appreciate the
interconnectedness with other people, and develop a sense of
compassion towards themselves and others.
As an active researcher, mental health educator and promoter, Professor Winnie Mak, Associate Professor of
Department of Psychology, CUHK was invited to share with us her views and initiatives on mindfulness and public
health psychology.
1. What prompted you to be so interested and
dedicated in pursuing work in promoting well-
being and mental health?
The general public lacks understanding and awareness
of what mental heal th i s and they are very l ikely
to associate consul t ing cl inical psychologists wi th
insanity and serious mental i l lness. Given the lack
of awareness , many peopl e do not recogni ze or
address their psychological distress promptly. As a
result, their distress may worsen. Furthermore, access
and availability of formal mental health services are
also l imited by the long waiting time and relatively
infrequent sessions. Given this backdrop, I would like
to raise the community's awareness on the importance
of mental heal th and increase the avai labi l i ty of
evidence-based interventions through online platform
and other alternative means. Despite efforts devoted
to psycho-education and stigma reduction, disparities
continue to exi st. Not only should we prevent the
onset of mental disorders, but also promote the overall
well-being of all individuals.
2. What are Professor Mak's major mental health
initiatives in the local community?
My current project is the development and evaluation
of
WiseLiving
(
www.wiseliving.hk
). It is a two-armed,
evidence-based onl ine platform for reducing stress
and enhanc i ng men t a l hea l t h . As f ac e - t o - f ac e
consultation is expensive and usually prioritized for
those with urgent needs while those with stress, mild
psychological symptoms are often overlooked, the
online platform aims at making evidence-based mental
heal th approaches more accessible to the general
public. It is an eight-week programme that includes
a var iety of interact ive course mater ial s, t ips and
exercises that individuals can apply in their daily lives.
Participants would be randomly assigned to either the
mindfulness programme or the cognitive-behavioural
programme to learn and practise ways to enhance
their well-being. They will also receive daily reminders
and tips via emails. Telephone supporters will phone
the par t i c ipant s week l y to encourage, mot i vate,
and guide them to apply what they have learned to
maintain a healthy mental state.
So far, the response of this project is encouraging.
Thousands of people have signed up for
WiseLiving
.
Alarmingly, we notice that many of the participants
have high levels of stress, depression and anxiety. This
indicates the urgent need for emotional support and
wide dissemination of effective and varied approaches
to reduce the burden of mental i l l heal th in the
community.
FromMindful Experiencing to
Sustainable Well-Being
Interviewwith Professor Winnie Mak
Student reporter: Yuen Ka Man, Carman