Hi! I am a Clinical Neuropsychologist and a Clinical Psychologist. With my dual qualifications, I am able to provide psychotherapy, neuropsychological assessments and cognitive rehabilitation to individuals across the life span, which include children, adolescents, adults and older adults.
I believe that by integrating the knowledge and skills that I have gained from both fields of psychology will enable me to provide wholesome care to individuals. My aim is to help individuals learn mental health management skills as well as gain skills to understand and improve their brain health while journeying towards a meaningful life.
Life is challenging, especially poor mental health can present with thinking difficulties (e.g., ability to concentrate, remember, plan/organize); whereas, neurological (e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease) and neurodevelopmental (e.g., ADHD, autism) disorders can present with psychological symptoms (e.g., low mood, anxiety).
Being able to identify, differentiate, and prioritize assessment and treatment methods are some skills that I have gathered through my clinical training and work experience. In addition to working with individuals from various age groups and cultural backgrounds, I have been involved in teaching and supervising postgraduate clinical psychology trainees with their clinical work and research.
Some fun facts about myself are I enjoy dancing, playing musical instruments, admiring beauty of nature, learning languages and spending quality time with friends and family. These are some activities that help me appreciate and discover meaning of life.
Qualifications
After graduating from the 4-year undergraduate degree in psychology with HELP-Flinders University, I went on to complete a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology from The University of Queensland, Australia.
Recently, I have also completed a brain imaging for rehabilitation course with Brain Rehab Academy, Australia (https://brainrehabilitation.org/). This has equipped me with the necessary skills to gather rehabilitation specific information from brain scans (e.g., MRI, CT, PET, SPECT, DTI).
For more information on my qualifications please click here.
Professional Registrations
I am registered with the following professional bodies:
- Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology (CP2-0023)
- Malaysian Society of Clinical Neuropsychology (IM4001)
- Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (PSY0002021909)
- Australian Psychological Society
- Asian Neuropsychological Association
- International Neuropsychological Society (644822520)
- International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society
For more information on my professional registration please click here.
Experience
The major part of my clinical experience was based in Australia. I had the opportunity to work with individuals from various age groups and cultural background (including refugees). I have also had the experience of working in different clinical settings such as the older adult mental health unit, rehabilitation unit, inpatient and outpatient stroke unit, kidney dialysis unit, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder clinic, and neurology clinic. In some of these settings, I was able to work in a multidisciplinary team. This has ingrained in me the importance of identifying individuals’ medical needs and referring to appropriate medical or allied health services (e.g., speech therapist, occupational therapist, physiotherapist) for comprehensive care. Furthermore, during my doctoral research, I was associated with the University of Queensland’s Centre for Clinical Research. Here I was able to work with individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and anxiety.
In Malaysia, other than providing individual psychotherapy and neuropsychological assessments with cognitive rehabilitation, I have been teaching in the Master’s of Clinical Psychology program at HELP University for the past 3 years. I have been involved with lecturing, supervising clinical placements and supervising research. Additionally, in Nov 2022, I was tasked to launch and have been heading the Centre for Neuropsychology at HELP University.
For more information on my professional experience please click here
How I work
For Clinical Psychology, the first 2-3 sessions will involve interviews and psychological assessment to help me understand yourself and your needs better. This will enable me to come up with a formulation (i.e., picture) of the nature of the difficulties that is going on and ways or areas that we can work on together to improve your quality of life/achieve your goals. Once we have decided the areas that we will focus on, evidence based psychotherapy interventions will be carried out in sessions. To ensure that we are making progress in therapy, we will have routine check-ins and evaluations as needed. The psychotherapy approaches that I mainly use are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). I am able to provide therapy in English, Tamil and Malay.
For Clinical Neuropsychology, the assessment process will be detailed and comprehensive. This includes:
1. Clinical interview:
Gathering relevant information regarding childhood, education, family, work, social life, medical illness, and psychological functioning. Collateral information is also gathered from family members/caregivers, treating clinician and other people (e.g., teachers for child patients) as necessary. Radiology findings (i.e., brain scans) are included in the assessment (as needed). Medications used by individuals are also taken into consideration.
2. Cognitive tests:
For objectively quantifying an individuals’ thinking skills. For example; IQ, academic skills, memory, attention, language and executive functioning.
The information obtained from assessment are integrated to provide a diagnosis (as necessary) and to develop an individualized treatment plan that can target the area of need. This treatment plan may comprise of:
- Providing psychological and behavioural services (to the individual and/or to family members).
- Developing individualized ways to adapt learning methods for children with neurodevelopmental disorders
- Identifying cognitive abilities to plan career pathways for teenagers or adults with neurodevelopmental disorders
- Cognitive rehabilitation (e.g., suggesting compensatory strategies, working with family members to implement strategies, and/or providing intensive cognitive training).
- Collaboratively working with other allied health professionals (e.g., occupational therapist, speech therapist, and physiotherapist): To integrate the practice of cognitive or psychological strategies within the individual’s daily life.
- Referring to required services (e.g., occupational therapy, physiotherapy, early childhood intervention, psychiatry, and medical investigation).
- A re-evaluation of cognitive functioning following implementation of suggested treatment (if required). This follow-up assessment is also necessary to establish diagnosis of degenerative disorders (e.g., dementia).
Arrange a Consultation with Dr Padma
Please contact Kae to arrange an appointment with Dr Padma. You can call or send a WhatsApp message to 012 5089910. You can also email Kae at info@resolve.my.