Credentials, Training Background and Work Experiences
I am a Registered Psychologist (Health Psychology, Counselling Psychology, and Clinical Psychology) in the Province of Ontario, Canada. I am also a Certified Therapist in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) by the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (CACBT) and a CBT Clinical Consultant in CACBT. I decided to enter the mental health profession in high school because I wanted to help others. I completed my undergraduate education and a Master’s degree in China. Then I came to Canada as an international student and earned a Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology at the University of Alberta (Accredited by the Canadian Psychological Association). Since 2012, I have received my clinical training in two Chinese University Counselling Centres, Clinical Services, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Department of Psychosocial and Spiritual Resources, Cross Cancer Institute (Edmonton), and Adult Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Unit, Alberta Hospital Edmonton. I lived in Edmonton, Alberta for 4 years. I came to Toronto for my pre-doctoral residency at CBT Associates, a large private practice specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Since then, I also worked as a psychologist at the Forest Hill Centre for CBT and the University of Toronto Health & Wellness Centre. During my employment at the University of Toronto Health & Wellness Centre, I designed and implemented a collaborative program with psychiatrists team. The program combined Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help individuals with bipolar disorder and psychosis. I presented the program’s outcome at the 2021 Canadian post-secondary mental health conference.
Currently, I am practicing as a psychologist at a private practice in the Financial District of Downtown Toronto.
What I Do
I aspire to be an excellent clinician, clinical supervisor/trainer, and leader in the mental health profession. I believe that ongoing practice, reading, reflection, asking for feedback, and integrating them into my behaviour/practice are crucial to becoming better. Throughout my study and career journey, I strive to live up to my aspiration.
Clinically, I work primarily from combining Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Emotion-focused Therapy (EFT) and Interpersonal Process. I value empathy, compassion, and understanding in clinical work. Also, I routinely seek client feedback to ensure my work meets their needs. I have received solid training in providing psychological assessment and psychotherapy to adults with various concerns such as depression, anxiety, self-criticism, emotional challenges, grief and loss, relationship challenges, stress management, anger management, psychosis and physical illnesses.
I am particularly passionate about the meaning of life issues. From my perspective, the ultimate goal of therapy (and life) is to help clients live a fulfilling life. However, many psychological and behavioural barriers, such as various challenges mentioned in the last paragraph, get in the way. Some common underlying reasons contribute to people’s suffering regardless of specific mental health diagnoses. To my understanding, it mainly centers around three issues: self-criticism (i.e., being too harsh on ourselves), emotional disturbance (i.e., too emotional or too rational) and ineffective behaviours (e.g., procrastination, low problem-solving skills).
Additionally, when people have physical illnesses, particularly chronic conditions (e.g., chronic pain and cancer), their life will change significantly as the physical diseases cause various challenges and usually divert people from their original life path. The abovementioned issues are complex, requiring comprehensive clinical approaches to solve the problems, accept the challenges or reduce their impact. In my work, I combine CBT, ACT, EFT and interpersonal process to meet the client where they are and help them live a fulfilling life.
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Leadership-wise, I served as the Student Representative on the Board of Directors of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS) from 2016-2017. ACBS is the international professional home for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Since then, I co-founded the Asian Culture and CBS Special Interest Group (SIG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion SIG. Also, I served as the Chair of the Counselling Psychology Section of the Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) from 2022-2023. Moreover, I am the President-elect of the Association of Chinese Helping Professionals and Psychologists–International (ACHPPI). Furthermore, I serve on the Board of the Greater Toronto Area’s Hong Fook Mental Health Association. Additionally, I am a professional member of the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) and the Canadian Association of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies (CACBT).
In terms of clinical supervision/training, my doctoral dissertation was about clinical supervisors’ experience of asking supervisees for feedback on their supervision. I am starting to gain clinical supervision experience. Also, I have provided some introduction-level workshops about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) within the Association of Chinese Helping Professionals and Psychologists–International (ACHPPI).
I tend to provide training in a down-to-earth manner and use languages that align with audiences’ backgrounds.
Professional Development Training Attended
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) online training
09/2015-08/2016, Evidence-based Practice Institute, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Facilitator: Dr. Matthieu Villatte
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) online training
09/2016-08/2017, Evidence-based Practice Institute, Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
Facilitator: Dr. Kelly Koerner
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) workshop
06/06/2019 – 06/07/2019, Evidence-Based Therapy, Training and Testing, Toronto, ON, Canada
Facilitators: Drs. Candice Monson and Philippe Shnaider
Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) Level 1 Intensive Training
09/08/2021 – 12/08/2021, York University Psychology Clinic. Toronto, ON, Canada
Facilitators: Drs. Leslie Greenberg and Serine Warwar
Clinical Hypnosis Level 1 Workshop
01/12/2022 – 04/12/2022, The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH). Kissimmee, Florida, U.S.A.
Facilitators: Delle Jacobs, Drs. Akira Otani, Audrey Cleary, Mary Wells, and Linda Thomson
Clinical Hypnosis Level 2 Workshop
19/10/2022 – 22/10/2022, The American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH). Lincolnshire, Illinois, U.S.A.
Facilitators: Drs. David Reid, Louis Damis, and Samantha Price
Presentations at Peer-Reviewed Local, Regional, & National/International Conferences
Luo, H., (2023, November). Relational Approach to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Invited plenary presented at the inaugural Association for Contextual Behavioral Science Low-Middle-Income Countries International Conference (ALIC-ACBS), online.
Luo, H., (2023, June). Integrating Interpersonal Process and CBT. Skills class presented at the 10th World Congress of Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (WCCBT), Seoul, South Korea.
Luo, H., (2022, April). A Framework to Integrate CBT, ACT, EFT and CFT. Mini-workshop presented at the 38th annual meeting of the Society for the Exploration of Psychotherapy Integration (SEPI), Laussane, Switzerland.
Luo, H. & Mumtaz, S. (August 2021). Collaborative Care for Students with Bipolar Disorder and Psychosis. Presentation presented at the Collaborations for Change: Connecting Research and Practice in Post-Secondary Mental Health, Online, Canada.
Luo, H., Masuda, A., Loureiro, L., Payne, J. & Rosen, D. (July, 2020). Providing Culturally-appropriate ACT. Panel discussion presented as a chair at the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science World Conference, Online.
Miller, J., Luo, H. & Pott, T. (July, 2020). Transitioning to Counselling Practice at a Distance. Panel discussion presented as a panelist at the 2020 Canadian Psychological Association Virtual Annual Convention, Online, Canada.
Luo, H. & Hanson, W. (October, 2018). Connecting Counselling Psychology’s Values to Practice. Poster session presented at the second Canadian Counselling Psychology Conference, Calgary, AB.
Hanson, W., Poth, C., Dubue, J., Luo, H., Zhou, H., & Armstrong, D. (August, 2016). Mixed Method Research in Counselling Psychology: A 10-year Follow-up. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, Denver, CO.
Luo, H., (July, 2015). Affirmative Counselling for LGBT Population. Paper session presented at the 2015 Conference of Committee of Clinical and Counselling Psychology, Chinese Psychological Society, Beijing, China