Dr. WAN H.Y. Adrian
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Dr. WAN H.Y. Adrian

Lecturer
Biography

Dr. Adrian Wan is a Registered Social Worker (RSW) with over 15 years of experience in health and mental health services in Hong Kong. He specialises in Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), mindfulness-based interventions, and holistic healthcare practices. Drawing on extensive practice and research expertise, he has worked with evidence-based holistic health interventions, group-based psychotherapies, and psycho-oncology. Dr. Wan earned his Master of Social Sciences in Social Work (MSS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Hong Kong. He is Hong Kong’s first Certified Teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion and a Self-Compassion-Informed Psychotherapist (SCIP), having trained under Prof. Kristin Neff and Prof. Christopher Germer at the Centre for Mindful Self-Compassion (CMSC). He is also a Fellow (Higher Education) of Advance HE (FHEA).

Adrian’s research interests encompass resilience, post-traumatic growth, psycho-oncology, mindfulness and compassion-based interventions, and holistic healthcare. Over the past decade, Dr. Wan has led professional training in holistic healthcare and facilitated the evidence-based Mindful Self-Compassion Program for allied health professionals, social workers, counsellors, and community members. He is deeply devoted to bringing the principles of self-compassion into his teaching, clinical work, and knowledge exchange projects, striving to foster a compassionate and supportive environment across academic and professional settings. In addition to his research activities, he teaches in the MSS (Behavioural Health) program, where he integrates his practice-based insights into academic learning. He is currently the Deputy Program Director of the MSS(Behavioral Health) Program.

Selected Publications
  • Wan, A.H.Y., Ho, R.T.H., Yau, J.C.Y., & Yau, E.F.K. (2023). Start with the Body or the Mind? Differential benefits of mindfulness and qigong practices for colorectal cancer survivors: A qualitative study. Cancer Nursing. DOI: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000001288
  • Wan, A.H.Y., (2018). Self-compassion and bio-psychosocial well-being: The application of mindful self-compassion training on cancer survivors in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong. Unpublished dissertation.
  • Ho, R.T.H., Wan, A.H.Y. , Au-yeung, F.S.W., Lo, P.H.Y., Siu, C.Y., Wong, C.P.K., Ng, W.Y.H., Cheung, K.M., Ng, S.M., Chan, C.L.W., & Chen, E.Y.H., (2014). The psychophysiological effects of Tai-chi and exercise in residential schizophrenia patients: A 3-arm randomized controlled trial. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 14, 364-370.
  • Ho, R.T.H., Fong, T.C.T., Wan, A.H.Y. (2022). Effects of Self-Compassion in diurnal cortisol pattern via positive affect in colorectal cancer survivors. Mindfulness, 13(1), 211-221. DOI: 10.1007/s12671-021-01786-3.
  • Wan, A.H.Y., Leung, E.K.T., Patinadan, P.V. (2022). Mindful awareness: A cultivated journey for clinicians and practitioners. Compassion-based Approaches in Loss and Grief. New York: Routledge: Taylor & Francis Group.
Externally Funded Research
  • PI: Development of the Common Core CCHU9078: Contemplative Practices: From Personal Awareness to Social Well-being (Common Core Teaching Development Grant (Project No. 931), The University of Hong Kong.
  • Co-I: Unlocking Limitations through Arts: A Mixed Methods Study on the Effectiveness of an Expressive Arts-based Intervention on Psychosocial Well-being of Adults with Age-related Visual Impairment (General Research Fund (GRF/HKU/17611122), Research Grant Council, 2023-2025.
  • Co-I: Enhancing Mother-Child Ties and Psychosocial Wellness through Arts: A Mixed Methods Study on Dyadic Expressive Arts-based Intervention for Children with Intellectual Disability and their Mothers (General Research Fund (GRF/HKU/1760121), Research Grant Council, 2022-2024.
  • Co-I: Comparative Psychosocial Impacts on Expressive Arts-based Self-Compassion Intervention Programs Conducted Face-to-face and Online: A 2-arm Randomised Controlled Pilot Study (Seed Fund (TAR)), The University of Hong Kong 2021-2021.
  • Co-I: The Psycho-physiological and Social-Spiritual Effects of Expressive Arts-based Intervention on Youth and Pre-Elderly Stroke Survivors: A Randomised Controlled Study (General Research Fund (GRF/HKU/17609417), Research Grant Council. 2016-2019.