About Dr. Ong Mian Li

About Dr. Ong Mian Li

Clinical psychologist. Researcher. Neurodivergent. Mayo Clinic–trained. Registered in Singapore.

In January 2025, Singapore Global Network featured me as a neurodivergent psychologist working to widen access to good mental-health care.

Dr. Ong Mian Li, Clinical Psychologist

A neurodivergent clinician shaped by research and real-world complexity.

I’m the founder of Lightfull Psychology Practice and a registered psychologist with the Singapore Psychological Society (SRP No. 2512014). I’m also a review member for the Singapore Register of Psychologists (SRP) — meaning I sit on the panel that evaluates other psychologists’ credentials when they apply to the registry. You can verify my SPS membership and SRP registration directly.

A note on the title: “Dr.” refers to my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — not a medical degree. I am a psychologist, not a psychiatrist or physician.

I’m also neurodivergent. I have ADHD — and I built my career with it, not in spite of it. I navigated a PhD, a Mayo Clinic fellowship, a research career with 100+ research contributions, and the founding of a nonprofit and a private practice, all while learning to work with a brain that doesn’t operate on the standard template.

That experience informs how I think about assessment, treatment, and the people who walk through my door. I know what it’s like to wonder whether there’s an explanation for how you’ve always been — and what it means to finally get a clear answer.

Clinical training across the full spectrum of complexity.

My doctoral mentor was Dr. Eric Youngstrom at UNC Chapel Hill — one of the world’s leading experts in evidence-based assessment and a driving force behind making psychological science accessible to the public. That family-like mentorship shaped how I think about clinical work: rigorously, transparently, and always in service of the person in front of you.

At Mayo Clinic, I completed the APA-accredited Clinical Child Psychology Postdoctoral Fellowship — a program spanning five major rotations: the Pediatric Anxiety Disorders Clinic (assessment and exposure-based treatment for childhood anxiety and OCD), the Child and Adolescent Inpatient Hospitalization Unit, the Pediatric Transitions Program (a DBT-based partial hospitalization program), the Consultation-Liaison Service (psychological support across pediatric hospital specialties including hematology/oncology, neurology, ICU, NICU, surgery, and critical care), and the Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center (an intensive outpatient program for chronic pain and autonomic dysfunction). I also carried an ongoing outpatient therapy caseload and maintained protected research time throughout.

At UNC Chapel Hill, I completed a rotation at Duke’s Center for Autism and Brain Development under Dr. Jill Lorenzi in Dr. Geraldine Dawson’s group, with regular seminars led by Dr. Dawson. I also trained at UNC’s Anxiety Disorders Clinic, the Center for Excellence in Eating Disorders, a Level 1 state psychiatric hospital, a public high school, and child and adult assessment services. My internship at UT Health San Antonio included primary care behavioral health (PCBH) in an integrated medical setting — trained directly by Dr. Stacy Ogbeide and Dr. Kathryn Kanzler, two of the leading voices in primary care behavioral health — as well as inpatient psychiatry, and parent-child interaction therapy. I served as a student representative on the SCCAP Executive Board (APA Division 53) and was a member of the Diversity Committee at UNC.

I’ve stayed close to colleagues from those years — see the clinicians I trust abroad.

Prior to my doctoral training, I spent approximately 1.5 years as a research assistant in Dr. Lauren Alloy’s Mood and Cognition Lab at Temple University, working on mood disorder research. That early research experience shaped how I think about the relationship between mood, cognition, and clinical presentation.

This breadth means I have worked with a wide range of clinical presentations — from common anxiety and mood concerns to diagnostically complex cases where other providers weren’t sure what was going on.

Training and credentials.

Ph.D., Clinical Psychology — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (APA & PCSAS Accredited)
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Clinical Child Psychology — Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN (APA Accredited)
Predoctoral Internship — UT Health San Antonio (APA Accredited)
M.A., Clinical Psychology — University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.S., Psychology — SUNY Buffalo (Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa)
Registered Psychologist, Singapore Psychological Society (SRP No. 2512014)
PCIT Certified (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy)
Languages: English, 中文 (Chinese)

How I Work

My approach is grounded in cognitive-behavioural therapy — focused on how emotions, thoughts, and behaviours interact, with mindfulness, acceptance, and self-compassion woven in where they help. Sessions are structured enough to produce real results and flexible enough to meet you where you are.

A session with me is a full sixty minutes. I stagger thirty minutes between clients — partly so I can write notes and catch my breath, and partly so you never run into the person before or after you.

Not every concern requires long-term therapy. My training in Primary Care Behavioral Health means I can also deliver focused, single-session interventions that produce measurable change. Whether you need a comprehensive treatment programme or one targeted consultation, the approach is built around what will actually move the needle for you.

Professional Contributions

I review applications for the Singapore Register of Psychologists — evaluating other psychologists’ credentials when they apply for registration.

I’m involved in efforts to register psychology as an allied health profession in Singapore.

I serve as an ad hoc peer reviewer for scientific journals in clinical psychology and assessment.

I’m working toward registered supervisor status — committed to training the next generation of clinical psychologists in Singapore.

Book a Consultation

Work with me

Whether you’re a parent seeking assessment for your child, an adult exploring an ADHD diagnosis, or a professional looking for consultation — I’m specific about who I work with, and I’ll be straight with you about whether I’m the right fit. If I’m not, I’ll point you toward someone who is.

Many of the people I work with carry their professional roles into the room — performers, athletes, executives, and others whose work places them under sustained public attention. I have ADHD, and my own career has run through high-performance environments in the US and Asia, so the cost of functioning well while being watched is something I’ve lived with. The therapy itself doesn’t change much because of that. The care around it does — confidentiality, scheduling, and who has access get more deliberate attention.

See who I work with — and who I don’t →

If you’re a man considering reaching out, I wrote this for you →

The single-page speaker card is a one-page summary you can forward to a referrer or programme committee.