Dr Keong Yap

Position

Senior Lecturer

School /
Work Unit

Health Sciences

Contact Details

+(61 3) 9925 6692

keong.yap@rmit.edu.au

Location

Building: 201
Level: 3
Room: 12

Bundoora West Campus

College/Portfolio

Science, Engineering & Health

Qualifications

BSocSci (Hons) NUS, DPsych (Clinical) Melb, GradCetHlthProfEd Monash, MAPS

Key activities

  • Senior Lecturer in Psychology
  • Clinic Director / Clinical Psychologist, RMIT University Psychology Clinic
  • Clinical Psychologist
  • Member of the College Human Ethics Advisory Network

Professional Affiliations

  • Registered Psychologist, Psychology Board of Australia
  • Member, Australia Psychological Society
  • Member of College of Clinical Psychologists, APS.
  • Member, Australian Association for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

Teaching Responsibilities

My teaching responsibilities for the 4th year psychology program and the MPsych/DPsych clinical psychology program include:

  • Professional Issues and Research Methods BESC1419/1420
  • Foundations of Practice 1(Counselling Psychology/Professional Practice and Ethics) BESC1461/1473
  • Specialist Practice 1 (Health Clinical Psychology) BESC1463/1475
  • Assessment and Intervention 1 (Psychopharmacology) BESC1459/1471

I also provide clinical supervision for the MPsych/DPsych students in their internal practicum casework at the RMIT University Psychology Clinic

Research

Research interests

  • Clinical Psychology
    • Obsessive-compulsive disorder
    • Obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders (compulsive buying, compulsive hoarding)
    • Depression and associated features (e.g., perfectionism, rumination, avoidance)
    • Third wave behaviour therapies (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy)
  • Learning and teaching in psychology
    • Objective-structured clinical examinations in clinical psychology training

Current student research projects

  • Melissa Alemis and Kate Gray. Compulsive buying and impulsivity.
  • Vicki Smith, Vivienne Champness and Candice Fieg. Treatment outcomes at The Melbourne Clinic OCD program.
  • Richelle Pinto, Sarah Bourchier and Monique Slevison. Group ACT for anxiety and depression.
  • Vicky Bablas. Mindfulness-based therapy for restless legs syndrome. (Co-supervisor: Prof Ken Greenwood).
  • Andrew Cenuich. Meta-emotion philosophy and psychopathology.
  • Andrew Telley. Building resilience and wellbeing amongst university students. (Primary supervisor: A/Prof Andrea Chester)
  • Beau Robertson. The effectiveness of an alarm intervention with overlearning for nocturnal enuresis: A naturalistic study. (Co-supervisor: Dr Sharynn Schuster)
  • Paula Henderson. Piloting osteopathic manipulative treatment for mild depression in peri-menopausal women (Primary supervisor: Prof Eleanor Holroyd)
  • Kerry Arrow. The efficacy of an online group intervention for the treatment of depression in Australian adults. (Primary supervisor: A/Prof Andrea Chester)
  • Lauren Velik. Social skills training program for high functioning autism: A program evaluation.
  • Robert Porter and Jessica Scott. On social anxiety, self-compassion, perfectionism, and anticipatory processing (Co-supervisors: Dr Sharynn Schuster and Prof Andrew Francis).

Completed student research projects

  • Lara Taylor. Effects of social influence on the relationship between disordered eating behaviours and perfectionism. (2009)
  • Gemma Cochrane. Personality, Social Anxiety, Willingness to Communicate and Facebook Use. (2009)
  • Kate Steel. Maladaptive Perfectionism and Depression: Further investigation of the Social Disconnection Model (2010)
  • Natasha Vickers. Relationships between negative mood regulation expectancies, emotion regulation, and negative affect. (2010)
  • Patrick Callahan. Treating youth depression: Clinician attitudes to, and concordance with, treatment guidelines. (Co-supervisor: Dr Sarah Hetrick) (2010)
  • Sarah Basile. Obsessive-compulsive disorder and comorbid depression: The role of rumination and avoidance. (2011)
  • Nicole A. Scott. Maladaptive Perfectionism and Depression: The Role of Self-compassion. (2011).
  • Jessica Ciarma. The effects of parental expecations and parental criticism on depressed mood in offspring. (2011).

Publications

  • Chen, E. Z., Dowling, N. A., & Yap, K. (in press). An Examination of Gambling Behaviour in Relation to Financial Management Behaviour, Financial Attitudes, and Money Attitudes. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction. DOI 10.1007/s11469-011-9311-z
  • Lim L., Chan K.L., Chan A., Gwee K.P., Ong S. H., Woo M., Yap A.K., & Chan Y.H. Sexual Offenders Study Group. (2002). Sexual assaults in Singapore: a comparative study of rapists and molesters. Medicine, Science & the Law. 42(4), 344-350.
  • Lim L.E., Yap A.K., Ong S.H., Chan A.O., & Chan KL. (2000). The sexual habits of males who molest. Medicine, Science & the Law. 40(4), 301-304.
  • Lim L.E., Yap A.K., Ong S.H., Chan K.L., & Chan A.O. (2000). A study of outrage of modesty offenders in a Singapore prison. Medicine, Science & the Law. 40(3), 245-250.
  • Ng B.Y., Yap A.K., Su A., Lim D., & Ong S.H. (2002). Personality profiles of patients with dissociative trance disorder in Singapore. Comprehensive Psychiatry. 43(2),121-126.
  • Pham, T., Yap, K., & Dowling, N. A. (2012). The impact of financial management practices and financial attitudes on the relationship between materialism and compulsive buying. Journal of Economic Psychology. 33, 461-470. DOI 10.1016/j.joep.2011.12.007
  • Woo M., Yap A.K., Oh T.G., & Long F.Y. (1999). The relationship between stress and absenteeism. Singapore Medical Journal. 40(9), 590-595.
  • Yap A.K., Lim L.E., Ong S.H., Chan K.L., & Chan A.O. (2002). Personality of males charged with outrage of modesty. Medicine, Science & the Law. 42(2), 167-171.
  • Yap, K., Mogan, C. M., & Kyrios, M. (2012). Obsessive-compulsive disorder and comorbid depression: the role of OCD-related and non-specific factors. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26. 565-573. DOI 10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.03.002.

Conference presentations

  • Allen, N. B., Yap, A. K., Di Parsia, P., Adey, S., Foverskov, S., & Simmons, J. (2001, October). Prepulse inhibition and affective startle modulation in clinical depression and anxiety. Paper presented at the 41st Annual Meeting for the Society for Psychophysiological Research. Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • Callahan, P., Yap, K., Hetrick, S., Simmons, M., & Willet, M. (2010). Treating Youth Depression: Clinician Attitudes to, and Concordance with, Treatment Guidelines. Poster presented at the Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research (ASPR), Sydney, Australia
  • Chester, A., Kienhuis, M., Reece, J., Standfield, R., & Yap, K. (2010, July). Peer review of teaching: A five-stage model for building communities of reflective teaching practice. International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Robertson, B., Yap, K., & Schuster, S. (2011, October). The effectiveness of an alarm intervention with overlearning for nocturnal enuresis: a naturalistic study at the RMIT University Psychology Clinic. Paper presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Yap, K., (2010, July). Objective structured clinical examinations in clinical psychology: A pilot study. Paper presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Yap, K., Yap, Bearman, M., Hay, M., Thomas, N., Ash, L., & & Cardozo, S. (2010, July). Clinical psychology students’ experience of the Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE): A qualitative study. Paper presented at the International Conference on Psychology Education (ICOPE) 2010.
  • Yap, K., Mogan, C. F., & Kyrios, M. (2010, July). Cognitive and behavioural predictors of depression in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Paper presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Yap, K., Pham, T., & Dowling, N. (2011, October). Money matters: Materialism, financial practices and their effect on compulsive buying. Paper presented at the 46th Annual Australian Psychological Society Conference. Canberra, Australia.
  • Yap, K., & Steel K. (2011,October). Parental criticism mediates the relationship between parental expectations and depression in young adult. Paper presented at the 2011 Annual Australian Association for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy Conference, Sydney, Australia.

Grants and Awards

  • RMIT School of Health Sciences Students’ Choice Teaching Award, 2010.
  • Improving the assessment of clinical competence: Introducing the Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) into clinical psychology training. Learning and teaching performance fund – projects grant scheme 2008.