Ms. Veena Santhanam

Senior Associate Psychologist
Adult Disability Services Division

Seeing the person first

Veena was seventeen when an adult was placed in the tuition class where she worked. Other teachers had been hesitant to take him. His rocking and stimming behaviours made some uncomfortable, and eventually, he was transferred to Veena’s class.

She remembered feeling intimidated too, but what stayed with her more vividly was how differently others treated him. That observation troubled her far more than his behaviour did.

“He was different, yes. But he was still a person.”

So, she chose to interact with him and formed what she considered was her first meaningful connection with the special needs community. Looking back, Veena saw how the questions she had as a 17-year-old stayed with her and how her journey has come full circle.

“What began with wondering why someone was treated differently has grown into a journey of learning to look beyond behaviour and diagnosis.”

Knowing what it feels like to be labelled

That sensitivity did not come from a vacuum for Veena.

Veena described her childhood as relatively sheltered and happy, shaped by the zest and love of learning encouraged by her parents. Upon stepping into pre-university, however, she found herself exposed to realities she had not always seen growing up. For the first time, her schoolmates’ financial difficulties, family struggles, academic pressure, and mental health concerns became much more visible to her. At the same time, she was experiencing one of the lowest periods of her life, learning firsthand what it felt like to be judged and reduced to a label herself.

“This was where the rose-tinted glasses of life were lifted for me. I was what people would call the worst performing student in class.”

Being branded in such a way, Veena went through two years feeling as though she were a misfit or someone deficient that required fixing. When that label began to feel like her entire identity, the shame was difficult to shake.

Such experiences shaped the questions that drew Veena to psychology. What sits behind the way someone behaves? And what might we miss when we focus only on what appears to be ‘wrong’ and not what is going ‘right’?

Today, those same questions sit at the heart of her work.

Looking beneath the behaviour

Now a Senior Associate Psychologist in Community Psychology Hub (CPH) under the Adult Disability Division, much of Veena’s work takes place on the ground. This is where what appears on the surface is rarely the entire story.

The challenge for her is resisting the urge to arrive at an explanation too quickly.

A behaviour may be influenced by family dynamics, past experiences such as trauma, the person's environment, and even wider societal attitudes. Psychological work, then, involves piecing together perspectives to find practical and meaningful approaches for the client and those supporting them.

That complexity was one reason why CPH appealed to her.

When progress takes a different shape

One client whom Veena journeyed with for about three years remains particularly memorable.

When they first met, the client displayed rigidity and repeated self-injurious behaviours. Changes in how things were arranged could cause distress and her environment had to be carefully managed for safety, including the use of a hospital screen.

Progress came gradually.

Over time, Veena watched her move from a highly restricted arrangement to more freely navigating the classroom and engaging different people and spaces. Her communication also developed: once largely non-verbal, she began using functional words to express her needs and preferences.

The progress was meaningful, but Veena was equally moved by what had made it possible. The progress belonged to no single intervention or professional. It came through the collective efforts of the client, caregivers, trainers, colleagues, and community partners where everyone adapted as the client’s needs changed.

It reinforced something Veena holds close:

“When words fail, love prevails.”

Sometimes, connection and understanding can extend beyond what someone can verbally express.

Learning to ask better questions

The same client later stopped attending the centre for several months, and progress no longer looked as straightforward.

The work shifted beyond the centre, requiring Veena and others to engage caregivers and community partners to understand what had changed. It reminded her that community psychology is rarely simple, and even the outcomes being worked towards can shift as circumstances change. Some factors may also remain outside any one person's control.

Here, supervision helped her become more comfortable with that reality.

It has taught Veena to step back, consider what remains within her influence, recognise the resources already around her, and continue advocating where her efforts can make the greatest difference. It gave her space to look inward and understand how her own assumptions and responses may shape the way she approaches the work.

“The supervision sessions expanded my reflective and reflexive capabilities and have been helpful in shaping me professionally.”

Beyond having the right answers immediately, good psychological work can also be about consistently asking better questions.

Making space for different seasons of life

These days, Veena’s role as a new mother occupies much of her world.

With much of her time outside work now devoted to her child, Veena is currently working part-time at CPH. The arrangement gives her the flexibility to remain engaged in meaningful psychological work while also being present for the needs of her growing family.

In many ways, this season has also reinforced something Veena has learned through her work as an associate psychologist. Circumstances change, people’s needs change with them, and having the space to adapt matters.

And for anyone considering similar work in the community as a psychologist, Veena offers much the same advice:

“Come with a humble heart and the willingness to learn. Be prepared for your assumptions to be challenged. And finally, ask for help when you need it.”

For Veena, some of the most important parts of being an associate psychologist may never appear neatly in a job description.

Sometimes, the work simply begins with seeing the client as a person first.