Ms Zaylea Kua

Senior Psychologist
"CARE IS
Understanding your emotional and cognitive needs with empathy and expertise, and personalising support to help you develop clarity, resilience, and purpose.
BIOGRAPHY
Zaylea Kua is a Senior Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience in providing psychotherapeutic interventions and neuropsychological assessments in both the public care and private health settings in Australia and Singapore. She was awarded the prestigious Ministry of Health Holdings Healthcare Graduate Studies Award to pursue her Master of Clinical Psychology in The University of Queensland, Australia. Her passion lies in helping individuals live meaningful and purposeful lives through the care of their emotional well-being and enhancement of their cognitive health.
Zaylea specialises in working with adolescents, adults, and older adults facing chronic stress, insomnia, burnout, trauma, anxiety, as well as cognitive impairment from brain injuries, stroke and dementia. Zaylea tailors a personalised treatment program for each of her patients, guiding them with evidence-based strategies to strengthen their emotional resilience and brain health. She adopts an integrative approach consisting of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Schema Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as well as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. She has had the honour of journeying with many patients from their deepest struggles to their transformational recoveries, forging trusted therapeutic relationships along the way.
Besides one-on-one consultation with patients, Zaylea also takes on clinical supervision cases as a Board-certified Clinical Supervisor with Psychology Board of Australia and Singapore Psychological Society. She is frequently invited as an expert speaker on the topic of brain health, dementia prevention and cognitive longevity. Her academic interest lies in bridging translational science and clinical practice where she researches on innovative non-pharmacological interventions to enhance patient care. Her research work as a Principal Investigator on Virtual Reality Cognitive Training for Mild Cognitive Impairment had been recognised with the SingHealth Innovation Practice Award.
EXPERIENCE
  • Senior Clinical Psychologist, Changi General Hospital, Singapore
  • Registered Supervisor, Psychology Board of Australia
  • Registered Supervisor, Singapore Psychological Society
  • Psychologist Supervisor, National Neuroscience Institute, Singapore
  • Registered Psychologist, Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
  • Registered Psychologist, Singapore Psychological Society
  • Member, International Healthy Longevity Medicine Society
  • Member, The International Society of Vascular Behavioural and Cognitive Disorders
EDUCATION
  • Master of Clinical Psychology (Distinction), University of Queensland, Australia
  • Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Psychology (Distinction), National University of Singapore
AWARDS
  • Healthcare Graduate Study Award by Ministry of Health, Singapore 2015
  • Dean’s Commendation of Academic Excellence, University of Queensland, Australia, 2016 – 2018
  • HERO Award, SingHealth Quality Service Award, Changi General Hospital 2021
  • Ground-up & Emerging Award, SingHealth Innovation Practice 2022
  • Top Cited Article and Top Cited Author, WILEY 2021 – 2022
LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY
  • English, Chinese
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
  • Kua, Z., Ong, R. H. S., Chen, N. Y. C., Yoon, P. S., Chew, S. T. H., Dong, Y., & Tan, L. M. Y. (2025). Virtual reality-based cognitive training for MCI in the elderly: A feasibility randomised pilot study. Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, 54(7), 445–447. (https://annals.edu.sg/virtual-reality-based-cognitive-training-for-mci-in-the-elderly-a-feasibility-randomised-pilot-study/)
  • Kua, Z. (2024). The Impact of Psychopathology and Psychological Well-Being on Cognitive Health. In Brain and Mental Health in Ageing (pp. 339-357). Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland.
  • Kua, Z., Hamzah, F., Tan, P. T., Ong, L. J., Tan, B., & Huang, Z. (2021). Physical activity levels and mental health burden of healthcare workers during COVID‐19 lockdown. Stress and Health.
  • Kua, Z. J., Valenzuela, M., & Dong, Y. (2019). Can Computerized Cognitive Training Improve Cognition in Patients With Heart Failure?: A Review. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 34(2), E19-E27.
  • Kua, Z. J., Pachana, N. A., Byrne, G. J., O’Sullivan, J. D., Marsh, R., Torbey, E., Silburn, P. A., Mellick, G. D. &
  • Dissanayaka, N. N. (2018). How well do caregivers detect depression and anxiety in patients with Parkinson’s disease?. Journal of geriatric psychiatry and neurology, 31(5), 227-236.
  • Talk: Healthy Coping Skills – Non-pharmacological Interventions to Manage Mood Disorders and Insomnia (2025)
  • Talk: Navigating Cognitive Issues in Primary Care: Practical Strategies & Clinical Pearls for Managing Memory Impairment (2025)