ASSOCIATE PROF. DR. RAFIDAH BINTI AGA MOHD JALADIN

Associate Professor Dr Rafidah Aga Mohd Jaladin (BSc. (Hons) Psych (UWA, Perth), M.Couns (Hons) (Malaya), PhD (Monash, Australia)) is a counselling psychologist at the Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Education, University of Malaya. She was a recipient of Excellent Service Award (2018) and Excellent Service Certificate thrice (i.e., 2005, 2013, and 2015) during her service at the university. She has been executive member of the International Counselling Association of Malaysia (PERKAMA International) since 2015 and a mentor for University of Malaya Counselling Association (PERKUM) since 2013. She was a program coordinator for Bachelor of Counselling programme from 2012 to 2014. She was appointed Head of Department from 2014-2015, dealing with staff, students, human resource, curriculum and more. She was also appointed as a Director of UM Family Research and Development Centre in July 2020 to 30 June 2022. She is involved in curriculum review exercises, national and international networking, as well as community works. She was also a resident fellow at both private and public universities in Malaysia for a total of six years (1999 - 2005), thus has had hands-on residential experience on student affairs.

Rafidah has more than 20 years of experience as a professional practitioner-cum-educator in psychology and counselling at various work settings. She has educated and trained diverse client populations including, school and college students, corporate staff, and local communities. Her publications comprise counselling and psychology books, book chapters, learning modules, journal articles, and magazine entries. Some of her published works are Professional Issues and Ethics in Counselling and Psychotherapy (2013, 2017), Introduction to Crisis Counselling (2016), Multicultural Counselling (2015), Group Dynamics (2016), Intervensi Krisis dalam Hubungan Menolong (2020, awarded as 50 Best Malaysian Titles), and Teori Kaunseling: Panduan Pemilihan dan Pembentukan Orientasi Teoritikal Kaunselor (2022). Her research areas include multicultural counselling, counsellor education, supervision and training; and mental health literacy and counselling. Rafidah has been involved in about 30 research projects. Her current projects are funded by the Ministry of Higher Education: Fundamental Research Grant Scheme (FRGS) -  Development of Continuous Professional Development Training Module based on Multicultural Counselling Competencies for Professional Counsellors in Malaysia and Knowledge Transfer Programme (KTP) – Empowering Disabled Youths’ Psychological Wellbeing for Career Development (DiY-PsychKit). 

Rafidah’s contribution to society involves giving numerous motivational and mental health awareness talks, conducting short courses, sharing psychology-related topics in media, and offering counselling and consultancy services for diverse populations in Malaysia. Her love for communities has resulted in her engagement with cultural minority groups such as at-risk teenagers (RU04I-2016), urban poor children (RU013-2017N), single mothers (RU013-2017H) and disabled youths (MRUN2019-1D). Fit as a fiddle, Rafidah is also active in sports and recreation activities. She has been representing Faculty of Education and University of Malaya in Inter- and Intra-Varsity Sports Carnivals since 2002, especially in Volleyball, Netball, Badminton, and Table Tennis. She was recipient of Highest Achievement in Sports Award by the Vice Chancellor in 2004. As a certified HRDF trainer (No. 5469), Rafidah is currently looking into exploring academia-corporate training and consultation through HRDF community network.