Most counseling psychologists attempt to heal mental wounds and prepare a person for life. Shang Li prepares her "patients" for death.

A correctional officer for 12 years, she has spent much of her career working on death row at Tianjin First Custody Center, the city's only prison with female inmates.

She was the first guard there to obtain a national certificate in psychology, sparking major changes in the mental healthcare offered to convicts, especially those facing execution.