NHS South Yorkshire recently partnered with West Yorkshire Mental Health, Learning Disabilities and Autism Workforce team to deliver a high quality live-stream ambassador session to local psychology students in further education and sixth-form colleges. The online session, led by the South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board school’s team, aired on 9 October 2023 and reached 564 students in 20 colleges across Yorkshire and the North East.
Students heard from four local ambassadors each of whom provided insight into their jobs. They talked about their individual career stories, what motivated them to pursue a career in the psychological professions, and shared their future career aspirations.
- Michael explained how growing up in inner city London made him curious about how people behave, feel and are labelled. Michael thought things could be different for excluded groups. This curiosity led to him complete a Psychology degree, he undertook volunteer work and paid employment as a recovery worker and then as an assistant psychologist. Michael now has a brand new role as a Trainee Clinical Associate in Psychology.
- Kinga talked about her role as an Education Mental Health Practitioner in schools. Kinga delivers psychological interventions in school and at home to help ensure children don’t miss out on education because of anxiety, low mood and other mental health problems. Kinga talked about how rewarding it is to support children in this way.
- Tansy works as a Clinical Psychologist specialising in forensic services, for example prisons and in secure hospitals, with people who have committed serious offences and also have mental health problems. Her job is very varied, and involves assessment, therapy and advising on risk assessments to ensure protection of the public. Tansy helps staff teams understand a person’s behaviour in the context of their lives and supports people to make changes. Tansy explained the importance of building trust and a rapport with her clients to help them have a less troubled future.
- Gail explained trauma and how that affects people. Gail has worked as both a Mental Health Nurse and a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) therapist and described, with great passion, how rewarding it can be to support a person who is struggling with their mental health develop their own resources to understand and cope differently with their difficulties.
At the end of the session students participated in live Q&A and took away information and a template to plan their own career in the psychological professions. The take-home messages for the students were: choose a British Psychological Society (BPS) accredited Psychology degree if you want to apply for Practitioner Psychologist training in the future; and work experience is just as important as academic learning to progress a career. The ambassadors provided tips, advice, and shared examples of how they had gained practical experience through volunteering and paid work.
The session was hosted by Dr Gail Harrison, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and West Yorkshire Integrated Care System Psychological Professions Workforce Lead who said: “our ambassadors and the team provided a really engaging session evidenced by the range of questions and reactions from students during live Q&A. We look forward to reaching more students across North East and Yorkshire in future collaborations”
Huge thanks to our four ambassadors for volunteering their time and sharing their stories. Thanks also to Speakers for Schools for hosting the event. We can’t wait to deliver this to the next cohort of Year 12 students in 2024. For more information about Careers in the Psychological Professions, visit the website.