Can you tell me about your journey, and how you got to this point?
It feels like a long story! I did my psychology undergraduate degree and graduated in 2000. I then worked as a support worker and then in three and a half psychologist jobs – I wanted to be a clinical psychologist all that time ago.
I tried applying once for the clinical doctorate, but it wasn’t the right time for me. I was in my 20s thinking, ‘life should be about more fun than this’… because it is hard to support people with long term mental health difficulties, and it does take its toll a bit. 20 years later, I’ve built up my own resources on how to cope with that much better.
I decided that while I was young, life should be about having fun. I went off round the world teaching English on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme, which was the best decision for me. I got to see more of the world, and I ended up living in Japan for five years, where I met my husband and had my son. It was a life changing experience, like living in a dream!
Then we moved back to the UK, and it was a bit of a bump back down to Earth, with a culture shock. I was trying to get into HR, because I thought, that I still wanted to work with people, but this didn’t work out. I found that often, you’re supporting the company rather than individuals, and that didn’t feel very aligned with my values. When I went off on maternity leave to have our daughter, I left HR.
When my daughter was a baby, I started doing breastfeeding peer support and perinatal mental health peer support, which led me back into the world of mental health. It’s a bit of a meandering journey, but I’m really pleased to be here because I’m even more motivated as I chose this career!
I had a wonderful year being an assistant psychologist on older adults’ words, with two amazing supervisors who encouraged me and gave me that feeling of, ‘I can do this’. Alongside this, I did a research internship which I heard about through Trust emails (always read your emails and keep your eyes open). This was focused on a big trial looking at people who self-harmed and had suicidal thoughts presenting to A&E.
Then the local head of Occupational Therapy (OT) for our area encouraged me to apply for a health coach role, which was quite unusual, because it’s an unqualified role. I started in April 2024, and as it was slow to get going, it prompted me to ask, ‘what do I want to be doing?’ I looked into doing a Masters, and Health Psychology seemed to fit.
I’ve always been interested in body and mind links, and I’m also a yoga teacher, with a community class once a week. I did a wonderful trauma-informed yoga training, which helped me look at how yoga can be delivered to people who are using mental health services. This also fits on a very personal level, as my dad had a severe stroke five years ago, and I saw the effects of that on him and my mum (his main carer). I wanted to know more about how we can help families, and the whole system around the person who is unwell.
You’ve shared some of what your week looks like – how do you find the balance?
I work three days a week; one day for uni classes, and (almost) one for study with mum duties. It’s a lovely balance, because it means I don’t get sick of any one thing. Yoga just helps me to juggle all my plates.
I’m intrigued by your role as a health coach – can you tell me more about what it involves, and who you work with?
It was an experimental role, with the idea was that I would take patients from the GP and mental health OT. I have been working in primary care but it’s changing, as I’m based in the Community Integrated Mental Health Service, and will be working with people living with severe mental illness alongside physical health conditions. The sorts of patient groups might be those with, diabetes, obesity, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
We offer around eight sessions, although this is flexible depending on what the person wants. I’ve had training in coaching, and I use a lot of motivational interviewing techniques. One of the basic tenets of coaching is that the coachee has the answers within themselves. This has pushed me to pursue the MSc and get more training, so that I feel I have the tools that will help people.
What do you feel have been the most helpful things you’ve learned from the past year?
It’s given me a hopeful outlook, because there are lots of people working on different chronic health conditions.
One textbook that was recommended is called The Psychology of Medicine and Surgery (Peter Salmon). It’s quite an old book, and it has some psychodynamic content about how unconscious responses to pain might be played out by healthcare staff on a ward. I’m very interested in things that aren’t said at all, but are happening under the surface. This is something I’ve realised – not everybody thinks like a psychologist!
When I was working on an older adults ward, we would have a psychology talking group (based on psychodynamic principles) for patients, and staff psychological supervision. We asked staff, ‘What’s keeping you up at night? Who are you worried about?’ and then we discussed that patient from a psychological point of view, which staff found so helpful.
Thinking more broadly about the future of clinical health psychology, what services do you hope for that could meet the needs you’re seeing?
It’s a very difficult question, but I hope that psychology can continue to have a growing role in physical health without being segregated into physical/mental health services. There are tough choices about where money goes, but one area where this is so important is supporting staff.
From my own experience, when you’re not feeling supported, you’re stressed – people get to the point where they can’t have a sustainable career and need to take time off sick. Psychology has a huge part to play, as does yoga, it would be remiss of me not to say!
What advice would you give your younger self in navigating your ‘meandering’ career?
Looking back, I would probably tell myself to have more faith in my abilities. I think I compared myself to my uni friends, who are really high achievers, so it’s not surprising that I felt, that I couldn’t do certain things. Now I’ve learnt about a growth mindset. I have children and I don’t want them to feel you’re either born to do these things or you’re not. I would have told myself I can do it, have a bit more resilience. That being said, I’m very glad I followed my gut to go off around the world having fun!
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