“As a clinical psychologist there are different parts to my job, and this is one of the reasons that I like what I do”
Hi, I’m Tom and I work as a clinical psychologist within a secure children’s home in my role with South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust. This job involves me working with young people aged 10-18 years who live in the home, as well as working with and supporting the wider staff team here.
As a clinical psychologist there are different parts to my job, and this is one of the reasons that I like what I do. Some of my job involves meeting with young people and working to try and understand their psychological wellbeing, as well as offering identified interventions (some people call this therapy) if there is something that they would like to work on or to be different. My role can also include assessments for neurodevelopmental experiences such as learning disability, autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Another part of my job is spending time with the staff who care and educate young people, and offering training and a thinking space for them. The aim of this part of my job is to try and guide staff to care and educate the young people whilst holding their psychological needs in mind, which often includes a history of trauma.
Before working in this setting I have worked in different child and adolescent mental health services, usually in the community. I have tended to work with care experienced young people. As part of my training as a clinical psychologist I was able to have placements that covered the age span from childhood to older adults, though it was always the child and family work that I enjoyed the most.
As a clinical psychologist you work as part of a team with other professions, including doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, social workers, and more. Being a part of a team and working together to try and offer the best care possible is an important part of what we do. Sharing psychological ideas within my team and with professionals, both within the home and those who are involved in the care of the young people in other ways, is a big part of my job. This means I attend meetings, as well as offering spaces to think about a young person’s experiences and the impact of these on their internal psychological world and the ways they interact with those around them.
To be a clinical psychologist you have to have an undergraduate degree, have some relevant experience, and then complete a Doctorate in clinical psychology. I wondered for a while if I wanted to be a clinical psychologist because it involved commitment to doing quite a bit of studying. I was the first person to go to university in my family and was not the most academic and so I questioned whether I would make it to being a qualified psychologist. Now that I am at the other side of this, I am pleased I decided to pursue this profession. It offers variety and you get to be a part of the lives of many people. Some people want to be therapists and to focus on offering talking therapy all the time but I like the different tasks I get to do, and I think these areas are some of the things that I am strongest at. My two favourite parts of the job are offering training and sharing psychological ideas in a way that can be understood. A different clinical psychologist may say something completely different and have a role which is does not look like mine. Having all these options is a great part of this career. I also value working in the NHS and contributing to the wellbeing of our communities and society. This can feel like a daunting task sometimes, but I would rather be a part of it than not.