The BPS in Northern Ireland

Preparing for exams will take time, be prepared for this and plan accordingly.

Know that there will be occasions when your revision will not go to plan due to not being in the right 'mood' or things occurring in life out of your control.

Mentally preparing for these instances will help you cope and 'bounce back' after this occurs.

By being in the right frame of mind before studying will help you actively engage with the learning material, and to not just go through the motions of studying.

Individuals using social media tend to promote a desired self-image.

Reading updates on social media as to how well or not well someone is studying can have a negative impact on your thinking/feelings.

It may make you more prone to engage in negative thought cycles e.g. "I'm not studying enough" or "I am doing just as bad as them".

Take a social media break or really restrict your usage on the lead up to and the day of the exams.

A large proportion of the body's resources are directed to the brain, consuming over 25% of the body's glucose despite being only 2% of the body's mass.

Therefore, it is important to take a break every hour so that the brain can rest.

This break allows the brain to continue processing the new learning material without being overloaded with multitasking between storing and processing simultaneously.

Some students simply re-read the learning material in the hope that it might 'stick'.

However, in we are teaching our brains to recognise the answer, rather than recall the answer, which two different processes.

For example, when you listen to a song you may sing along and appear to know all the words.

However, when you only have the backing track you may find yourself struggling to sing along.

This is because you have trained your brain to recognise the lyrics and not to recall them.

Evidence has shown that a more effective way to learn is to repeatedly self-test and what you are learning, this is known as the 'testing effect'.

Retrieval practice can boost memory, therefore, instead of recognising the answer, your brain is recalling the answer.

Put learning material into your own words, test it, retrieve it, rehearse it.

When we feel stressed and anxious, we tend to breathe more quickly.

Slowing down our breathing can help the body change its physiological responses and 'reset' the body back to a calmer state.

Self-care is important to managing stress anxiety.

Try to eat healthily, drink lots of water, take part in activities you enjoy, socialise, go out into nature, and/or exercise.

Being kind to yourself will help the body to decrease those stress hormones, which helps reduce your feelings of anxiety and stress, and increase your ability to actively engage with the learning material.

Psychological research has shown that making near-miss guesses, mistakes or errors can actually help with memory retrieval, acting like a prompt to the correct answer.

However, if these guesses, mistakes or errors are not close to the right answer, they can hinder learning.

Therefore, do not be disheartened when you are self-testing and you don't get the right answer.

If you are 'close' to it but just need to fine tune, making these guesses/mistakes will still help you retrieve the correct information in the exam.

And if you were not 'close' to the right answer, don't panic, just put in some more time into the 'testing effect' for that area, as you have learnt by recognising information not recalling.

Stress is a natural human response which evolved as a survival and is often referred to as the 'flight/fight/freeze' response.

Stress responses at the right levels can enhance a person's performance, yet, we are not built to sustain long periods or overloading levels of stress.

Research shows that if we do not keep stress levels in check, it may have a negative impact on our physical and mental health and on our ability to learn new material.

Stress signs will vary from person to person - get to know yours.

Some people may behave differently than usual.

This may include not being able to concentrate on activities you usually enjoy, feeling restless, avoiding people, becoming hypersensitive to touch or noise, loss of appetite, overeating, difficulties sleeping, over-sleeping, or eating unhealthy foods.

Some people may have physical reactions to feeling stressed.

They may feel their heart beating faster, changes in their body temperature, headaches, increased muscle tension, feeling tearful, and/or feeling sick.

Others may find themselves thinking more negatively about themselves e.g. "I'm not good enough".

Get to know your stress signs and take action when they appear.

Every organ in the human body produces waste which needs to be cleared.

The brain is no exception.

Research has shown that this 'cleaning' process appears to only occur when we are asleep.

This is why we find it hard to think when we have not had enough sleep; our brain has not been 'cleaned' properly.

Not enough sleep can result in poor attention/concentration, poor processing and retrieval of learning material, and poor skills.

Put to bed those all night cramming sessions and make sure you schedule in between 8-10 hours of sleep for teenagers and 7-9 hours for young adults.

Research has repeatedly shown that cramming before an exam does not help you remember what you are learning.

Spacing out studying can allow you to 'forget', which a good thing!

When you go back to revise the learning material, you are strengthening the distant memory of what you had learned, making it easier for you to recall each time.

Mixing up the order you learn helps you engage more with the information and you process it in a different way compared to when you learn in the same order.

Both spacing and mixing up the learning material helps you to recall the information rather than recognising it.

Actively engaging with the learning material within the classroom can help you learn and understand what is being taught.

Asking the 5W questions (who/what/when/where/why) moves you from being the recipient of information (a passive learner) to engaging with the material (an active learner).

Actively learning and linking the material to previously learnt information, life experience, or a visual (as we are visual beings), can increase your ability to recall the information under stressful situations - exams!

Research shows that the more regions of the brain that are used to process and store information learned about a specific topic/concept results in higher interconnectivity.

This leads to deeper processing of the information being learned and increases the chances of the information being recalled.

Use colour when writing out notes, chunk information into 'themes', link information to something you already know, use acrostics (e.g. Mathematical operations: Multiply and Divide before you Add and Subtract), use acronyms (e.g. NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.), and make use of different media (especially for those who have difficulties with reading)

Also, remember we are social beings, therefore, studying with friends or family (in person or through video calls) can also help us to learn and process information more deeply than on our own, especially if you are explaining a topic or concept unknown to the other person.

Geraldine is a Chartered and Registered Forensic Psychologist and an Associate Fellow with the British Psychological Society.

Geraldine has been involved in the NI Branch and the national BPS for many years and has held a number of roles on both local and national BPS Committees.

Geraldine started up the Division of Forensic Psychology for both the NIBPS and the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) and was Chair of both Divisions for many years. She is the Chief Assessor for the BPS Qualification in Forensic Psychology and is the Assessment Lead for the BPS Science Council.

Geraldine has worked for most of her career within the Criminal Justice System as Head of Psychological Services and then the Director of Rehabilitation for the Probation Board for N. Ireland. She was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to the USA to research alternatives to imprisonment for mentally disordered offenders and those with substance misuse,  and returned to develop and lead on the first Problem Solving Justice Treatment Courts in N. Ireland. She received the Innovation in Practice Award from the BPS for her pioneering work, and from time, has assisted the Ministry of Justice, England and Wales, in introducing their first Problem Solving Courts across the UK Court System.

Geraldine holds a number of positions and roles across the Health and Justice sectors both nationally and internationally and is delighted to be leading the NI Branch of the BPS.

Dr Karen Hagan is a Senior Lecturer and Staff Tutor in the School of Psychology and Counselling at The Open University.

Within the University her main focus is on delivering courses and qualifications in Ireland and the UK, working on module teams and with the Student Support Team.

She is a qualitative researcher, applying mainly critical discursive psychology to topics around autism assessment processes and practices of bullying, manipulation, coercion and abuse.  

She is Past Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the British Psychological Society and represents Northern Ireland on the Committee for the BPS Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology (DARTP).

Sarah is a Chartered and Registered Forensic Psychologist whose career spans over 24 years.

She is the current Chair of the Division of Forensic Psychology Northern Ireland along with Dr Siobhan Keating and holds the position of Treasurer and Secretary of the Northern Ireland British Psychological Society.

Sarah is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and co-led the Inaugural Devolved Nations Forensic Psychology Conference in February 2022 which focused on key innovations and developments within the field of forensic psychology.

This annual conference has continued to grow in popularity across the forensic arena with the next virtual conference scheduled for 1st March 2024.

Sarah commenced her career working with young people placed within the Lakewood Regional Secure Care Centre in Bangor.

Following this, Sarah employed for 12 years within the Northern Ireland Prison Service where she was Head of Psychology in HMP Magilligan.

Sarah is currently working as a Specialist Practitioner Psychologist within the newly established Staff Psychological Wellbeing Service in the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust which provides psychological support to help enhance staff well-being.

She has also worked within the Regional Forensic CAMHS Service and SET Connects Therapeutic Support and Consultation Service for Looked After Children providing support for Foster Carers and their families, Social Care Staff and Supported Living Care Staff.

Sarah has designed and delivered a range of Webinars on how to manage stress and uncertainty and is passionate about using compassion- informed approaches to support and promote well-being. 

Dr Aideen McParland is a Lecturer (Education) in the School of Psychology at Queen's University, Belfast

Aideen is a Registered Behaviour Technician (RBT), Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol) and Associate Fellow (AFBPsS) with the British Psychological Society

Aideen teaches Research Methods and Statistics on the undergraduate programme and Developmental Psychology on the MSc in Applied Developmental Psychology programme. Aideen also supervises student research projects at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level.

Aideen is the Deputy Director of Undergraduate Education and Level 1 Year-Lead on the BSc Psychology degree programme and engages with key aspects of student experience enhancement in these roles.

Aideen is heavily involved with pedagogical research aimed at understanding transitional experiences of students in Higher Education and promoting research-led teaching practices in the School.

She was appointed as a committee member of the Northern Ireland British Psychological Society in April 2023 and is committed to ensuring strong connections between the professional body and psychology students studying in Northern Ireland.

Rachel is the Past Chair of the NI Division of Occupational Psychology (DOPNI) and continues to represent DOPNI on the NIBPS Committee.

She is the policy lead for NIBPS.

Rachel is an experienced HCPC registered Occupational Psychologist and Chartered Psychologist, an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and Chartered Member of the CIPD.

Rachel worked previously in the field of assessment and selection and more recently organisational inspection and organisational development.

Rachel has been involved with the DOPNI Committee since its inception, serving various roles including Chair, during which time she was also on the national DOP Committee.

Dr Sinéad Eccles is a Chartered Psychologist and Staff Tutor, School of Psychology and Counselling, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University.

Sinead has worked with in academia for over 20 years and has a background in Neuropsychology with a focus on the Biological Basis of eating disorders.

As a neuropsychologist she is passionate about overall brain health and with a background in eating disorders she now focuses on the concept and practice of 'Intuitive Eating'.

She is a current committee member on NIBPS and her role is to support the Northern Ireland student ambassadors and work with the committee on other areas such as communication with members and social media presence. 

Dr. Lee-Ann Sharp is a lecturer in sport and exercise psychology in the School of Sport at Ulster University, Northern Ireland, and a member of the Sports and Exercise Sciences Research Institute (SESRI).

Since completing her PhD examining the sport psychology consultant - athlete relationship at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and her Post-Doctoral work at the University of Birmingham, U.K. Lee-Ann has continued to research within the broad area of social-psychological aspects of sport participation.

In collaboration with national and international colleagues, Lee-Ann has explored sport psychology consultant effectiveness, the consulting relationship in sport psychology, applied sport psychology practice with athletes and coaches, youth athletes' development and support, and the psychology of sports coaching.

Lee-Ann is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, and a British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences accredited Sport Scientist.

With over 15 years applied sport psychology consulting experience in a variety of high-performance sports, Lee-Ann currently supports elite athletes within the Sports Ireland and Sport Northern Ireland Institutes, alongside her role as lead psychologist with Golf Ireland and Cricket Ireland

Dr Sarah Meekin is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and has been Head of Psychological Services in Belfast Health & Social Care Trust for 10 years.

Sarah has an interest in developing psychologically informed systems and psychologically evidenced interventions, and champions the need for both a psychologically informed workforce and for specialist psychological therapists to deliver care and support, at varying levels of intervention.

Sarah sits on the NIBPS Committee as Chair of the Division of Clinical Psychology NI.

Dr Seán Harmon is co-chair of the Division of Counselling Psychology NI (DCoP NI.

Seán is an Consultant Counselling Psychologist working in the NHS with adults with complex mental healh presentations, and in prvate practice

He is an EMDR accredited practitioner and Schema Therapist (Advanced Accreditation).

Dr Marian McLaughlin is a Senior Lecturer within the School of Psychology at Ulster University.

She is a Charted Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. She is a member of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP) and newly elected Co-Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP-NI).

Marian's main research interests are in the area of health and well-being, in particular, theoretical applications for the design and evaluation of behavioural change interventions.

Current projects and collaborations include: testing the feasibility of including young people experiencing intellectual disability in health and wellbeing research; theoretical investigations into the factors influencing oral health, e-cigarette use and decision making among women in menopausal transition; and the design and evaluation of an HPV educational resource.

Dr Tracy McCrossan is a HCPC registered Health Psychologist, with over 15 years NHS experience working in a health psychology environment as assistant psychologist, associate psychologist and in the last year (2021) Health Psychologist.

She is a member of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP) and newly elected Co-Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the Division of Health Psychology (DHP-NI).

Her work in an acute hospital setting is with adults on a one to one or group basis, in medical specialities such as Pain Management, Respiratory, Diabetes, Oncology, Renal and Long Term Conditions

Rodrigo De Almeida, (PhD Researcher) at Ulster University is our PsyPag Rep, forming liaison with all of the postgraduate students in NI.

Siobhan Keating is a Chartered and Registered Forensic and Clinical Psychologist.  She is employed as a Consultant Psychologist in Belfast Trust and works in the Community Forensic Mental Health team.

Previously she worked in the regional low secure forensic unit for people with Intellectual Disability (ID). She has a particular interest in specialist risk assessment and interventions for this client group including treatment of emotional dysregulation and sexual offending.

Siobhan is the co-author of the New Beginnings  adapted programme for people with ID who sexually offend. She worked for the NI prison service for eleven years  and was Head of Psychological Services in HMP Maghaberry. She is the co-author of the Keating / Robinson review " The Review of support Services for NI Prison Service Operational Staff , December 2020 that was commissioned by the Minister of Justice NI. 

Previously she worked as an Occupational Psychologist with the Dept. of Employment rehabilitation services in the North West of England and continues to be a registered Occupational Psychologist. Siobhan has been a Parole Commissioner for the Parole Commission of NI (PCNI) since 2014.

Jodie Buchanan is a second year BSc (Hons) Psychology student studying at Ulster University Coleraine, and one of the BPS student ambassadors this year representing NIBPS.

Jezliah Geogy is one of the BPS Student Ambassadors based in Northern Ireland.

Jezliah studies at Ulster University and is also the Chair of the UU Psychology Society.

She is currently in the 2nd year of her BSc Psychology degree and hopes to go onto placement next year. 

Professor Carol McGuinness is Professor Emerita at Queen's University Belfast. She is a Chartered Psychologist, member of the Division of Academics, Researchers and Teachers in Psychology, the Cognitive Section, and the Northern Ireland Branch. 

Carol has been an active member of the BPS since she was a postgraduate and has worked with many different membership networks and working groups. For example, she was Chair of the Special Group for the Teaching of Psychology in the 1990s and Vice Chair of the Division of Teachers and Researchers in Psychology (now DARTP). She chaired the BPS Working Party on A-level Psychology (2003), edited Psychology Teaching Review (1999-2004), and was an elected ordinary member of the Psychology Education and Public Engagement Board for two years in 2012.

More recently she has been Chair of the Northern Ireland Branch of the BPS (2010-2016) where she worked closely with the leads of local BPS divisions to influence public policy. She continues to act as policy co-ordinator on the NIBPS committee. 

Carol first became a Trustee for the Society in 2017 when she was appointed as Chair of the Education and Public Engagement Board.  She stepped down when that Board was discontinued.

In 2020 she was appointed as Chair of the newly created Member Board and began her second term in this role in 2023.

Alison is celebrating the creation of the latest accredited training pathway for psychologists and members of the society, the domain of Coaching Psychology.

Since completing her undergraduate degree at Queens she has deployed and added to her learning in the worlds of education, training and management consulting until she found her tribe of fellow coaching psychologists at the BPS and became part of the group that managed to achieve both the standards of accreditation for universities and individuals and the support of the whole society in the formation of the Division of Coaching Psychology.

Alison is motivated by facilitating people in all walks of life in becoming more of themselves. She says that being an active volunteer at the BPS has certainly helped her become more of herself. She wants more and more psychologists and people interested in how psychology enriches their lives to benefit from the work of BPS volunteers in the NI branch across all domains of psychological learning and practice