From corporate to doctorate

From a level 4 diploma in fashion buying and merchandising to a Dpsych in Health Psychology, I am acutely aware that my route to qualification hasn't been typical of the BSc, MSc, and DclinPsy routes we have all come to know and been taught to aspire to. To this day, I see the multiple 'clean' paths publicised, where the answer to finding a doctoral place rests with the need to gain more clinical experience. What if success in developing the psychological workforce was about something other than earning more of the same experience?

My prior established career grew my confidence and leadership skills. Along with my own lived experience, clinical work and research, this has helped me establish a breadth of psychological skills that have supported me through the early stages of my doctoral training. The experience I gained in corporate business prepared me for the pressures of doctoral study and gave me a unique understanding of human behaviour that I do not believe I would have been otherwise exposed to. I was consistently in situations where I needed to manage conflict to find amicable solutions. These experiences helped me develop skills in maintaining relationships, which has built a valuable foundation for working within psychology.

When I reflect on my journey, it feels like a natural progression from one industry to another. However, how we separate professions and skills can be a barrier for many. The term 'career change' can be met with connotations of starting again, which can instil a deep sense of apprehension. Yet each role has allowed me to gain unique skills that support me in training. The most significant learning I have had from this evolution from 'buyer' to 'psychologist' has been recognising my value and having the confidence to communicate this.

Points of difference

I always had pride in my career journey, yet when coming into psychology, I felt a need to redact many aspects of my corporate experience. I had an unwavering sense that my experience's corporate aspects would be deemed irrelevant. Reflecting on my more 'traditional' psychology experiences would be more advantageous. However, after multiple discussions with qualified psychologists who had similar experiences, I tried a different approach. Rather than discounting the numerous years of valuable experience I had, what if I reflected upon them psychologically? The most significant change for me was when I began to recognise not only the extra circular work I had completed, such as being a mental health first aider but also the psychological elements of each job and role. Not only did this bring a distinct point of difference, but it also brought out genuine confidence in my delivery.

It is essential at this point to make clear that although transferable skills developed from other careers are extremely valuable, these skills, in isolation, do not negate the need to gain relevant work experience to build and enhance your psychological portfolio. For example, if you still need to get a BPS-certified undergraduate degree, you must ensure you have the right qualifications, such as undertaking the MSc psychology conversion. A range of clinical experience across various populations is beneficial; however, there are ways to gain initial experience before applying for some of the more competitive assistant psychologist roles. To expand my clinical work within psychology, I volunteered some free time to a mental health charity, where I could work in peer mentoring, utilising my own lived experience in mental health. Giving me access to a mix of clients, I could provide emotional and goal-setting support under group supervision. Working within the charity exposed me to some psychological impacts of physical health conditions, and my interest in clinical health psychology began to grow.

I then started working as a bank healthcare assistant in an acute psychiatric hospital, where I used my networking skills to build connections with the psychology team. I shortly gained a part-time role as an assistant psychologist, which helped me enhance my clinical skills. I harnessed my passion for change and became a visiting lecturer in expert by experience for a DclinPsy course. I also gained more comprehensive experience through the BPS as the co-chair for the pre-qualification committee for the Division of Clinical Psychology.

When I reflect on all these experiences I gained, there are vital skills from my prior career that come to mind: resilience and proactivity. At the beginning of this journey, I distinctly remember sitting down and mapping out my skills in psychology competencies to find the gaps I wanted to improve. From there, I actively sought out opportunities, emailed people directly, employed my networking skills to find mentors who could support me and built relationships with broader teams. All whilst continuing part-time work in a consumer psychology post and part-time assistant psychology work, as well as completing my MSc in psychology. I credit much of my learning to this proactivity and clarity of what I wanted to achieve and why.

Why health psychology?

So why the doctorate in health psychology? Much of my work has made it clear that there is a distinct connection between physical and mental health, which I wanted to explore further. Throughout my MSc, the areas I enjoyed the most (and performed best in) focused on the biological and psychological connection. I took a specialist module in clinical neuroscience and core modules in cognitive and biological psychology. This learning led me to become passionate about working in medical settings as a psychologist.

To ensure I could credibly achieve this goal, I critically compared the doctorate in health psychology course to other practitioner psychology courses. There was a breadth of specialist skills I would gain as a health psychologist that I did not feel I would gain from another training path. Upon qualification, doctors in health psychology are highly specialised psychological professionals. On top of the core 15 competencies all HCPC practitioner psychologists must meet, there are specialist competencies which ensure that health psychologists are well-equipped to understand the psychological processing of disease and illness. In addition, my course equips health psychologists with 450 hours of applied therapeutic work across person-centred therapies, cognitive behavioural therapy and third-wave approach. These applied hours of these therapeutic modalities differ from other training paths, where the ability to be proficient in several modalities shows the value health psychologists add.

Even though I have found my place in training, health psychology needs to be discussed more widely when engaging students on the pathways to qualification. Up until applying for the health psychology course, I needed more understanding of the role, and it was upon researching the profession I found that it was the right path for me. Had I not taken the initiative to investigate the options thoroughly, I may not know about the possibilities across health psychology. Although the small cohorts are incredibly beneficial for learning, the number of qualified health psychologists across the UK increases each year very slowly. In addition, the self-funded component of the course makes it highly restricted as to who can access the training. Recently Health Education England has provided the opportunity for funded health psychologists to support workforce redesign, which I hope will be the start of more funded opportunities in such a valuable but underrepresented psychological profession.

Weekly structure

Life as a first-year trainee health psychologist looks distinctly different for each person due to the areas of work health psychologists can engage in. Although I have mostly spoken about clinical health psychology, where my passion lies, there are other divisions within the profession, such as community health psychology, public health psychology and critical health psychology. The study of a professional doctorate in health psychology provides the flexibility to choose your placements and work experiences to tailor your learning to what area your ambitions are. Placement work is focused on meeting the person-centred therapy hours in the first year, cognitive behaviour therapy in the second year and third-wave approaches within the final year. Although finding placements can be challenging, being clear about how a health psychologist could enhance the existing psychological services helps. As the course is self-funded and placement opportunities are often unpaid, my weekly structure in my first year comprises three days a week of paid work in psychology at a general hospital and two days a week allocated to study. Self-funding a course has its complexities. However, consulting student finance, discretionary funds, and scholarships can help with some of the financial pressure.

Despite the challenge of balancing study, work, placement and life, every day, I feel grateful for the opportunity to work across acute medical settings. Being part of an MDT and working directly with patients experiencing acute physical ill health gives me an insight into what qualified life could look like. This clinical experience also supports me on my teaching days, in which I have a breadth of relevant examples which can help my understanding of applying the theoretical elements of the course.

Although my weeks are not quiet, they are incredibly fulfilling, and each day brings a new challenge and learning experience. I often get asked about the most significant adjustment since joining the doctoral program. For me, it is being away from home. I chose to attend the course that best fits my goals, even though this means travelling from England to Scotland most weeks. The travel and demands of the course can undeniably feel relentless. However, developing this new level of independence has been a valuable by-product, which has helped me grow as a practitioner.

The journey to qualification can undoubtedly be challenging and often confusing. I hope those looking to qualify will have gained some insight into the breadth of training courses and the diversity of professional experience. However, to support you with any questions, I will be participating in the British Psychological Society's 'How did I get that job?' series. This live opportunity will hear me talk more about my first-year experience and early reflections on training to become a health psychologist.

The session will be from 6:30 pm on Tuesday, the 7th of March 2023. Please look out for advertisements of this session on BPS social media channels for more information.