Late to the game, or exactly where we should be?

Life detours, career changes, obstacles, or simply choice, mean that some of us become aspiring psychologists later on in life. Later than most.

In 2021, 24 per cent of applicants to the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology courses were aged between 30 and 49, with the majority being in the 30-34 age group. In 2020, 25 per cent of applicants were aged between 30 and 54. In 2019, 23 per cent of applicants were 30 or older. There seems to be a pattern where a quarter of all applicants to clinical doctoral training are older than 30. A minority of individuals with a wealth of resources, skills and experience.

Here, I will share extracts from the journeys of 'mature' trainees and aspiring psychologists. Whilst the clinical psychology community calls for inclusion, diversity and wishes to welcome all aspiring psychologists, mature students are underrepresented and minoritised. We don't often find the spaces to reflect on and talk about our journeys. The implications of this transcend hurt pride: older aspiring psychologists could be discouraged from pursuing training, effectively depriving the psychology workforce of richness and diversity.

Older aspiring psychologists want to be seen and represented, and we wish for changes that will invite others from similar demographics to join the profession. Mature aspiring psychologists are likely to remain a minority, but there is hope that marginalisation becomes a thing of the past and age will be seen as but one of many characteristics when depicting and considering the needs of populations of aspiring psychologists. I also hope that this article, and more visibility for older applicants, will encourage others to invest in their journey, whenever they are ready.

Let's start by defining what we mean by 'mature'. When I reached out to aspiring psychologists for thoughts and contributions to this article, I was asked if I had an age or a specific set of circumstances in mind. I did not, and I encouraged applicants and trainees who felt that the stage of their life and their circumstances deviate from the majority of others on the same journey to reflect on their strengths and challenges. I'll begin with my own story, before turning to some of the themes that emerged.

My story

I am 45, I live in the Southwest of England and I am a single parent of two. Both my children are no longer children – one is studying for their degree in London, and my youngest is completing their sixth-form studies and has been offered a place at their chosen university in Reading. 

In my previous life, at the 'right age', I studied toward a medical degree, which meant everything to me. Coming from a working-class background and working to support myself, my schedule was always packed and there was little margin for error. I was determined and worked hard, investing all I had in my degree. I had my life planned out and did not have the maturity to be flexible and consider things might not go the way I had wanted. So, when it happened, it was earth-shattering.

I lost both my parents within a few years due to cruel illnesses. I was left without a family in my early 20s, and my dream of becoming a surgeon came to an end. I was in my third year and I had no Plan B. Frustration and a sense of failure became part of my life. Life carried on, I met the father of my children and we built a family. We are still a family and we coparent our children, despite separating 13 years ago. That is when I started to look inward again, and invest in my development, finally addressing my need to have a goal and further my education.

My children and I moved to England. They started school, I found jobs to support us and I started to explore which other health care profession could fulfil me, as going back to being a medical student was a choice I could not afford. I started my BSc in Psychology with the Open University, the only option that could allow me to study whilst in a full-time job at a primary school as a cover supervisor. Studying evenings and weekends alongside full-time work, single motherhood, financial difficulties and competing pressures was a real challenge.

Childcare was expensive during face-to-face weekends tutorials, and in a couple of occasions my children had to come along. But I did it.  I completed my degree in 2016, in five years rather than the expected six. My upper second was hard earned and I will forever be in awe of Open University students. After completing my degree, I endured two difficult years of job applications, rejections and closed doors due to lack of clinical experience, and unpaid roles were not a viable option. The right opportunity finally presented itself, a salaried training position. I was delighted to finally start my career in mental health.

I completed a postgraduate diploma in low intensity cognitive behavioural therapy and worked as a Children Wellbeing Practitioner, whilst starting to develop my professional identity as an aspiring clinical psychologist. After being in post for just over three years, and after one unsuccessful application to the DClinPsy, I realised that I needed to broaden my experience in order to progress. I applied for my first Assistant Psychologist post at the beginning of the 2022 and I was successful. The experience my job is providing is incredibly enriching and varied, my workload split between clinical work and many interesting projects. I feel incredibly grateful as this year I have been offered a place and I will start my clinical psychology doctoral training in September. I am pleased to have finally given a voice to that bitter feeling I experienced every time I came across imagery and narratives of exclusively younger aspiring psychologists.

Having clarity

Mature aspiring psychologists have embraced a number of life journeys on which they can reflect and from which they have grown confident and resilient. They don't need to wonder about whether other careers might be more appealing for them: in fact, they might have worked in other fields and left them, to start a career in psychology. Sometimes they gave up higher salaries and applied for training multiple times, having to endure years on lower pay bands whilst supporting their family.

Likely, older applicants and trainees have communicated, supported, been supported by, created friendships and worked with different age groups, possibly lived and worked in more than one country. They have been exposed to diversity and had the opportunity to learn how to interact with different cultures and demographics, which is so important to work effectively with diverse client groups. Two trainees I spoke to recognised that the experiences they accrued in their lifetime enabled them to be self-aware, and confident in the clinical space and when setting boundaries around their role and capacity as trainees. Older aspiring psychologists' lives and clinical experience may have contributed to having clarity around the kind of psychologist they strive to become. This certainly rings true for me.

Many of those I spoke with have families of their own, some are single parents, some have earned their BSc, MSc, postgraduate diplomas alongside parenthood and day jobs. Parenthood, caring responsibilities and building a new career alongside life demands teach resilience. Committing to studying alongside competing life demands, which are present every single day, either breaks you or makes you. For many of us,  it confirmed our determination and ability to prioritise, juggle, wear different hats at different times of the day, remain present and focused on our professional growth and on the needs of our loved ones. This reminds me of the importance of looking after ourselves in our clinical practice and day-to-day work-related tasks, to ensure we have enough resources to carry on and be balanced and fulfilled.

Demanding change

Talking to others and opening up the conversation revealed a tendency many of us mature applicants have to 'keep quiet', to leave the scene for those who are doing this 'at the right time'. This can lead to a sense of not belonging, feeling less than others, that we don't have as much to offer. After the first event I organised for older applicants and trainees to come together to share our experiences and support each other, 
I received a message from a third-year trainee who said that for the first time she felt that she belonged to a psychology community. Other trainees, whom I initially reached out to for support in the meeting, shared how valuable the experience was and wished to be included in future initiatives.

I was almost surprised to realise that the feeling of 'doing the right thing at the wrong time' does not magically fade away once on training: it stays, and potentially adds challenges to an already extremely demanding course. Generally, low visibility leads to lack of opportunities to discuss not only challenges but also strengths of being mature applicants and trainees. I am committed to contributing to change. I will soon be holding our third meeting for older applicants, trainees and qualified clinical psychologists. I am exploring future events to raise our visibility and increase those opportunities for discussion and reflection.

Reflecting together highlighted how marginalisation can impact a community. Older applicants keeping a low profile can contribute to a lack of demand for changes that could invite more mature applicants into the community. What are those changes? Some are subtle, but may have an important impact. I experienced first-hand the disappointment in seeing the Clearing House's newly refurbished website representing only young applicants in their photos, and talked to many others who felt the same. How welcoming it would be to see diversity in age as well as other characteristics, in imagery chosen by organisations and universities. Other changes would effectively break down barriers. Universities could offer part time routes (currently only Lancaster University offers a part-time route to the doctorate in clinical psychology). We could move away from A-levels filters for shortlisting criteria, as they are obsolete academic achievements for some of us. We could absolutely abolish honorary positions that are unjust and exploitative of younger applicants and effectively cut off older ones, for whom usually unpaid positions are not a viable option.

Space in the game

But there has been movement and progress. We are starting to hear universities openly stating that they value life experience and diversity in applicants' ages and backgrounds. This year, there is more space in the application form for the DClinPsy to talk about life experience and one's personal journey. More universities are thinking about offering a part-time route. I believe the psychology community, and not only older applicants, should welcome these changes and call for more. And let's be clear: older applicants do not necessarily have more to offer than their younger counterparts, nor do they ask for any special treatment. But we recognise the richness of our experiences and what they bring to the profession.

We would like to have our space in the game, and we would like to be part of important conversations that will hopefully lead to structural changes. Ultimately, we want to say that we are not late to the career – we are exactly where we are supposed to be in our journey.

An update

Since the time of writing, I am now halfway through first year of training, and I am pleased to report that being an 'older' trainee has positively impacted the way I confidently navigate my work and relationships with staff, colleagues and supervisors.'

The Older Clinical Psychology Community (OCPC) has grown, with many, at any stage of their journey, from pre-training to qualified, contributing in different ways to supporting each other and increase our visibility. We have provided our first dedicated mentorship scheme and we continue to meet every six weeks and plan future events. Our X (former Twitter) handle is @OCPC_

Elena Coria is now a first year Clinical Psychology Trainee

I have been accepted onto the doctorate on my third year of applying. The strengths of an older applicant come from life experience. I've experienced parenting, loss of my own parents, lived experience of parenting a child with poor mental health, and I've had a career in teaching. On the downside, I think there is stigma around achieving a place on such a competitive course, as I feel I don't have as many years ahead of me to 'give back'! It's also quite tiring to do three years full-time on a demanding course (often with significant commute) alongside family commitments.

LJ, second year trainee clinical psychologist

Although they say age is just a number, your priorities often change, especially in your thirties; thoughts of buying a home or starting a family. I also had to navigate overcoming two redundancies during the Covid-19 pandemic, which took me off my 'career path to the clinical doctorate'… not what I had planned or anticipated happening in my life. This made me feel like the goal of getting on to training was getting further away and harder to achieve as I got older. However, I did find some learning experiences in different roles which helped me secure an AP post, helping me get back on route.

My biggest challenge is the thought of being an AP in my 30s when the rest of the APs in my team are early to mid 20s. I found that I have doubted myself often and felt that 'I should be on qualified by now', although I could attribute this to being harsh on myself rather than to the direct opinions of others. I feel there is this race to get onto the doctorate before you hit your 30s… I am unsure when that became a benchmark, and what it signifies. I think having additional life experiences such as redundancy or career changes really shaped who you are and how you approach and transform your clinical work. This has definitely helped me when carrying out parental interviews such as the ADIR.

Moving forward, more university courses should encourage mature students to apply to the DClinPsy in the same way they are trying to make the application process more accessible for candidates from underrepresented academic and social backgrounds. In my case, I am applying to the doctorate not only as a first-generation postgraduate student from an underrepresented background, but also as a candidate who is older than the typical age bracket who get onto the course. Forums for older candidates coming from different career routes feel very supportive and reassuring.

Laura V, Assistant Psychologist in her 30s

I've been an aspiring clinical psychologist for 15 years now. I am the first generation of my family to go to University and I'm also from a low socio economic/working class background.

Although I have received some supports for school funding, I have had to work part time whilst putting myself through college, voluntary roles and a full time honorary assistant psychologist post. I have also experienced childhood and adult adversity, which I feel contributed to my undergraduate and postgraduate degree classifications: both 2.2's.

I applied for the Dclinpsy at the age of 28, but all in vain – I was told my academic grades held me back. It was advised I go back to education and improve my grades. So at 29 years of age I returned to complete 
an additional psychology masters in conjunction with PWP training. I absolutely loved my time here; however, I had to take out a substantial loan in order to survive and could not risk taking on another job. I was already over worked and needed the best chance where possible to earn a first class honours.

Very soon before I was finished my studies and had started an AP role, I was involved in a serious car accident. The subsequent brain injury took several years of rehabilitation and inevitable unemployment. Finally, I finished my masters with a first class honours in 2021, and although I experienced resistance from employers to hire me, with my new found health, I thankfully attained my SCW role in October 2022. I applied for the Dclinpsy again in 2021/2022 (still limited in where I could apply to despite my improved grade) and was lucky to get three interviews in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, but unfortunately no offer for interviews in the UK.

Although I was not successful securing a place on any of the 3 courses, I do think the improved grade made the difference with securing interviews. This makes me feel sad for aspiring psychologists who achieved 2.2's or even low 2.1's in their undergraduate, and can't afford to take on further education to meet the entry requirements for most universities. It makes me feel more disheartened for those who earn less than a 2.2 – you are only eligible to apply to two universities on the clearing house who don't put weight on grades. I do understand that the Dclinpsy is very demanding and requires high standards, but at the same time how can we be representative of the very people that we serve with such barriers in place?

I'm now 34 and living with a disability.

I believe I have greater insight into the impact this can have on mental health, securing a job and being unemployed for a long period of time. I plan on applying for the Dclinpsy for the third time and being in my 30's without stable employment, living with my parents (I am grateful to them), having plenty of debt, no savings and health problems. My passion for what could be an exciting future has now transitioned to fear, worry, uncertainty and hopelessness to a potentially unpromising profession.

Fiona, an aspiring psychologist in her 30s.

As a child of migrants, I knew from a young age that I wanted to become a Clinical Psychologist. After finishing my bachelor's degree in Spain, I decided to move to the UK in pursuit of this aim. Ten years later, at the age of 32, I am on my first Assistant Psychologist post. My journey has been defined by my lack of knowledge of the system, my low socio-economic status and lack of mentorship and support at the different stages of my education. After finishing my MSc in Health Psychology, I found myself accepting jobs in other fields (e.g. customer services, market research) as I struggled to secure a job within Psychology and felt the financial pressure of repaying my MSc loan.

I believe that further support and guidance is needed at universities to help students from underrepresented groups progress in their career (e.g. through support groups, student networks, mentorship programs, etc). Also, it would really help to have more and better paid entry-level jobs for aspiring psychologists, and to have clear pathways and funded opportunities for further development in our field. Diversity of people and experiences is so needed to enrich our profession and to better represent the people we serve.

Evelyn Ramirez Armijos, Assistant Psychologist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust

Responses to @psychmag on Twitter

'Aspiring psychologist here – at 48, I'm older than some. The main challenges I encounter are juggling the demands of study/training with the day job and dependants. Yes, I remain resolute and optimistic, and prior experience has provided me with some context for what I learn.'

'I'm a trainee health in the NHS. Being older (47) is a real benefit for me as I can apply my learning strategically with years of a first and a second career behind me. I only wish I'd discovered this career sooner because I love it but, would I have loved it as much younger?'

'I am 41 and an aspiring Educational Psychologist. I have taken the scenic route, as I like to say, but it has only served me well, as I am now much more self-aware and aware of my identity and core values. The greatest challenge will be studying around my busy family life!'

'I'm 48 and an aspiring health psychologist. I can synthesise information in a heartbeat and my presentation skills are finely tuned. My supervisors value my experience, but until recently, employers haven't. I feel invisible.'

'I am an older aspiring cognitive neuroscientist/psychologist currently studying for a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience. It is very in line with my self-image. There is very little visibility or representation for us.'

'I'm 36 and stage 2 trainee in Health Psychology. It's an important identity because it connects with who I am, who I want to be and the values and beliefs closely connected with mine. My course has people with similar ages or older. I feel visible, I hope they do too.'