Life as an Assistant Clinical Psychologist

My name is Laura and I am an Assistant Clinical Psychologist in Specialist Perinatal Mental Health Services. This service supports mothers antenatally and postnatally that experience mental health difficulties. My job is to primarily support women in the community with some work into our Mother and Baby Unit.

Perinatal Mental Health

There seems to have been much more coverage recently in regards to Perinatal Mental Health and the development of these services to support women during pregnancy and following birth that experience mental health difficulties. I for one believe that conversations around mother's experiences and health have been much needed in order to dispel myths around maternal mental health and birth trauma to work towards nurturing mothers and allowing them to feel seen, heard and accepted.

Although the perinatal role is fairly new to myself, I have been an NHS Assistant Psychologist in both children's mental health services and in adult acute services over recent years. I am often asked by those considering or aspiring to develop in the psychology career pathway how I decided on this path and what the pathway to becoming a Clinical Psychologist is.

What is an Assistant Psychologist?

As an Assistant Psychologist (AP) my practice is supervised via regular supervision sessions by a Clinical Psychologist. A Clinical Psychologist is someone who has completed the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and in the psychology field is often referred to as a "qualified psychologist." Assistant Psychologists fit within the British Psychological Society's (BPS) Graduate Members and are often referred to as "pre-qualified" practitioners. In order to have Graduate Membership you have to have completed a BPS accredited course (usually an undergraduate psychology degree, however other pathways such as MSc conversion/ accredited courses).

As an AP my work often includes one to one and group sessions with clients working to therapeutic models to support the understanding and management of difficulties such as depression, anxiety, OCD and psychosis. A part of the role of psychologists in general which isn't often considered in my opinion is the role in which we support and facilitate peer/colleague supervision and support. This can look like informal conversations about clients and directing to resources and/or managing difficult dynamics that arise from work pressure, counter transference and burnout.

What is the pathway to becoming an Assistant Psychologist?

In regards to pathways into an AP position, some colleagues have reported having "Honorary AP" roles, in which they volunteer hours to a service. My path was through different roles pre/during undergraduate degree in positions such as nursery nurse, therapeutic support worker roles and an initial role in NHS Children's Mental Health Services as an Assistant Practitioner. This position as very similar to an Assistant Psychologist role (however I was supervised by a psychotherapist) and led me into my first Assistant Psychologist role in the same service. Assistant Psychologist roles are notoriously difficult to achieve due to mass applicants and seem very few and far between. Statistics show it is more difficult to get a AP role that to get onto the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (if you know that struggle then I really do send out support and compassion!)

Reflections

I often reflect (as we are so strongly encouraged to do) on why I chose a career in Clinical Psychology, as at times the competitiveness and limitations can be difficult to face. I think that in working in an urgent care crisis service (Home Based Treatment Team) during the COVID-19 pandemic for the first time had me questioning my choices and considering other career paths. However when thinking about my job, I cannot help but feel the significant role therapeutic support has now more than ever. At times I struggle to verbally articulate the feeling it brings to be able to offer others compassion and to collaboratively support them through their experiences. Although we carry an emotional load for others, it is such a honour every time a client consents to your assessment and feels benefit from the work that you complete together.