Following an unexpected path: an Educational Psychology trainee experience

 Hello everyone and welcome to our next blog entry. All the colleagues who write for the blog share their own personal experiences, in the hope to pursue a career in Psychology. Today we have the pleasure of reading about Charlotte Wastell, a trainee Educational Psychologist. She shares her passion for understanding childhood development and also the need to understand the internal life of a child through in depth training in Psycho-analytic and Psycho-dynamic studies. Charlotte speaks to the need to understand her own internal world through reflection and analysis and the role this plays across her training. We hope you will find Charlotte's experience a rich and informative glimpse into the life of a trainee Educational Psychologist.

I completed my Psychology undergraduate at the University of Nottingham in 2018. I lengthened my course to 4 years as I studied at the University of Adelaide for a year. During my time in my undergrad, I volunteered for Nightline, this was highly recommended for Psychology students to improve our listening skills, coping with empathy fatigue and group leadership. In the summer after my second year, I completed the Sri Lanka Mental Health placement, again suggested to Psychology students due to the immersive and wide range of experiences, whilst also experiencing a new culture. 

In my final year, the question of ‘what next?’ became louder and louder. I had no idea. I completed an Educational Psychology module in the first term of my final year. I found the first lecture fascinating, an Ed Psych spoke about all their amazing work with children and young people, however, once they explained the journey to qualify, I instantly thought, “no chance, that is too long in education”. 

I finished my degree and decided to travel more. I volunteered in a Fijian school, worked in Thailand as a Primary School English teacher, and during this time decided to do a Masters. I had a growing interest in Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic theory, so applied to the Anna Freud Centre – linked to UCL. After one failed application, I was in the Psychoanalytic Developmental Psychology course (sadly no longer running). My interest was mainly in how powerful the unconscious is, how it can drive individuals and groups, and whether it is truly possible to uncover repressed thoughts or experiences. 

This year on my Masters was fascinating. I was gripped by early childhood development, considering this from a Psychodynamic perspective. My lecturers provided both classic and current readings allowing for comparison and debate over the future of Psychodynamic theory in practice. As I came to the end of this course, again “what next?” reappeared. I asked my course supervisors, who explained how this course was a foundation for a Psychoanalytic doctorate. I took time to consider this, though the pre-requisite (having regular Psychoanalysis of my own, an evening working group reflecting on my role with children – meaning I needed a job with children) all felt a bit out of my reach. 

I decided it was time to get a job. I simply googled ‘assistant Psychology jobs’, and spent hours filling in application forms and hearing nothing back. As I was having no luck, I worked as an online tutor, teaching English – which I had previously done during my undergrad. I continued applying for ‘Psychology jobs’, but without a focus. I felt this was why I was having no luck. This led me to reflect on my previous work experiences. I realised all my previous jobs had involved working with children: coaching sports, tutoring, and teaching. I thought, right, wouldn’t it be lovely to combine the two. So that’s when I applied to be an Assistant Educational Psychologist. 

This job introduced me to the world of Educational Psychology. I thought back to Nottingham, about how much I’d loved that module, and decided I was going to commit to giving this a go. I worked in a Primary School full-time, whilst being supervised by an EP. As well as working 1-to-1 with pupils using psychological interventions, I ran staff training- and specialist group interventions. My work ran monthly trainings delivered by senior EPs, I learnt a lot through this and was consistently challenged in using and applying Psychology. 

I began this job in September and the application for the Ed Psych Doctorate was due in November, so it was a busy time. We were all encouraged to apply, to gain experience in the application process, and for interview practice, without the expectation of being accepted. This helped me stay relaxed through the long application, in which my personal statement was torn apart by my supervisor, gruelling interview practice days, and chasing references. I applied to three Universities and received an interview from the Tavistock. 

In all honesty, I had tailored my application to the Tavistock – not recommended. I had done this due to the Tavistock having a Psychodynamic- and Systemic foundation to their course. This linked well to my Masters at the Anna Freud Centre and I was hopeful that I could continue my Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic learning whilst training to be an EP. I discussed this during my interview and was offered a place! 

I am currently in Yr2. I have had teaching in Psychodynamic theory and application including Nursery observations and reflections, and Systemic theory. My cohort has received significant training in consultation, how to reflect on ourselves, our ‘self-in-role’, and the unconscious processes. We have had training in standardised and non-standardised assessments, as well as projectives, and voice of the child work to elicit views from the children and young people we work with. I have found applying Psychology to my work extremely enjoyable, useful, and challenging at times. Reflections have been a key part of my learning, and we are encouraged to keep a reflective log and include our reflections in our coursework.

What my journey so far has taught me, is to do what you enjoy. I never really planned over a year ahead of me and made my study and work priorities based on what I was interested in at the time. I’m sure I will continue like this in the future when I (hopefully) qualify!  

Thank you so much Charlotte for sharing your expeirences, we support your future studies and look forward to you joining  the field of Psychology as a qualified colleague very soon.

If you were inspired by reading about Charlotte, get in touch to add your own blog entry!

Kind regards,

The pathways team.