The first Dr in the family- Donna's journey to becoming a Counselling Psychologist

Hello everyone and welcome to the next instalment of the Pathways to Psychology blog. Today we hear from Dr Donna Stewart, Chartered Counselling Psychologist. Donna highlights how pursuing a career in Psychology may sometimes not seem the obvious choice, but if it resonated with you, it was well worth exploring.

       Dr Donna Stewart Chartered              Counselling Psychologist

I always say to others that I didn’t set out to become a psychologist, but I somehow ended up here! 

 In fact, I spent many years wondering what my purpose was and questioning, as many others do, what it is that I really wanted to do. I found school challenging for many reasons and went to a different school to all my friends, which led to feeling like an outsider. However, I left school with excellent GCSEs in English literature and language. I was also great at biological science and art, however I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do and unfortunately, even though I had some high grades, I didn’t have enough to pursue the A-levels I wanted in English, ethics and philosophy at that point, which seemed so unfair given my A* in literature! I felt so at a loss and followed the only path that made sense to me at the time, which was to continue working at kennels and stables, I have always been an animal lover.

Later, I left that world to pursue a career in the city and worked for many of the big names in publishing, marketing, pharmaceuticals and banking. So, I had a great salary, good social life, yet I felt something was missing and that I wasn’t deriving enough meaning from my work. I had friends who had been to university and would encourage me to return to education, but I still wasn’t sure what I’d focus my attention on. I loved English yet I didn’t want to teach, I loved many subjects but couldn’t see a future for myself in them so I was feeling stuck for some time.

There were many things that inspired me along the way, mostly my own experiences and conversations with others. I knew that I wanted to be more and do more in life and I settled on psychology to see how I would do with degree level education at the Open University. I made the decision to work in the NHS while studying towards the undergraduate degree in psychology as this felt very much in line with my values and would give me excellent experience. My first role within the NHS was working in a genetics laboratory, I then worked in cancer services, and I knew at this point that I wanted to stay; my therapist had said to me at the time it sounded like ‘love at first sight’. In many ways, it was, it felt like another family, I felt I belonged and could make a difference. My role was diverse and I was given a lot of responsibility and autonomy. I helped manage a quality system, supported a large department, helped manage the administrative team, supported clinical trials and later went on to become a manager in Macmillan as well as becoming a Trainee Counselling Psychologist in Oncology.

I spent 10 years in that service and it was hard to leave. I was fortunate enough to work in women’s health as an Assistant Psychologist (AP) alongside this role and this only came about as I met somebody on a presenting course and when we got chatting, she suggested that I may have her AP role as she is leaving. These were some of my earliest experiences working alongside a Clinical Psychologist to deliver mindfulness groups and supporting women in perinatal mental health. This was a huge learning curve, but I still reflect fondly on this time, despite how utterly challenging this was, I believe it shaped the clinician I had no idea I was yet to become.

After completing my degree, I became immersed in psychology and so inspired by the experiences I was having. I completed a short course at Hertfordshire University in psychodynamic counselling and worked over the weekend in the community to get more experience should I continue my journey. Let’s just say the community role was hardcore! Nothing like working in the safety and containment of a clinic room or the NHS and a very exposing role, often working with single parent families, trauma and liaison with the Police.

However, despite gaining all this experience, I had started to doubt that a career in psychology was not something an ordinary girl from a council estate could easily pursue, particularly due to the financial implications and expectations of the field. In fact, in one of the first lectures I attended while studying undergraduate psychology, I will never forget as one academic told us all to forget a career in psychology if we were over a certain age – I thought, how motivating and inaccurate! Others simply wouldn’t recognise the experience I had, and skills I had learned along the way, and it started to feel like it would never be enough. Despite this, I still felt inspired enough to pursue a career in psychology, however yet again, I found I was unsure of how to access this and what this could look like. I knew that the clinical pathway was not for me, it just didn’t align, not least of all due to the limited number of places and competitiveness in the field. I initially thought Health Psychology was the one and enrolled for this, but on some level, it also didn’t feel like quite the right fit. However, I was drawn to Counselling Psychology and in fact, I hadn’t even heard of Counselling Psychology until a friend mentioned it to me. And I’m glad we met that day at Café Rouge as it informed the decisions that I would make next and change the course of my life forever.

So, I came to academia perhaps much later than is traditionally expected, but the great thing about Counselling Psychology is that people tend to come to it later in life and my cohort was a diverse one; a broad range of ages and experiences which led to an incredibly rich learning experience. 

Prior to the doctorate, I enrolled on a PGCert (postgraduate certificate) in Counselling Psychology at City University, which was an intense year, but it solidified my interests, gave me an excellent grounding in CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), lifespan psychology, existential approaches, and research, therefore, I applied for the Professional Doctorate in Counselling Psychology – I was offered a place at City University but chose to go to London Metropolitan University due to the teaching staff and general ethos of the university, it felt a bit more me! 

I worked as a trainee in several different placements including IAPT (the NHS Service now known as talking Therapies), CMHT (community mental health team) and Oncology and palliative care – all of this while balancing full-time work and studies. I was also fortunate enough to secure a preceptorship post in two different services, which was a relief, especially as Counselling Psychology trainees are unpaid and self-funded. Honestly, I don’t think that we talk enough about the challenges of the doctoral course, the financial implications (especially with supervision and therapy costs!) or the impact of completing it and finding our way with a completely new identity. I could write for ages on this topic alone. 

It has been all go for me since graduation and headfirst into a full time NHS role as a qualified member of staff. I have felt, looking back, the course is brutal, it's a big ask. Would I do it again, probably not. Or would I…

I am now two years post qualification and the first person in my family to pursue academic education and become a Dr! I have also been working in the NHS for 17 years and am currently working on my own business and private practice. This, all after many hurdles that came from conducting research during Covid and a very long wait for my viva examination which ended up being online whilst I was on holiday in Portugal. My aim is to dedicate some more time to writing and research and to publish something new.

It has all been worth it to become the person I am today and I am grateful every day to be able to help others, it is truly a privilege.

I would say to anyone wishing to pursue a career in psychology – you can absolutely do it, with patience and determination, never give up, network, and get yourself out there. Psychology is a small world but there are plenty of people who will support you along the way. Everybody’s path into psychology is a different one and that’s OK.

Thank you so much Donna for sharing your experiences. You  highlight how a psychology career called on sustained effort, tenacity and commitment but it also brings rich rewards.

Maybe reading about Donna spurs you on to pursue your own psychology career, or maybe you were a Practitioner Psychologist, Counsellor, CBT therapist or PWP (psychological wellbeing practitioner) willing to share your experiences- please get in touch to add your own blog entry.

Kind regards,

The Pathways team.