Improving diversity and inclusion in clinical psychology
Recently launched at our Trust, the Aspiring Clinical Psychologist (ACP) Scheme provides part-time paid assistant psychologist experience to psychology graduates from low income backgrounds. It aims to improve diversity and inclusion in clinical psychology, by giving opportunities to those who may not have the option to complete unpaid work experience. Here, Dr Suraba Mahendiran, Psychological Workforce Lead (Early Career Pathways), talks about her career and why the scheme is so important:
"I have worked as a Clinical Psychologist at Croydon CAMHS for over seven years and recently started a new role within South London and Maudsley as Psychological Workforce Lead – specifically for aspiring psychologists and psychotherapists in the Trust. This involves thinking about the needs of pre-qualified individuals at the early stages of the career pathway. An overarching theme of my role will be thinking about diversifying the workforce and this new Health Education England (HEE) scheme fits perfectly with the aims of my role and is an exciting project to be working on.
"In terms of my background, I have Sri Lankan Tamil heritage and came to the UK when I was one-year-old as an asylum seeker with my family, due to fleeing the civil war. My start in life was not easy, but I got to experience a huge range of perspectives and life experiences which has made me the psychologist I am today. I actually initially wanted to become a doctor when I was younger but when I took Psychology at A Level, I fell in love with it. It just really connected for me and loved understanding the different and diverse ways we are as people and being able to improve people’s quality of life and society as a whole. Since then I have never looked back!
"I did my undergraduate degree at Cardiff University and ended up doing a sandwich year working as an Honorary Research Assistant in London. When I finished my undergraduate degree I was determined to enter the Clinical Psychology profession but felt clueless about how to do this and looking back I was naïve about how hard it was enter the profession for most people, let alone someone from an ethnic minority background. Thank goodness no one showed me the abysmal statistics about entry data and ethnicity, as I am not sure I would have continued.
"When I graduated there literally was no support around and I had no contacts. I tried to apply to Assistant Psychologist jobs but to no avail. I was told the thing you never want to hear after interviews – “you were great but you just don’t have enough experience”. I remember thinking back then “...but how do you expect me to get experience if you don’t give me the job?”. As a result, I resorted to volunteering in a number of places to “get the experience” I was asked to get. It felt tough to do as I wanted to be paid but felt it was the best way forward as I did not have the money for a Masters. I wrote to psychologists (the old fashioned way) in my area asking for voluntary experience – not knowing if anyone would respond. To my relief I got replies and started volunteering in two roles – one NHS and one charity. I also volunteered for two charities to provide online support. I also got a job at a gym at the weekend too to get some income, so at one stage in my early career I was working five jobs over six days of the week. When I think back I can’t believe how driven I was and how much initiative I had! I really wish there was more support for me at that time when you need it the most.
"With this new scheme coming about with HEE, it’s a fantastic opportunity to really focus on those individuals that would struggle due to contextual factors such as low income backgrounds and won’t be able to afford to do voluntary work, or may have other factors which make it difficult to enter those pathways. Although it’s a short period of time and its part time, we really want to make sure that the cohort is nurtured whilst they are in post by providing: CPD, mentor support, and group reflective practice on top of their clinical supervision in their clinical role. The hope is that this scheme will help springboard our aspiring psychologists into a substantive paid post relevant to Clinical Psychology (e.g. Assistant Psychology posts; Research Assistant posts etc.).
"When I was an assistant, I had supervision which was valuable, but there wasn’t that thought about the bigger picture and how it was for me as an Asian woman to enter the profession. There was no thought about how my unique background could actually be an asset and make me a better Clinical Psychologist. As a result, I just felt I had to try and fit into the existing mould and there was no room for ‘me’, so learned to not bring ‘my authentic self’ into certain spaces. It makes me so sad that I used to feel like that. Thankfully today I do not feel this way, and feel proud of my background and the journey I have had. I know too well that “it is not a fair race”.
"The HEE aspiring psychologist access scheme therefore feels so refreshing and much needed as it really acknowledges the systemic factors at play in our profession and tries to address it in a meaningful way. I really think it could make a difference if done in a thoughtful way. In London for example we are meeting as NHS Trusts to collaborate and support each other through the process as everyone has the same ultimate goal of wanting to change the face of Clinical Psychology.
"We have recently recruited at South London and Maudsley and had huge interest in the posts unsurprisingly. We thought carefully about recruitment and made sure we advertised to community organisations we work with in the Trust, London and also on social media via twitter. We also were mindful as these posts were for individuals who have recently graduated, so we wanted to provide help on how to do applications. As a result, we did a webinar a few weeks before the job advert went live to explain the posts and also provide tips about doing a job application, and specifically an NHS jobs application. We had nearly 70 attendees and received lots of positive feedback about this. We recorded this so other people who missed it could access afterwards from our website.
"We are really looking forward to our aspiring psychologists starting with us soon, and hope they have the best experience they can. Positively HEE have confirmed the scheme will continue for another year so we’re also keen to learn from our current cohort and continue improving the scheme for the next year."
