January 28, 2025
Employability Blog By Georgina Holden, MSc Psychology Conversion Course Alumna
Psychology can enrich many aspects of mental health work and life for people. As the Covid-19 lockdown ground the world to a holt and the restrictions formed a cloak of uncertainty blanketing the times, I decided that I wanted a career change, to be working with, and helping people experiencing distress. A few years later, I graduated from the MSc Psychology Conversion course at Manchester Metropolitan University (class of 2023). As a fledgling to the mental health workforce, I was excited to start my journey working in older people’s mental health care with long-term ambitions to work as an assistant psychologist, a psychotherapist, or maybe a clinical psychologist.
I will discuss how the MSc Psychology Conversion course has informed the work I have done so far. Studying neuroscience has broadened my knowledge of the clinical and psychopathological features of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia that I was experiencing working in a care home. Counselling skills have given me philosophical underpinnings of different psychological approaches and practical experience for a therapeutic relationship. My current role as a community mental health support worker for older people is based on observing behaviour and emotions and helping people in their home environments. Research methods refined my critical writing skills and provided me with a deeper understanding of issues in professional practise such as ethical guidelines and data protection.
Firstly, I applied for a position as a care assistant in a large local care home knowing this would introduce me to people living with both physical and mental illnesses, and I would learn functional skills to help these people live their day to day lives. During my interview I specified working with people across all the units including nursing, dementia care, residential, and specialist care for younger people with disabilities. I quickly learned how little I knew about the physical aspects of clinical care and how I was at the mercy of senior staff to assist me in providing the best quality of care. I learned not to expect anything and to be prepared for everything. The MSc had pushed me out of my comfort zone, and this was useful in my new role as a care assistant, many staff chose to settle at working in one unit as ways of working could be extremely different depending on specific needs. I was happy to be sent to any of the units and adapt quickly to different situations.
Studying clinical neuroscience on the MSc provided an in-depth knowledge basis for understanding what goes on at the cellular level and an understanding of the structural, electrical, and functional techniques used for investigating the brain. It helped me to recognise the main clinical features of neurodegenerative diseases I was encountering in the workplace. Having a theoretical background prepared me for clinical psychopathological features, behaviours, and emotions experienced by people. For example, I was working with individuals living with Alzheimer’s disease facing memory loss, visuospatial problems, and presenting with psychiatric features of depression, anxiety, and disinhibition. Declining intellect and loss of independence could leave people feeling frustrated, experiencing mood swings and anger. Short term memory problems were also common, for example, several residents would forget where their rooms were. Other residents would repeat the same questions about their family members, or when it was mealtime. I had to be creative with methods of communicating, accept the realities they were experiencing and give them time, and listen, gaging their emotions to react in a way that would limit distress and de-escalate frustration or anger. For example, some residents had treasured items that they kept close to them, it was important to recognise when they went missing and help them find the items. Having a calm empathic approach and making time for people could often soften negative emotions.
The conceptual and historical issues in counselling unit on the MSc provided tools for critical thinking and created an awareness of philosophical underpinnings such as epistemology, and ontological values, and how these inform attitudes, individual differences, the societal implications of mental illness, and treatment methods in healthcare services. Examples of different psychological approaches including psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioural, or biological, can offer varied insights into why people may present with certain pathologies, behaviours, or thoughts. I undertook a counselling level three course alongside the MSc and the core conditions of person-centred therapy provided me with a base level understanding of a therapeutic relationship between patients and healthcare professionals. I learned practical communication skills including active listening, reflecting, open questions, and using silence and gestures.
After approximately six months I changed roles from clinical care to community mental health support work. The MSc has helped me recognise and learn about different mental health theories, frameworks and conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism. As a support worker I spend a great deal of time with individuals in their home environments assessing and supporting their needs so my input is valuable for multidisciplinary working as I report observations of patient behaviours and emotions to other healthcare professionals this can be useful in healthcare assessments, medical reviews, and care planning meetings. As a support worker I try to encompass an altruistic approach to care, holistically supporting individuals by building a trusting relationship, helping individuals with coping strategies for difficult emotions, managing stress, aiding them with recovery from illness, facilitating therapeutic interventions, and helping them to be the best versions of themselves. The therapeutic element is very rewarding for me too as I can be supporting people to do what they enjoy, for example dance classes, going for walks, or to art groups. I previously gained a BA in Graphic Design and sometimes I incorporate art interventions into my work, this can be very relaxing for people and boost their wellbeing.
Learning research methods and writing skills on the MSc has been particularly beneficial in my support worker role, providing me with the necessary tools for writing up detailed and informative patient case notes. Research skills have helped me with problem solving and learning people’s life stories, their individual and social backgrounds. These skills help to validate a sense of worth and build rapport, fostering an understanding about life situations and mental health. Furthermore, learning about research methods helps to recognise and understand the impact research has for improving service outcomes in clinical settings and the wider global context. Learning about professional issues in practise on the MSc has provided me with a deeper understanding of ethical guidelines, data protection, equity, diversity and inclusion, ensuring individuals are treated respectfully, autonomously, with dignity and that they feel welcome. Another great practical skill I learned on the MSc was being comfortable with operating and co-ordinating online meetings on internet platforms such as ‘Zoom’ and ‘Teams’.
Lastly, the MSc Psychology Conversion has given me many transferable skills but there were also other units on the MSc that informed the work I do for example, individual differences, social psychology and developmental psychology. I have just highlighted some of the skills that are particularly relevant to the work I am involved in. I have learned the ability to self-reflect, to be inquisitive, and open to learning new skills relevant to clinical and community support worker roles; this has also been helpful so far for fulfilling personal professional development. As well as the transferable skills I acquired on the MSc, I have developed greater emotional awareness in the form of patience, perseverance, resilience, and benevolence. So far, I am enjoying the journey and not too worried about the destination, I just want to continue to help people and learn as much as I can about working in mental healthcare. Psychology has many transferable skills to the workplace. Most importantly, psychology can help to describe and interpret human behaviours, and this can benefit relationships with people in many working roles for communicating effectively, building trust, and helping people in their daily lives.
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