Psychology Placement Student Review

Typically I would review children’s histories and produce background overviews prior to consultations, alongside attending consults and writing up the reports after these. I would also deliver trainings and workshops to foster carers teaching about developmental trauma. One of the main ongoing tasks I was given was creating resources on a variety of things such as developmental trauma, ways of coping with overwhelm, and many more. These were long, ongoing projects that I returned to whenever I had free time. The team has a wide coverage and you can freely choose who to shadow ect, so there is also opportunity to get involved with more criminal justice/forensic psych cases too.

This placement struck the perfect balance of being well supported and offered guidance but also being trusted to independently fulfil responsibilities. People were always available to help out if you needed while completing your responsibilities, while also being trusting and happy to let you complete the task independently if you felt comfortable. Also able to fully control schedule and what you want to shadow/undertake.

At the beginning of placement my supervisor and I identified areas/skills that I wanted to develop, and then we selected shadowing & involvement based on these. In particular, there were many opportunities to develop my confidence presenting both within the team and externally, writing clear and concise consult notes, and delivering engaging training sessions. You also learn strong time management and organisational skills and learn very quickly how to prioritise important tasks.

Weekly 1hr supervision sessions, alongside friendly team members who were on call anytime. When completing my own project developing a resource for the team, many ten members were reaching out with good information and resources to include without even needing to ask them. Everyone in the team just wants to help and support you however you may need

Very friendly and supportive. Everyone almost felt like friends in the team, and there was no feeling of hierarchy based on job roles. The team office adopts a hot desking approach.

Cannot recommend more highly! While at first I didn’t realise the placement did not involve direct work with the children, I grew to love this systemic way of working and really value having the opportunity to have experienced it! Being located in Cornwall is also a huge bonus, everyone is so friendly and there’s always a nice place outside to reset when you need it, especially considering the heavy nature of working with children in care.

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