Officially a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner!

As I write this blog, I actually feel quite emotional! It has taken me 5 years to say this, but I have now officially become a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner in the NHS. 3 years of undergrad, 1 year of master's, and a year of training later, I am officially qualified. Just taking a moment to digest this!

Without a doubt, this year has been the most challenging on so many levels. Trying to balance uni with clinical work was not easy to say the least. There were SO MANY times when I felt like quitting, but I got through (somehow).

When I first started my training on the 18th of September 2023, I was very optimistic and to an extent I think I was deluded! I assumed that this would be an easy journey, as long as I keep up with everything, submit my assignments on time and get the right number of clinical hours, what could possibly go wrong eh?!

In this blog, I have decided to share with you all the beautiful memories that I have made during my year of training, but also the challenging and difficult times that I have had to endure. I hope that this blog offers you, the reader, comfort and reassurance. I hope this makes you believe in yourself, and supports you to keep going with your own individual journeys, no matter how difficult they may be!

Let's start with the good!

For those of you that don't know, a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) is a health professional that is trained to assess and treat people with mild - moderate anxiety and depression in the self-management of their recovery. Those of you that know me, know very well how much I LOVE listening to stories. Working as a Trainee PWP has allowed me to meet a variety of people from different walks of life, and each individual has a story of their own!

Moreover, in this past year, I have come across several types of presentations including anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, OCD, sleep disorders, eating disorders, and phobias. Not only has this given me an insight into the different types of mental health disorders that exist, but I have also been able to see for myself just how common mental health problems are!

I have had the opportunity to build a rapport with my patients, teach them CBT-based techniques to manage their anxiety/depression, and have had a front row seat to watch my patients' recovery. Hearing really positive feedback has also enabled me to make the most out of my role, and ensure that I am offering my patients the best quality care.

There's also a not so glamorous side to my training journey! The first thing that I learnt was that uni is very strict (lol, it took me 5 years to learn this). There was a lot of pressure to pass assignments in the first attempt. However, if you were to fail your first submission, you would get a second chance...and then that's it.

In the beginning, I was doing well with my assignments and the OSCE, passing first time. During this time, our caseload wasn't too demanding, and we had only begun to see patients. I was enjoying being at work and doing two days at uni, and trying to make the most out of my free time catching up on extra reading or working on my practice day tasks, or mostly procrastinating!.

By the time May had come around, I had my clinical viva. The clinical viva would involve 15 minutes of me talking to a panel of two lecturers about a patient that I had collaboratively worked with, whilst maintaining best standards of practice and encouraging diversity and inclusivity. I couldn't think of a single thing that could go wrong with my viva, and was pretty certain that I would pass this like I had all the previous assignments. I was wrong. I failed my clinical viva and had to resit!

Honestly, I still remember the day I found out, I was shattered. I was so annoyed with myself when there clearly wasn't any reason for me to be. I had prepared, I had put in the work, I had rehearsed, I had passed the mock viva, I had included research, so it wasn't like I didn't deserve to pass. So, what happened? What went wrong? It took me a good two days to come to terms with this, but then I started preparing for my second attempt, making sure that I meet the marking criteria this time!

It was also during this time that I had failed my first audio submission (recording a treatment session with a patient). By this point, I had completely lost it. I started questioning whether I deserved to be on this course. I felt like I should quit, and that I had maybe done the wrong thing in going ahead with Psychology.

If it wasn't for my lovely friends and family (special shout-out to my sister), I wouldn't have made it out in one piece. They encouraged me to keep going when it got tough. My clinical supervisor gave me the confidence to carry on, reassuring me that I would reach the finish line, and that all the effort would be worth it, and she was so so right :)

*Hang on for Part II*