Why do you want to study at Melbourne?
- I’ve loved studying here for the past four years. I’ve found staff to be very approachable and committed to students’ education. I’ve also formed relationship with some of the staff, especially Associate Professor Brett Beacon, who was my honours supervisor.
- I’m really excited to study the subject “Individual and Cultural Diversity,” which emphasises psychosocial factors that provide context for mental disorders. My honours thesis taught me that it’s important to see clients as whole people, not just diagnostic labels.
Why do you want to study at ACU?
- strong commitment to social justice. I believe that mental health conditions are often related to systemic issues like discrimination and inequality. By working to address these issues, we can create a society that promotes mental health.
- small cohort size means close relationships with staff and other students.
Why do you want to study at Monash?
- I want to make a difference in the world. (Meh)
- MDS
- Really interesting research projects that align with my interests, especially the one on suicide prevention with Dr Sarah Liddle & Dr Kylie King.
Why do you want to study at CSU?
- I really enjoyed studying online during COVID. I liked the flexibility to study from home and not need to commute.
- Because the course has students from all across the country, I imagine it’s very diverse.
- Instead of one big thesis, you do four smaller research projects and get to try out different kinds of research, like qualitative and single-case experiment design.
What kind of psychologist do you want to be?
- I’ve reflected on this question a lot during my honours thesis.
- Collaborative, supportive, warm
- Egalitarian, empowering clients to define their problems in a way that makes sense for them and create their recovery journey according to their values.
- Mostly cognitive behavioural therapy
- Biopsychosocial approach
- Client as a whole person, not just focusing on symptoms and disorders.
How do you work with people from minority groups?
- Important to be open-minded and culturally sensitive
- Reflective and aware of my own background and identity and how they impact how I see the world
- Not imposing my own beliefs and culture onto other people
- Learn, do research, be curious
- Approach people as individuals, try to let go of assumptions and sterotypes
- Be curious about what each person’s identity means to them
What do you think clinical psychs do?
- Work with clients, individually or in groups
- assessment, diagnosis, formulation, treatment, and prevention of psychological problems and mental illness
- Clinical psychs specifically often work with acute and severe mental illnesses.
What books have you read?
- The One Thing We’ve Never Spoken About by Elfy Scott
- About the stigma surrounding complex conditions like schizophrenia and how the Australian mental health system could better
- Process-based CBT books by Stephen Hoffman and Stephen Hayes
- A book on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven Hayes
How would you respond to a client who was at risk of suicide?
- Risk assessment
- Safety plan
- Try to get permission to contact GP or someone close to the client, or ask the client to contact them themselves.
- If you can’t get permission, determine whether to breach confidentiality based on the immediacy and severity of the risk
- Schedule a follow up appointment or phone call
- Document everything, including risk assessment, decisions, rationale, disclosure
What are your work commitments?
- I was working an average of about 16 hours a week during Honours, but I know that Masters has an intensive workload and a steep learning curve. I’m planning to cut down my work commitments to about 4-5 hours a week in order to focus on Masters.
- Planning to only work on Saturday or Sunday, I’ve already planned my budget and I have a plan to support myself.
What are the challenges that you will face in grad school and how will you overcome them?
- I’ve heard from several people that there’s a very steep learning curve at the beginning of Masters, with lots of new information and skills to learn.
- I expect there to also be a heavy workload and a demanding schedule
- Time management will also be important as I’ll have to juggle the competing demands of coursework, research, and placements.
- To overcome these challenges, I’ll prioritise my self-care and make sure to organise my time in advance.
- As soon as I know my assignment deadlines, I begin planning how long each task will take to complete, so I can allocate time to each assignment.
La Trobe: what are your research interests?
I’m interested in eating disorders and body image, so I would really like to work with Professor Leah Brennan in particular. Otherwise, I’m interested in anything relating to depression, trauma, and psychosis.
UniMelb: what are your research interests?
I’d love to continue working with Associate Professor Brett Deacon and expand on my honours research. Otherwise, I’m especially interested in depression, self-harm, and trauma.
How do I handle negative feedback?
- Curious
- Is this something I should change?
- Not become defensive or take it personally
- Feedback is really important to development
- See feedback as an opportunity to grow
- In my support work, I always encouraged participants to let me know if anything I was doing wasn’t working for them, and how I could improve
Where do you see yourself working?
- hospital, community, and private settings will give me the opportunity to work a diverse range of clients and presenting problems
- long term, start my own practice with my business experience
Why do you want to study at La Trobe?
Teachers have recent clinical experience
I really enjoy group work, especially when the other students are motivated and engaged as they’ll be in Masters.
Diverse, welcoming and supportive learning environment. Lots of programs and campaigns to support different groups of students. Especially like the Universal Design and Inclusion Awards (students can nominate staff who teach in an accessible way).
