My placement year for Psychology with Clinical Psychology

My name is Lauren Dalby and I did my work placement at a sixth form college, Suffolk One, as a Welfare Officer.

Working in the Welfare Team at the college was an amazing experience, within the role I learnt so much about the professional work place and my own capabilities.

My role was to support staff and students with any mental health or safeguarding concerns. Every day was different, I would have to handle whatever came through the door on the day; ranging from panic attacks to safeguarding concerns like county lines.

I was lucky enough to work in a team full of inspiringly strong and kind women, we supported each other with issues that cropped up and were there for each other when the work load got tough. Collaboratively, we would take it in turns to ‘be on duty’, where students could drop in for appointments, additionally, we would schedule welfare assessments for the students who were struggling with their well-being the most. On top of this, I had my regular students that I would check-in with on a fortnightly or weekly basis.

I would work closely with external agencies and charities such as CAHMs, Suffolk Family Carers and counselling agencies as well as the support network within the college which included the college Counsellor, Chaplain, Personal Progress Tutors and Subject Teachers.

I can definitely see how I have grown over the past year, my analytical skills and ability to think systematically have improved significantly. I have also gained a great amount of discipline and a healthy work-life balance, this has set me up for my final year of my degree and also any future job I want to go into.

I started this degree with an unclear vision of what I wanted to do, I knew I wanted to centre my career around psychology and counselling has always appealed so my degree was a gateway into the world of psychology while also keeping my choices broad. After my placement year I now know that I love working with the age range of 16-18 and within an education setting, it’s challenging but so rewarding and having a fantastic team was the cherry on top – what I wouldn’t give to do it all again.

Lauren studies BSc (Hons) Psychology with Clinical Psychology with a placement year. Find out more about placement years.