Sarah Pusey on working in a psychiatric hospital
For Sarah Pusey, it was the sheer breadth of topics available on our BSc (Hons) Psychology that initially drew her to LSBU.
"The huge range of topics available meant that LSBU was at the top of my list," she explains. "In the third year, you can choose which topics you want to study so whatever area of Psychology I wanted to specialize in, I knew that the huge range of options would be able to accommodate me."
Career advice
Sarah's particular area of interest is Forensic Psychology, which she chose in her final year along with similar modules such as Investigative Psychology. "We were taught by a Chartered Forensic Psychologist, which was extremely useful not only for an insight into the topic, but for valuable career advice," says Sarah.
Experience is key
Indeed, Sarah believes that the career advice and support she received at LSBU was an absolutely vital part of her education here. "Experience is key to starting your career in Psychology, and the staff in the Psychology Division have excellent contacts," she says. "It enables students to find future employment or gain a place on a Masters course."
Own research
Sarah cites her dissertation as her favourite aspect of her degree, however. "We were given the chance to conduct our own piece of research," she recalls.
The support I was given by my supervisor was absolutely fantastic, and enabled me to look at an area I find really interesting. I'm really proud of the work that I did, and we are looking at the possibility of it being published, which is very exciting indeed.
Support worker
After graduating in 2011, Sarah secured a role as a Support Worker in a Medium Secure Psychiatric Hospital. The role allowed her to work with people with serious mental health problems who had committed serious crimes, experience she describes as "invaluable".
"It enabled me to gain my current position, working as an Assistant Psychologist," says Sarah. "My day-to-day responsibilities include co-facilitating groups with service users and the assessment and delivery of brief Cognitive Behavioural Therapy."
Excited about the future
Sarah believes that the structure of our degree was ideal to help her get her career started. "The combination of theoretical and practical sessions gave me the insight I needed to progress," she says.