My parents example of being self-employed likely set me on the path to do that too. Work models have changed quite a bit in recent years.

The binary of working in a job for life, or just moving from project to project doesn’t hold in quite the same way. My work as a consulting psychologist in private practice lets me work on long term projects with colleagues, while also moving between interesting shorter term projects. 

I started off in media, particularly film, television and radio. I knew that what I liked most was creating experiences, and helping people to feel differently. I was also passionate about technology.

It was a bit confusing at first, but over time I learnt that the intersection of a lot of the things I liked could be found in psychology. Now I’m a psychologist who specialise in mental health policy and the intersection of psychology and technology.

No two days are quite the same, as I might be seeing clients, working on reports, tending to organisational duties in my roles on the boards of both the European Federation of Psychologists’ Associations and the Psychological Society of Ireland, or speaking at a meeting or conference in Ireland or internationally.

I also focus on mental health policy and advocacy, with a particular focus on the European Commission and World Health Organisation.

This work involves a combination of research, writing papers and attending meetings and giving presentations to help create positive change.

The majority of my work is either focused on helping to solve problems or help with positive development. This can be on a personal, group or organisational level.

I particularly focus on taking experiential approaches. This can involve turning academic research into practice, using simulators to help practice behavioural change, or facilitating meditative practice to help clients feel more at ease in the present moment. 

Extreme multitasking is a challenge, but it’s also exciting. Being self-employed means that you can’t just leave it to someone else. You can draw on support, and I do, but you have to set that support up.

Meeting interesting people, travelling to different communities and learning about how they do things there, and developing innovative psychological approaches—like the Mixed Reality Therapy programme at UCD—are all great fun!

I tend to structure my work around what I do like and am a specialist in, so for the most part I like all of what I do! Being self-employed, while offering significant benefits, does require quite a bit of work in terms of admin and financial planning.

Liking people and genuinely having fun working, while also treating it with the professionalism that it deserves, are the main qualities I value.

An integrative and diverse background that draws on the technical and the creative also helps. But key is not trying to have all the skills yourself, but recognising them in the people you work with, so you can help facilitate. 

A combination of psychology, cognitive science, applied therapeutic training, communications, film-making, media production, IT, meditation and architecture.

Each topic area felt right, though it was a bit confusing at the time to see how it all came together, but it turns out that I would have found it hard to do my current role without every component.

A chaotic secondary school education, primarily because of moving a lot through different jurisdictions, followed by lots of specific courses in media and technology, then intherapy and facilitation.

That all led to studying psychology, and eventually completing a PhD focused on experiential learning and work on developing Mixed Reality Therapy. 

Every single part. I’d suggest following your interests and learning from multiple sources, as you never know which parts will be the most meaningful. They also often intersect and support each other in ways you won’t expect.

It’s usually helping people in what might seem like small ways, but it’s nice when you find out it made a big difference to their wellbeing.

Liking people, patience and being able to look at things from different perspectives I feel are important qualities for this type of work.

Exactly what I’m doing right now! I’m looking forward to developing certain aspects of my current work further, like experiential approaches to psychological therapy.

Building your profession around your interests just makes sense. Think how much time we freely put into leisure activities that we enjoy. If you enjoy your work, it’s substantially easier to engage more fully in your career.

My work offers a nice combination of meeting interesting people, the satisfaction of helping people, and the opportunity to travel and engage in media projects.

It can also be busy at times, with a need to multitask and ensure work-life balance, but that challenge is part of the fun.

Stay committed to what your core interests are, and identify ways to help other people using your skills. Refine those skills by being exposed to a range of different educational, work and life experiences. What might seem unclear at first, can become surprisingly clear in retrospect.

A love of people, systems thinking and multitasking will serve you well.

Calendar clashes between multiple exciting projects, but that’s a good problem!

My job involves constant ongoing training. There are regular new developments, so it’s an ongoing task to stay up to date, but a fun task if it’s something you’re fascinated with.

Varied experience with care for and facilitation of others, research and admin skills, and business management are important in addition to core psychological competencies for those wanted to be a psychologist in private practice.