Anna Rowlands

I graduated with a 2:1 in BSc Psychology with Professional Placement Year from Newcastle University. During my placement year I worked as an honorary assistant psychologist in an adolescent psychiatric hospital. I am able to demonstrate excellent interpersonal skills and knowledge of psychological theories in clinical settings, and have voluntary and paid experience working with a range of client groups and needs.

SEMH Teaching Assistant 

• Working at a school for students with additional needs, primarily ASD as well as a range of social, emotional and mental health needs.
• Using interpersonal skills and compassion to develop positive supportive relationships, adapting communication techniques to suit the individual.
• Responding calmly and quickly in rapidly changing and emotionally heightened situations, working creatively to deescalate and diffuse tension.
• Using a THRIVE approach to understand challenging behaviour as a form of communication, often arising from unmet need.

• Organised and delivered activities for groups of up to 20 children.
• Utilised empathic and calm communication in response to challenging behaviours including refusal, verbal and physical aggression, often from children with additional needs.

• I observed and contributed to MDT meetings, learning from the integration of expertise from different professionals.
• Assisted with the delivery of weekly dialectical behaviour therapy sessions. 
• Attended DBT consult to review the progress of patients, as well as alternating the role of therapist of the week to practice leading therapeutic activities and discussions.
• Gathered and analysed data for behavioural ABCs to identify patterns for patients with learning disabilities to highlight specific triggers, and promote more constructive behaviours.
• Wrote and presented monthly debrief reports, using Excel to analyse and graphically present the proportion of staff and patient debriefs being carried, which ultimately informed a change to the debrief system due to unsatisfactory levels of debriefing.
• I observed and contributed to 1:1 psychology sessions which involved assisting with psychometric measures, emotional literacy skills, and encouraging engagement from patients.
• Synthesised data to develop formulations and 5Ps plans for new admissions as well as contributing to Positive Behaviour Support plans which sought to reduce challenging behaviours, whilst understanding that challenging behaviours are often a form of communication.
• Used nursing and dietetic notes to present data of eating disorder patients' progress in weekly meetings as well as taking and circulating minutes from these meetings.
• Independently carried out clinical audits, including an examination of the use of MRE across the whole CNTW Foundation Trust.
• Attended and engaged with clinical supervision, which greatly increased my ability to deal with emotionally distressing situations, maintaining sensitivity and compassion alongside professionalism and healthy boundaries. 
• Developed an understanding of confidentiality protocol within the NHS including when safeguarding concerns require that confidentiality be broken.

• I worked with residents with advanced dementia, and carried out tasks such as personal care, feeding, and providing entertainment and company. I also provided notes on patient mood and physical parameters including appetite and any signs of illness.
• Learnt to respond to rapid changes in mood and communication of residents. I utilised interpersonal skills and was also able to stay calm in situations of aggression and de-escalate these.
• Worked effectively within a team to ensure efficient completion of tasks and the delivery of safe, person-centred care. This meant I was often left alone and working outside of my comfort zone, and consequently learnt when to use my initiative and when to seek guidance from more experienced team members.

• Lived and worked at an American residential summer camp for children 6-16 years old from disadvantaged and at-risk communities.
• Coordinated engaging activities to enhance the wellbeing of children. 
• Dealt with safeguarding concerns, passing on information to CPS and the police as necessary. This required the ability to work resiliently under pressure and multitask, regulating my emotional response to upsetting disclosures in order to ensure the best outcome for the safety and wellbeing of the child.

• I worked 1:1 with a 15-year-old who was unable to attend mainstream school due to her severe anxiety disorders and learning difficulties.
• Delivered GCSE content, working flexibly to adapt sessions based on the student’s mood and concentration.
• Supported the student in socially challenging situations, using principles of graded exposure. I began to recognize the student’s emotions even when they weren’t articulated, utilising her preferred distraction techniques when her anxiety elevated.
• Having seen the progress the student made in the management of anxiety and increased self-efficacy, I was very invested in their ongoing development. I therefore initiated a changeover period, supporting the student as they met new potential tutors and after the new tutor had been appointed facilitated a few handover sessions to try and promote a positive relationship between the two of them.

Psychology with Professional Placement Year - Newcastle University (67)

• Studied a broad range of modules with a particular focus on clinical and health psychology in my final year. 
• Independently carried out a qualitative research project (78%) examining body image and eating behaviour in recreational exercisers. Awarded best qualitative project in the cohort.

• Psychology - A*
• English literature - A* 
• Biology - A