The moment my course clicked outside the classroom
Elaina Varazinskis, Psychology with Counselling
I am on the Psychology with Counselling pathway here at York St John University, and going into my first year I knew that as the working field of psychology is so difficult to get into, I needed to gain work experience as soon as possible. Fortunately, I was successful in my application to become a young person’s support volunteer at York Mind.
This, hands down, has been the most valuable experience I have gained and will continue to gain throughout my degree. How my role works is I help run the ‘drop-in’ sessions once a week, where young people who are mentally struggling are able to join us, talk to us about how they are feeling (or just have a good chat), and take part in fun activities. Within this, I also volunteered at York Minds ‘expressive minds workshop’ where I helped run small classes with young people who had been referred to us. During the workshops, we would teach a small amount of theory on mental health, have an art exercise where the young people could express how they felt through art (which can be easier than talking about it straight away), and teach coping mechanisms.
This opportunity has opened my eyes to the realities of working within the mental health field. Working closely with qualified counsellors has consolidated my ambitions of becoming a counsellor myself. This is due to the fact that enjoying working in such an environment has confirmed for me that I know I will enjoy my future career.
Constant lectures, assignments, and exams can take away from the love and passion that students have for their course. That’s why it’s so important to try to work within your field of study to remind yourself why you are studying that course in the first place.
Volunteering can be hard work and definitely comes with it’s challenges. For me personally, I have come across challenges listening to serious problems that some struggling young people have faced. But these challenges have allowed me to grow and learn. My work experience has gone hand in hand with my course and has brought back my joy for studying psychology.
To find work experience, I would recommend searching specific charities/companies online and looking for vacancies within them. Or equally, emailing contacts listed on their websites. Most volunteering opportunities only ask you to work for a small number of hours per week, so it is usually pretty easy to fit around your university timetable.
Find out more about Psychology with Counselling at York St John
