Please briefly describe your clinical/medical experience to date?
I am a Clinical Psychologist working in a Paediatric Palliative Care Team in the Newham Borough of London. I work therapeutically with children and young people who are living with life-limiting and life-threatening physical health conditions, their siblings and parents. This means that I provide emotional support to the family throughout a child’s life and following their sad passing. I also work closely with other professionals who are also involved with the child/ young person and family to ensure the best care possible.
What motivated you to enter paediatric care in the first place?
Following my own experience of having relatives who died after living with cancer I felt passionately about providing support to families in this difficult context. Moreover, my own experience of mental health struggles as a young person led me to feel particularly interested in working with children and young people. Working with the whole family when an individual is unwell has always felt significant to me and working in Paediatrics is a setting where support for the whole family is possible. Navigating childhood and adolescence can be challenging as it is, however also living alongside complex physical health needs can be a huge burden making it difficult to experience a sense of personal identity separate from the physical illness. I am passionate about really getting to know children and young people beyond the condition/s and learning about all aspects of their life and identity. Moreover, to work with siblings and parents during the most difficult times of their lives is an honour I do not carry lightly.
How will the funding from The Evie Dove Foundation help you to advance your career and your impact/services to children?
The funding that the Evie Dove Charity are so kindly supporting me with is for the Child Focussed Systemic Practice Intermediate Course at The Institute of Family Therapy. This training is something that I have wanted to do for a long time and it will equip me to better support families during the most difficult times of their lives. I am looking forward to learning more about how I can work creatively with children and young people, as well as how I can support parents to realise their strengths. Further, the course will support me to learn how to navigate and understand communication challenges across the various systems involved in a young person’s health care.
How did you find out about The Evie Dove Foundation?
I was lucky enough to hear about the Evie Dove Foundation from my old supervisor with whom I worked with in the Diana team (my current place of work).
Tell us about yourself!
IÂ love exercise and getting outdoors; I have always been a keen runner but also love to walk out in nature. I love to read and mostly read anything psychology related! Travel with my partner and family is also something that I value and that helps to restore me when I need a break from work. I love a beach or a forest and it would be my dream to own a westie dog again some day in the future!
Anything else you would like to tell us about your experience, future aspirations and motivations?
I am really excited to continue my career in working with children, young people and their families in the context of life limiting and life threatening physical illness. The child-focussed systemic intermediate practice course will further my skills in working creatively and holistically with the whole family around a child. I am also hoping to complete the Diploma in Narrative Therapy with the Institute of Narrative Therapy after the systemic training in 2027. This will enable me to work narratively with children and their family members. I have completed level one and level two narrative therapy training which I absolutely loved and cannot wait to do the diploma in the future following the systemic intermediate training. Working narratively with children, young people and their families is my biggest passion and the diploma will enable me to pratice narrative therapy with children, young people and families to an advanced level of skill.
