Meet Jason, a student on ‘Child, community and educational psychology (M4)’

“The Tavistock and Portman uniquely offers learning in a functioning clinical mental health setting, a CAMHS placement and world renowned psychoanalytic and systemic academic institution. These features all suited my experience, developing skill set and professional interests really well.

I have been fortunate to make use of volunteering and job opportunities in various education, youth and mental health services and take lots of satisfaction from this work so studying here is a good fit for me.

My course has taken me on an amazing journey and provided me with professional skills and tools that make a positive impact on the development of the children and young people I work with.

Additionally, building on my reflective skills and opportunities to broaden my perceptions of the world in a supportive nurturing environment has been awesome.

The opportunity to study at this level and hopefully enact broader, real-world changes have been lifelong goals of mine. Giving back to the system which nurtured me to this position is paramount to me. I also hope to do my best representing myself as a black man and father, my family and my community in my role on qualifying as an Educational psychologist.

On hearing that I had been accepted to study at the Tavistock and Portman, I spent a huge portion of time worrying about how I would manage doctoral level academia. I had been out of formal education for 10 years before taking up training and believed this would count against me. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount and often bespoke support I received for things like academic writing. This proved to be a big help.

The decision to study anywhere is a deeply personal one. Particularly when the course requires a significant personal investment, challenges your personal and professional perceptions and will potentially shape your life’s work. As such I would advise anyone applying to approach the application process as a matching exercise. How do your needs and preferences align with the expectations that will be placed on and support offered to you? Good luck!”