Our First Blog: Becoming a Psychologist

Hello and Welcome to the Provisional Psychologist Hub (PPH)! PPH is founded by myself, Leza Sullivan and Susie Upton, Psychologists, Board Approved Supervisors and Psychology Practice Owners. Both Susie and myself completed the 4+2 pathway to become fully registered psychologists. We remember only to well how hard that journey was to full registration but equally we know how valuable the learning experience is (although it felt like the steepest learning curve!).

I remember so vividly my first client – an adult male with a diagnosis of schizophrenia who was on court ordered medication following criminal charges for arson. To say I was overwhelmed was an understatement. I remember saying to my supervisor – ‘what do I do, I don’t even know what I am suppose to ask at intake!’ I remember the look of concern in her eyes – like ‘what do you mean you don’t know what to do at intake’. I felt completely unprepared for this role, a role I felt I had fought so hard to obtain, and relocated 700klms to take. I don’t believe I have ever felt so isolated as I did in that role, not helped by the fact my job was to create a counselling service from nothing in a building I worked in by myself. Both Susie and myself don’t want provisional psychologists to feel the overwhelming sense of isolation, fear and incompetence that we felt in our early years, hence why we have invested so much of our careers fostering the development of provisional psychologists, which has led us to the launch the Provisional Psychologist Hub!

We are so excited to launch the PPH, after several years of running internal programs for provisionals from our Brisbane offices, PPH will provide provisional psychologists across the country the opportunity to access supervision and pd in a more flexible way, whilst not jeopardising the quality of the support.  We know that it is difficult to find cost effective professional development, we know it is difficult to find a primary supervisor, and we know it is difficult to fit the program into your full time working life – PPH is designed to break down these barriers! We encourage you to contact us to discuss your needs – we don’t have any lock in contracts – so if your not happy then you can choose to stop at anytime.

We look forward to meeting you and helping you get to full registration (quickly and painlessly…well mostly!)