Profile
Sophie Bettles
My CV
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Education:
I did ten GCSEs and 3 A-Levels at my secondary school and sixth form.
I then moved to Birmingham and went to the University of Birmingham to study for an Undergraduate BSc degree in Psychology. I chose this university because I knew they offered a Masters and Doctorate course in Forensic Psychology which I was really keen to do afterwards.
I did not get onto the Masters/Doctorate course straight away and spent a year getting some experience as an Assistant Psychologist and Volunteer in lots of different places (including Australia!).
I then managed to gain a place on the course which was a 3 year postgraduate degree in Forensic Psychology Practice. This gave me the title of Doctor of Psychology and meant I could register as a Health Care Professional.
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Qualifications:
GCSEs x10 – 3A*, 6A, 1B
AS Level (Latin) – A
A Level (Art, Business Studies, Philosophy and Ethics)- AAA
My GCSEs provided a foundation for me to do the A Levels that I really enjoyed. I was keen to do subjects that I enjoyed rather than those I thought I needed, which is why I don’t have any science A Levels despite my degree being a science subject! My school did not offer Psychology A-Levels so that was not an option for me.
I found that I could explore my love of understanding people and how they see the world differently through my artwork and I felt very able to express myself this way. Business Studies helped me to think about the bigger picture in work and how to work as part of a team with other people and create success. Finally my Philosophy and Ethics A-Level (Religious Studies) was useful in taking different people’s perspectives and thinking about ethical problems in more depth. As a psychologist working with prisoners I am faced with ethical problems all the time and therefore I am very grateful for this learning that I got!
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Work History:
Boots the Chemist Saturday job – working in the ‘photo and Baby’ section
YMCA Support worker – for children and teenagers with physical and intellectual disabilities
Bar Assistant – working behind a bar in a pub
Domiciliary Healthcare Assistant – providing assistance to people in need in their homes
Assistant Psychologist – providing low level psychology support to young people detained in a secure mental health unit.
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Current Job:
Principal Forensic Psychologist (8B NHS Grade)
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About Me:
I’m a friendly psychologist who likes to learn new things (because I’m a bit of a geek!) as well as trying to help other people where I can. I’m a big Harry Potter fan and I love anything to do with cats and being creative!
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I live in Birmingham although my family live all over the UK. I have a pet cat named Monty who likes to pretend he is a dog by chasing sticks and having belly rubs! I enjoy walking and swimming, but my main hobbies are creative – origami and embroidery are my newest projects. I like to watch comedy and crime-related TV series and movies, although the Harry Potter books and films are my favourite!
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I work two days per week in a prison in Birmingham. I lead the psychology service within the Mental Health Team. This means that we work with doctors and nurses to support prisoners who struggle with their mental health. This can include feeling depressed or anxious, seeing or believing things that aren’t real (psychosis), or having serious problems in their relationships with other people (personality disorder). We offer them talking therapy to find out what has happened in their lives, as well as offering them different ways to think, feel and behave so that they can cope with their current situation a bit better.
My other two days per week are in a secure hospital in Birmingham. This is where people come for mental health treatment when they are not safe or well enough to stay in prison. We offer more in-depth therapy here, including individual talking therapy and groups. We try to help people recover from their mental illness and build a meaningful life. I work with a range of other people here, including doctors, nurses, Occupational Therapists and Social Workers.
I can’t put up any pictures of where I work because of security reasons; however the prison is very big (about 900 prisoners live there) and the hospital is much like a general hospital but with less beeping machines!
An important part of my job is helping people to figure out who they are and what matters to them in life. I try to treat everybody like an individual human being, regardless of any bad things that they have done. This can be tricky at times, but it is also really rewarding to get to know the person sat in front of you, and not simply judge them based on their mistakes. We often do nice activities like playing scrabble; talking about our pets; going for walks in the hospital garden; and having a party at Christmas time!
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My Typical Day:
I usually check my emails when I first get into work and try to get myself organised for the day by looking at my diary. If I’m at the prison then I will usually have about 4 prisoners to see during the day (either to “assess” them to see how we can help; or to offer them therapy sessions). I will prepare for my sessions by planning what we are going to talk about and printing off any worksheets or homework(!).
If I’m at the hospital then I usually have 6 people to see on the ward. Again I will plan my sessions and after these are finished I will write up notes of what happened in the session and anything else that is useful for me to remember or plan for the next session.
I also have about 4 or 5 meetings each week with other people that I work with. Sometimes these meetings are to discuss our patients, and other times they are to talk about how we can improve what we do. Meetings often sound boring but they can actually generate a lot of ideas and get everybody thinking!! -
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My role usually includes:
- Reading and writing emails and communicating with other people that I work with.
- Seeing patients at the hospital and prison for clinical sessions (this is where I sit with the person individually and we talk through their problems and how to solve these using psychology techniques). Sometimes I also run therapy groups with approximately 6 patients at a time. This can help them to learn from each other.
- Supervising junior staff – I help members of my team learn new skills and figure out how to deal with some of the upsetting things that they hear.
- Getting supervision from my boss – I get help to learn new skills and deal with the upsetting things that I hear!
- Training other staff – I help other professionals (e.g. doctors and nurses) to learn how to think about things from a Psychology point of view. This can be understanding what a patient’s life has been like, and how to work with someone that has a lot of challenging behaviours or is very unwell.
- Doing research and service evaluations – I like to make sure that I am doing the best job I can and so I like to evaluate the work that myself and my team are doing. I like to check the research to make sure that we are following the evidence of what works for our patients too. I don’t get loads of time for doing my own research but I do enjoy collecting data and analysing it to find the answers to interesting questions so I am always on the look out for research opportunities!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would really like to set up a project supporting prisoners to train guide dog puppies. I would probably put the money towards some books and articles so that I can learn more about this before starting it up!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Smiley geeky psychologist
What did you want to be after you left school?
A psychologist!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No, I was very quiet and well-behaved
Who is your favourite singer or band?
There are so many! From Fall Out Boy to Sigala
What's your favourite food?
Thai or indian food
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Relax more; Take up more hobbies; Be braver
Tell us a joke.
How many psychologists does it take to change a lightbulb?......None - the lightbulb has to want to change itself!
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