Passion & embracing the journey - Marianne's Summer Soundbites - 1

Dr Marianne Trent (: 00:00

Coming up in today's episode of the Aspiring Psychologist Podcast, I am guiding you through two important steps that can help you think about weathering the storm on your journey to becoming whatever type of aspiring psychologist you fancy being.

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Hi, welcome along to the Aspiring Psychologist Podcast. I'm Dr. Marianne Trent and I'm a qualified clinical psychologist. If you have been listening to the podcast for a little while, you might well recall the Poorly Wing series of episodes, which is where I was wearing my arm in a sling because I had recently broken my arm. I thought it was about time we did another little series, and this series is going to be called Marianne's Summer Sound Bites. We're going to be looking at series of important but smaller topics. This is a great way for you to stay on track with your psychology goals and commitment, even when you might be busier over the summer period. All of these Marianne's Summer Sound Bite episodes will just be me, but don't worry, this isn't a long-term change.

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The usual format of longer episodes, including guest episodes that I know you love, will be back along in the autumn and there might also be some over the summer period too. So before we crack on, let me guide you through another little series that is coming. And again, if you've been in my world a while, you might well already know about the free compassionate Q&A sessions. They are absolutely free sessions I've been running live across all of my socials on weekday evenings during application and interview seasons. And the great news is that they are back for the interview season, and I've got the dates to share with you now.

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So as you can see on your screen, we have the first of those coming up on Monday, the 4th of September 2023, and that starts at 6:00 PM. A replay will of course be available too, and the best place to find the replay is Dr. Marianne Trent on YouTube. The second of the sessions is Tuesday the third of October 2023, also at 6:00 PM. Again, a replay is available. And the third and final session to support application season for the DClinPsy, but also Ed Psych, is also a similar time of year, is going to Tuesday the 7th of November 2023 at 6:00 PM. So don't wait, don't delay. Connect with me on socials now so that you can dive right in when the time comes. On LinkedIn, I'm Dr. Marianne Trent. Come and connect or follow. On Twitter, I'm also Dr. Marianne Trent. Although on Twitter, I can't see your comments because Stream Yard and Twitter don't integrate properly. But if you want to just watch from Twitter, you absolutely can.

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On YouTube, I'm Dr. Marianne Trent. My Facebook page is also Dr. Marianne Trent. And last, but of course not the least, come and join my free Facebook community group, which is called the Aspiring Psychologist Community with Dr. Marianne Trent. I do always endeavour to get live on Instagram as well, but it's not quite so interactive because it means I have to get my phone rigged up behind my webcam. It's a little bit rustic, but you absolutely should be able to catch it there too. And on Instagram and on Threads, I'm Dr. Marianne Trent. So come and follow me everywhere, do a blanket approach. It would be much appreciated. So let's not wish the summer away, and let's make it a really mindful and enjoyable one. Let's get back to Marianne's Summer Sound Bites.

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So the first thing I would like you to consider, and be mindful and aware of, is just how much your passion matters. It can be really tricky on this aspiring psychologist journey to play the long game, to have a long burning or slow burning fuse, where you hope that there will eventually be some spectacular and worthwhile fireworks. During that time, it's really understandable and normal if your passion and commitment can feel like they wane or waiver a little bit. Genuinely, from my own experiences, I felt that I always had my eye on that goal and that was something I always wanted. And so my long-term goal never did waiver, and my commitment to ensuring that the clients I worked with had a good, safe, effective service ran throughout everything that I did.

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And I'm sure the same is true for you too. If you feel like you are becoming a little bit less passionate, then make sure that you have taken your annual leave at regular points throughout the year. Because when our passion disappears, it can be a sign, an early indicator, of burnout. Nobody does this job for the money, and so really it is your dedication and your passion and commitment to having people's lives be more free from distress. That is just incredible. Your determination to support their mental wellbeing is so admirable. And being able to make a meaningful, lasting impact upon people never gets old. So well done, you. Your passion really does matter, and I hope that it doesn't go unnoticed. Let's take a brief moment here to play a little sing-song, and I'll be back with another of Marianne's Summer Sound Bites.

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I Just love those jingles. I do feel like perhaps we ought to have done a Summer Sound Bites jingle, but make your own up and come back to me if you've come up with a good one. I hope you found the first half of the first episode of Marianne's Summer Sound Bites useful and thought-provoking. What did it evoke for you? Do come and let me know in my free Facebook group, the Aspiring Psychologist Community. The second of my musing's for today is all about embracing your journey. Yes, yes. I know, I know. It's the sort of thing that you get on the front of a notebook, but I really do think it's really important. We need to remind ourselves that becoming a psychologist is a process, that there might well be shifts. Even really tiny psychological shifts, internal shifts, within ourselves that you might not even notice on a day-to-day basis, but you might certainly notice on a month-to-month and year-to-year basis.

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That will be the difference that makes the difference. We really do have to be able to embrace the learning opportunities, challenges, the growth of things that feel tricky along the way. We have to keep the faith. You might not be a Bon Jovi fan, but there's a song called Keep the Faith that I think is quite relevant here. Even though it's tricky, even though you might have setbacks, even though there might have been days where you felt, "This is really hard," keeping the faith and keeping on heading towards that goal that's so important to you, is important. If it matters to you, then it matters. Each and every step you take is bringing you closer to where you want to be. And if you feel that it's not, then maybe it's time for a shake up with a new supervisor or a new job role.

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And always remember, you can come and grab my free supervision shaping tool from my website, www.goodthinkingpsychology.co.ok/supervision. So I hope you found the first in our series of Marianne's Summer Sound Bite podcast episodes useful. [inaudible 00:09:31] some more expert care and guidance in your journey towards becoming an aspiring clinical psychologist would be useful, do consider joining us in the Aspiring Psychologist membership from just 30 pounds a month with no commitment, and you can get more information about that by going to my website or by clicking the bio link in any of my socials. If you're watching on YouTube, you can check out the links in the description too. And whilst we're talking about YouTube, you might well have noticed if you've watched the last few episodes, that there's a slightly different feel to the YouTube.

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There's more to watch, there's more going on. It's not just me and my guests talking anymore. So if you haven't watched it for a while, do head over to Dr. Marianne Trent on YouTube and give it a while. And whilst you're there, like, share, comment, engage, do all those great things. Thank you so much for taking the time in your busy day to listen to this episode and to keep thinking about your goals for psychology for your career, and hopefully also for your personal and professional growth too. I will look forward to catching up with you for the next episode of the Aspiring Psychologist Podcast, which will be along to you from 6:00 AM on Monday. Thanks for being part of my world. Take care.