Using Autoethnography to aid learning & comprehension as an Aspiring Psychologist

00:29:

Hi today's episode is all about auto ethnography, and you might notice some slight weirdness when I say the word auto ethnography, because I got to the end of filming all of it. Um, and I got to the end of that day, I got to being in bed and I got to being asleep. And then suddenly my brain woke me up in the middle of the night to make me wonder whether I had accidentally said ‘ethnography’ all the way through instead of autoethnography. And of course, when I listened back to do the editing I had, so I've tried to fix it where I can, but, you know, perfectionism, there's no place for it in modern mental health services. And so I have just done the best. I can hope this doesn't take away any enjoyment, but please know that I referring to autoethnography, hope you find it really useful.

01:27:

Hi, welcome along to the aspiring psychologist podcast. Thank you for listening. It means a great deal to me. And I record this at the point where we are at about 2,500 downloads, the aspiring psychologist podcast. And that just is incredible to me. You know, I hatched this idea in my kitchen one day as I cooked tea, um, and the idea that people are really enjoying it, um, and finding it beneficial and helpful, um, is just, you know, so validating and so wonderful and energizing to me. So, you know, I set out to hope that this would be useful and it turns out that it is, um, it's been really nice, um, hearing people's stories about what they are doing and how they're doing it whilst listening. So some people have been in contact to say that I am their running companion, um, or their companion for out walking the dog.

02:28:

Um, you know, they've got me in their ears, um, as they are out and about, um, you know, some people really like to step it up when the jingles come along, that's their, that's their chance to sprint. Um, and other people say that even though they're not psychologists, um, they like listening to this, cuz it really helps them think about mental health. It helps them think about how therapy is put together. Um, and also some people say they use me to listen to, as they are going off to sleep. And I can't take that too personally, but people say that they like my voice, which is just really nice. So thank you. But in the, in the most part, um, I believe our, our audience are, um, mainly listening apparently on Spotify. Um, but there's, um, lots of other ways you can listen as well. So apple podcasts, um, Amazon music, um, Google podcasts, you can watch on YouTube as well. Um, this is, you know, largely helpful for an aspiring psychologist audience and, you know, your feedback is so welcome. If you want to get involved with the podcast and you'd like to leave an audio testimonial either for the podcast itself or for one of my books, then please do check out my website. There's details in the links section for how you can get involved, how you can download information about how to, um, your audio testimonial. Um, it could just be your little thank you to me if you are enjoying the content I would so, so welcome it. I'd be really grateful. So thank you for that. And if you are listening on apple podcast, please take just two seconds to scroll down to where the trailer is, um, right at the bottom of all of the episodes and just click rate, just click rate rate, um, out of five stars, how much you are enjoying the podcast.

And if you have one minute more than that, could you maybe leave me a review for the podcast that would be so appreciated? And why that is helpful is because podcasts with more reviews and more ratings get shown to more people. And it, it, you know, empowers people to give podcasts a chance if they can see that other people who might be people just like them are finding it useful. Why do we like what others have got to say, and this is gonna be the topic for our podcast today. Um, why is it useful to hear how other people have done things and why? I know that this is certainly a way that I learn really well from, um, from working with, but also from reading books. And it is a form of, um, literature called autoethnography, which is just beautiful. Um, and it's something that I've always been interested in, but I didn't realise that there was like a word for it, a phrase for it.

05:40:

And it's actually only after I’d published the, um, clinical psychologist collective that I realised that that is what we are doing in the book. So autoethnography is a way of learning or a way for someone to talk about themselves and their experiences by talking exactly about themselves, by talking about their own personal accounts and reflections. So I guess technically it could be thought of as a, as a type of research, an ethnographical account, um, um, or an ethnographical piece of research. Um, so perhaps grounded theory, um, strays into ethnographic, um, uh, territory as well. Um, but I have always learned really well from being able to hold in mind case stories and case histories. And so that for me is what is going on in the clinical psychologist collective and in the grief collective. And may this be a little exclusive scoop that you are the first people to hear about this?

06:52:

There is another book coming because you know, the clinical psychologist collective great. Um, if you are already on the path and looking to apply to become a clinical psychologist, but I know that, um, some people are not yet there, you know, you may be listening to this podcast because you are, um, you know, perhaps studying psychology either at university or maybe even college. I know we've got some, um, college and six form students listening to, um, and why this can be really useful is cuz it can help you think about what your next step job will be or what it could be, what, um, route to becoming, whatever type of qualified psychologist is on your wishlist might be you useful for you. And so the book that is coming, there's a working title for it. Um, the aspiring psychologist collective and it is going to include the ethnographic accounts of people who are not yet on clinical training.

07:56:

So there might be some stories in there, um, or of people who are having interviews for, um, for either educational psychology or clinical psychology, you know, maybe forensic psychology, um, this year. So it's gonna be a really current finger on the pulse kind of book. You know, I'm hoping to have it published, um, for October so that we can see out this cycle of certainly clinical applications. And I am asking for aspiring psychologists who are already on their path to their chosen, um, psychology career to get involved. Um, so at this point in time, I'm asking for you to, you know, get in contact and show interest in writing and to then submit a few hundred words with a little bit of information about you and what you'd propose to write in your story. And then I will be collating those to make sure that we've got a real medley, um, of, um, of stories within the book.

09:01:

Um, and then if I ask you to write it, um, I would want that back, um, I guess by September. So I haven't quite sorted out the dates yet. This is hot off the press, so I'm going to be work feverishly, um, to get all this sorted so that when this podcast episodes goes live, the details are all there in the show notes, um, for how you can find out more information, if indeed you would like to, for anyone who, um, has, uh, a story published in the, in psychologist collective, I will be, um, rewarding you with a paperback copy once it is published. That's obviously gonna be a lot easier for me to sort out if you are in the UK. Um, if you're not in the UK, it's perhaps not a deal breaker. Um, but yeah, I would imagine it because the majority of our audience are UK based, um, that it will be UK based, um, people that are writing stories.

But if you are not UK based and you are still interested in thinking about whether you could, um, add some narratives, add your own ethnographical accounts, then please do, um, request more information because of course it's relevant and it's, you know, it's gonna be engaging and relatable for people who are then going to buy the book hopefully, um, in future. Um, and also it's really useful for you to, to do as a reflective account in your own. Right? So I, I know when people put together the, their accounts for the grief collective and the clinical psychologist collective, they found it a really, you know, fulfilling experience in itself. So I hope that you will find that really useful, um, and that you will want to get on board, um, and to kind of get that out there as a dissemination as well. Um, there's a bit of a publication for you for your own CV, um, which would be really useful for you, but of course useful for so many people who want to do what you do one day.

11:08:

So it might be that you are a research assistant. It might be that you are, um, a psychology assistant and assistant psychologist. It might be that you are a psychological being practitioner. It might be that you are, you know, a high intensity or low intensity C B T therapist. It might be that you are doing, you know, um, care assistant work, um, or mental health support worker or, uh, support role work. So I want to know, you know, and if you've done a few different roles, then I'd like to up those as well. Um, so yeah, I hope that this sounds really exciting and that you, you are keen to, um, to request more information. Let's just take a quick pause here, um, to hear a little bit more about the clinical psychologist collective and I will be back shortly so that we can talk more about why and how autoethnography is is useful to us, not only in clinical practice, but also when we are striving for our own goals, too,

Review:: 12:55

The clinical psychologist collective is a fantastic read for aspiring clinical psychologists. This book provides insights from real trainees and qualified psychologists. They offer their advice, hope and encouragement to aspiring clinical psychologists. This book helps to put in perspective the variety of journeys people take to become qualified. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the D ClinPsy.

14:10:

Welcome back. Um, thank you for listening. So before the break, we were thinking about what autoethnography is, and now this side of the break, we're going to be thinking about how and why this is useful. And for me, it's about the personal resonance. It's about the human story. It's about the connection. It's also about the, um, well, if they can do it then, so can I, I find it really helps bolster my, um, my faith in myself. Um, it makes things seem so much more attainable, so much more relatable because I can then hold in mind those case studies, you know, those examples. So when we open up the clinical psychologist collective, the first story you'll read is by Dan. Um, and Dan, um, opens up, uh, the beginning of his story by explaining that he got a two, two at university. Um, and then the story recounts, how he has got onto the right track to then be a trainee clinical psychologist.

So, um, you know, that is really heartening for people to think that actually it is possible. Um, people are holding Dan in mind, um, thinking, well, if Dan can do it, then I can do it. It makes it, you know, more tangible, more achievable, more relatable. And I know when I was, um, prepare for interviews, um, either as a qualified or as an aspiring psychologist, I would, you know, sit down and try and, um, put down sort of case studies of people that I'd worked with. So perhaps from, you know, a psychological perspective of depression, um, perhaps that I'd worked with, um, with interventions. So, you know, for O C D or, you know, panic, um, and I'd write up case studies, um, about the client and how the, how it worked well for them and what we did and what we were able to achieve.

16:29:

And for me, having those little sort of potted history is it was then easy for me to be able to draw on that theory and to, to bring it to mind. And that for me is, again, is what the grief collective and what the clinical psychologist collective offers to you. It offers you the chance to have extra stories in your mind, reflect on, to draw upon, to consolidate your own learning and to, to show you that everything and anything is possible. And this is the case for me as well. So coming up, um, in a few weeks time, we've got, uh, another guest interview, um, with a wonderful, uh, researcher, um, and academic, um, book producer. Um, and yeah, I'm not gonna tell you who she is. Um, but it is going to be an incredibly useful resource. And for me, um, part of my journey into book ishness and beyond has been holding this lady in mind, you know, she can do it, then I can do it.

17:42:

Um, and I want you to be able to take from people in the clinical psychologist, collective, I want you to be able to take from the content I create for the aspiring psychologist podcast. I would love to be part of your inner monologue. Um, it would be an absolute privilege if that was starting to happen for you. Um, I fully expect that the jingles are already part of your inner daily monologue. Um, are you singing them in the shower? Are you humming them to yourselves as you chop peppers? You know, I do hope so. Um, because yeah, people have been saying they're really liking the jingles, which is just lovely because as you know, I'm a big, big fan, but yeah, I would like to be on your team. Um, one of the good guys in your head that helps, you know, you can do this, um, it might be that some people in the past have told you that you can't, or that if shouldn't, or that you are bad, you know, no good will come from this.

18:54:

You should go and do something different and it might be useful at this point for me to tell you, um, about some feedback that I received about myself once upon a time, um, it was actually my grandfather, um, and he, once upon a time, um, Maryanne listening to your voice is one of the most painful experiences of my life. Um, and I think I was a bit sort of flabbergasted really. I didn't quite know what to say, uh, and how to respond. So I'm not really sure that I did much at all in response to that. Um, I was of course aware that he had been a paramedic in the second world war. Um, and so he had seen all sorts of awful things, you know, awful things to trauma. And yet, you know, what a thing to say to someone, and this was at the point when I was striving to be a psychologist as well.

20:00:

ir opinion. He passed away in: 2012

21:03:

Um, I can choose to move on from, um, it's not a trauma. I can talk about it in a way that is connected, but not distressing, you know, not, not moving me to distress and that it's been, you know, I never would've imagined that it would be topic for a podcast, but, um, you know, it is. And in terms of my autoethnography, um, you know, it's part of the story, but it's not the whole story and it doesn't need to shape or define me. So in the, um, clinical psychologist collective, there is a real flavor, a real diversity of story, and of root to becoming either a qualified clinical psychologist, a trainee psychologist. Um, but we've also got stories in there from educational psychologists, forensic psychologists, um, health and research psychologist and counseling psychologists as well. Um, because, you know, as we know, the path is not always, um, smooth to clinical, but also clinical is not the only way, you know, there are absolutely other ways to go on and become a qualified psychologist and to offer your brilliance to the world in a way that might not involve ever going anywhere near being a clinical psychologist.

22:27:

So, um, there is so much to learn from others. Um, and I just adore this way of learning about people, um, and you know, becoming part of their world. So, you know, if you've been listening to the podcast for a little while now, um, then hopefully you've enjoyed my little stories. I know someone said that their favorite bit recently was when I was talking about being a millionaire, feeling like a millionaire as you walked on the carpet with your shoes on. Um, but hopefully you like my little anecdotes and, you know, they might just serve you well at a time where you are needing some examples to draw upon at a point of pressure. Um, they might just serve you well, when you are in a critic chimes in, you know, some of the stuff we've spoken about might rise up for you as a compassionate, other to say, actually, that might not be that useful.

23:25:

Um, so yeah, what we are doing is important and what is on offer in the clinical psychologist collective, and the grief collective is really useful and could really help shape the way that you are thinking about your client work, the way that you are thinking about striving for your future goals as well, and to help you balance where you are yourself and how that might, um, look for you, you know, you might find it helpful to, um, you know, scribble all over the book. If that doesn't break all your book, reading rules, there's a very few number of books in my, my life that I've allowed myself to write in. But if I had not put this book together myself, I do believe I would be, um, you know, highlighting and annotating and adding, you know, those little sticky note things, um, two pages in the Clin psych collective so that I could draw upon it so I could put it into themes resonated with me.

24:26:

So, yeah. Do your worst. Um, if that doesn't break all your rules about how to look after books, um, I hope you found this episode really useful, really thought provoking about what your own ethnography might look like. And like I said, if you'd like to get involved with, um, your own story for the aspiring psychologist collective, then do check out the details in the, um, show notes for how you can request more information. But if you head to my, um, website, which is www.goodthinkingpsychology.co.uk/mybooks there will be information for you. Please do come and connect with me on socials. Um, as you might know, by now, I am Dr. Marianne Trent on LinkedIn, um, Dr. Marianne Trent on Instagram, Twitter. I am goodthinkingPS1 and Facebook. Um, you can come and grab me on my personal accounts.

25:26:

Um, Marianne Trent, or my business account, which is good thinking psychological services. Um, when there are interview episodes, um, all of them are available, um, to watch on YouTube, but even the audio versions are also available on YouTube too. Um, which is good, psychological services come and subscribe become unlike and come and comment on an episode. Um, give me your favorite emoji in the comments so that I know that you've been listening and that what we do matters to you, um, help us spread the word and just, you know, be on, on my team, like I'm on yours because it's so appreciated looking forward to catching up with you for our next episode. Very soon, if you are looking for any advice and resources for, um, interview season for psychology, then we have currently, as I record this, got the first, um, that compassionate Q & A available on YouTube for you to watch on replay. Um, people found it really useful, um, soothing, calming, validating, inspiring all of that good stuff. So do check that out. Um, and I will look forward to catching up with you through our next episode of the aspiring psychologist. Very soon, take Care

26:48:

Being well supported during any interview season is so important. I have therefore, uh, planned some compassionate question and answer support sessions for you. You are absolutely welcome to come along to all of them. Some of them, none of them, no need to book. And here are the dates for you Monday, the 28th of February from 7:30 PM, Monday the 21st of March 7:30 PM. Monday the 4th of April 7:30 PM. And Monday the 9th of May 7:30 PM. And they will all be live streaming via my socials, uh, which includes Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. So you can absolutely pick your favorite, um, platform and they'll all be available on as well. Hope you find it so useful. And I will look forward to catching up with some of you then take care.