Research Ptsd And Employment

[Richie]

its COSCA who put me on the right track unlike the careers advisor who sent me on this social science access course. I thought I needed psychology but it turns out that I dont. I am going to do HNC psychology next year anyway but the skills in counselling course is 3 hours per week in evening class. I need to do that before my diploma in counselling.
on the upside, the course I am on now is giving me a whole range of new skills plus the SWAP program is a little step up for university. I plan to use it for my HNC so when I apply for the HND counselling course I am applying from inside (hopefully) Stirling university

 

[laurat]

All the best with your project... Left work a long while back

 

[Richie]

While COSCA are the registering body in Scotland most counsellors and therapists in Scotland tend to go with the BACP - they have generally better recognition even in Scotland and clearer training and registration requirements. It might be worth having a look at their website.

Most people will do a COSCA approved certificate in counselling followed by a BACP accredited diploma, with the diploma being the minimum qualification you need to be considered professionally qualified to practice. If you hope to gain employment you'll generally need BACP accreditation so it's worth picking the right course and level of study.

a slight career path change. my psychologist lecturer advised me to go down the clinical psychology route instead and other credible sources at Stirling University have all agreed during separate conversations. I have chosen the long route for its increased level of credibility and may even start looking into research as well as practising therapy

 

[Suzetig]

They're different disciplines though, clin psych certainly have better employment options in the NHS particularly but you really need PhD level qualification to register with the HCPC and it can be very difficult to get a place on a post grad diploma/Masters course much less the doctorate. I know many, many psychology graduates doing admin work to pay the bills while they do volunteer work to boost their cvs because they can't get onto any form of psych Masters.

It's also one of the disciplines where the university you study at makes a difference, because of the need for research at Masters or PhD level. To be honest, it's worth looking at Russel Group universities or one of the ancients for psychology so in Scotland that would mean Edinburgh, Glasgow or St Andrews. Basically the more credible your degree, the more chance of post grad training, the more chance of employment.

In fairness, the counselling/psychotherapy fields aren't too different in that it's all about who you train with. It doesn't surprise me that Stirling would recommend psychology because they've just lost the provider for their counselling and psychotherapy post grad so don't have a counselling course to offer any more.

It sounds like you have good people around you though, I wish you well for whatever comes.

 

[Richie]

I did my presentation today although my group was dropped in it. We were due to do it next week but since we had the only complete group in class, we were put up first. I had to do a bit of rapid research including reading these comments again but it did the trick. I was very conscious of the fact that reading from notes or slides would not look good so I did my part with empty hands and I got a good result. The feedback was that I have a natural aura which makes people want to listen to me and my passion for this showed through my communication. I did start off with the military aspect but I also used the knowledge that I have gained here about seeking out new therapists until you find one that works with you and the fact that most people hide their PTSD due to a lack of understanding by the general population. That bit was questioned but I pointed out that we (my classmates) are studying psychological disorders but out there in the real world there is a lot of ignorance and bosses want things running smoothly. They don't want to deal with things that they don't understand so I would probably hide it too.
thank you very much for the contributions. They helped greatly with my first ever presentation. Being comfortable with my audience was a big factor but so was my knowledge on the subject and most of my understanding has come from this website. It is only a small step towards my goal but it has been a huge personal achievement. It could have gone badly if I didn't have the information provided here. I may never understand how PTSD affects you but I do understand your decisions and many of questions thrown at me were about those.

thanks everyone

 

[EveHarrington]

I'm kind of shocked that psych students wouldn't simply know that those with psychological disorders do anything/everything we can (on whole) to hide our "dysfunction".

Pretty much-------the ones who are out and flaunt it are fakers.

The discrimination is very real, and very rampant.

 

[lostforgottensoul]

do you disclose to a potential employer prior to employment?

Nope. That would be a dumbass think to do in my opinion. "I have a mental disorder that may interfere with my job and I may need FMLA and other time off or may just loose it on the job. Please hire me."

do you disclose once you have secured the job?

Still no. I disclose what I need to for the benefits I am allowed by US federal law. So my job knows I have horrible anxiety which may, since I am customer facing, interfere with the quality of my work.

Specifically Generalized Anxiety Disorder on the FMLA paperwork.

There is zero reason for my job to know that I have PTSD or BPD or anything about my trauma and the workplace would be the last place I would advise any of that.

 

[Richie]

I'm kind of shocked that psych students wouldn't simply know that those with psychological disord...

I see where you are coming from but a lot of them are still in their first job and have not yet experienced different bosses. I have worked for dozens of companies in different parts of the UK so I do have my eyes open to how things work out there.
there is also the fact that we haven't studied disorders in any detail. This project was on mental health and I chose PTSD as my contribution to the group presentation.
my range of experiences are part of the reason that I was offered a place on this course 3 days before it started. The course tutor thought I could bring a lot of experience to the class and i guess this is actually happening. I know that a job can be 'the face fits' or 'who you know' but those kids have yet to find out how tough it is out there and anything can be held against you

 

[EveHarrington]

I see where you are coming from but a lot of them are still in their first job and have not yet experien...

Ohhhh young idealistic dare I even say somewhat sheltered kids? I have been very aware of discrimination regarding mental illness since I was a kid------maybe it's cultural? "Crazy" on any level is discriminated against here in the states, from a young age.

 

[Rani G2]

do you disclose to a potential employer prior to employment?
do you disclose once you have secured the job?
your reasons either way

I havent done that, I dont think I will ever. I have always been very guarded when it comes to opening up, plus while understanding trauma one realises that that there is a political and social aspect to it. I unfortunately work fulltime. My last interruption lays 5 years back for 6 months.

 

[Rani G2]

maybe it's cultural? "Crazy" on any level is discriminated against here in the states, from a young age

@ Eve: I think this is due to the idealization of the Individual. Without wanting to minimize our Willpower (People always tend to argue on that ground)This overly praising of it is easier to do while ignoring, acknowledging human suffering under political and social injustice.

 

[Suzetig]

Discrimination is very much legislated against in the U.K too with mental illness construing a disability. I suspect many of the young people on the course have their own lived experience of mental illness and may be less than sheltered.

They may have been surprised at the idea of people keeping their mental illness secret for fear is discrimination because they would tend to be open about it and expect to be accepted. Not necessarily idealistic thinking on their part - there are some very good, supportive employers out there.