Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology Alumni

Dr Julia Parsonson's profile (DECPsy 2008-2011)

What is your current role?
I am a Registered Psychologist in Australia.

What did you find particularly useful about the Doctorate in Educational & Child Psychology programme at UCL?
The format of the teaching, using Problem Based Learning, really helped me to not only gain knowledge, but also feel confident in my application of this in real world scenarios. Having a supportive cohort and academic team, allowed me to really develop and to feel secure in approaching others for help where I needed it. I learnt so much from other people on this course. However, the most useful thing about the whole course, and something that has only grown more since leaving UCL, has been the confidence it gives you to do anything you want. I have moved to a new country, a new education system and a new way of working (private practice!!) and still feel I have all the tools I need to affect change for my clients, and my colleagues often ask me to teach them about these tools.

How has doing the DECPsy at UCL developed your CPD / career?
As above, I have been able to use the tools UCL taught me, and the confidence the course gave me, to map out my own career. I have moved to Australia and am now working in private practice and am working toward setting up my own company to train teachers in working with children with SEN.

To look at other DECPsy alumni profiles, please click here