What is your role at HenderCare?
I work at HenderCare as a Senior Psychologist in the HenderCare Allied Health team.
When did you start with HenderCare?
I started with HenderCare on 21st June 2021.
Prior to this I had worked as a Psychologist/ Senior Psychologist at another organisation from March 2007 – May 2021.
How did you get into your role/what inspired you to get into this industry?
I undertook the 4+2 pathway to become a Psychologist. I completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Behavioural Science and then Honours in Psychology. Following on from this I undertook a Graduate Certificate in Grief and Palliative Care Counselling before entering the two years of supervised practice working toward registration as a Psychologist.
Initially I had designs on working in Aged Care, however I soon learned that “back then” that there were no roles for a Psychologist in Aged Care!
As part of my requisite supervision placements, I did a minor (10 day) placement at IDSC at Strathmont. This was my first exposure to the field of Intellectual Disability and I found it really interesting. I then volunteered full time for a year at Minda working towards my registration and learning more about the field.
At the time of my registration as a psychologist in late 2005, I was employed by an organisation in another field however had really enjoyed the variety and experience of working in disability and accepted a position back at Minda in March 2007 where I remained until recently.
The focus of my experience and work is with adults living with intellectual disability and, often, also mental illness (dual disability). I have always really enjoyed my role, including the variety of people I work with, the different perspectives, different aspects in addition to ‘psychology’ (health, social, legal, medical, etc), supporting others with their learning (education, training, supervision), and the challenges that can be presented.
What is something you enjoy doing outside of work?
I have seven adult turtles. In February this year they had babies, for the first time ever! We had 12 live hatchlings who were all very cute, but which we sold.
We moved into our current home in January 2020 and spent most of last year renovating. While the renovations are still ongoing, we are hoping to start exploring our new area a bit more when the warmer weather arrives!
