“The only Psychologist in the village”.

03.05.19 — So this was my first week in Centrepoint as the newly appointed Consultant Clinical & Forensic Psychologist, and Lead for Psychologically Informed Environments (PIE). This is an exciting development journey for the charity, and there will be more on PIE and what it means, and how it will work in Centrepoint in the coming weeks. This first post will just be a space to note my initial reflections and thoughts on commencing in post.

I am writing this sitting in Dean Street, the original home of Centrepoint and a fitting place I felt to end my first week. It also felt like the first service that I needed to visit, given that this was where it all started 50 years ago, with the laudable aim of giving homeless young people ‘a home and a job’. I can see that Dean Street has changed a lot, and not just because it is no longer a hostel but a ‘hub’ for some amazing work with young people in health and wellbeing, employment and skills and training. However, it still shouts out the initial ethos of Centrepoint loudly, and this is something that comes through in everything I have seen this week.

I have met with some amazing people (I fear amazing may be a word I use A LOT!), and have lots to process and questions to ask moving forward. But one thing I have noticed consistently across Centrepoint has been the enthusiasm and welcome that all the staff have given me since my arrival. Coming from a statutory sector organisation where I have often had to ‘fight’ to get the voice of psychology heard, this has been the most refreshing aspect. I worried before commencing in post that it would feel strange not having psychology colleagues around me every day, and that being the ‘only psychologist in the village’ would feel both professionally and personally isolating.

However, the opposite has been true. Whilst I need to hold my identity clear, both for myself, and for the role that I will be undertaking, the interest and willingness of staff to engage with me (and the notion of psychologically informed environments: PIE) has been at times both wonderful and overwhelming. This not about making everyone in Centrepoint a ‘psychologist’, but about us walking a journey together to be more psychologically informed in the way that we work with the young people who access Centrepoint and what it can offer. This week that journey started. And so far, I haven’t regretted leaving behind the comfort of my old NHS role and psychology team! I have so much to learn still and so many more amazing staff to meet across this diverse organisation. For those I have met, thank you all for being so welcoming and for those I haven’t yet got to meet, I look forward to visiting more of the Centrepoint services over the coming weeks and months. It’s been a great start, although I have yet to eat any pies…….