In this podcast, Chloé and I discuss our academic background, our different internship experiences and our professional projects.
Script :
– Hello, I am Mathilde Piat, I am 21, and this is my last year as a student, as I will hopefully receive my master’s degree in clinical psychology in a few months.
– Hi, I am Chloé Forcier, I am 23 years old. I am currently in my first year of a master’s degree in clinical psychology.
– So Chloé, where did you get your bachelor’s degree ?
– I did my bachelors at the University of Nantes. What made you decide to do a bachelor in psychology?
– After highschool, I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do, and I was miles away from knowing what my career aspirations were. So I tried to think about my interests, what I would enjoy to study and know more about, and it occurred to me that I was really intrigued by human’s development and functioning. So I decided to do a bachelor’s degree in psychology, I liked it a lot, and here I am.
– All right, and why did you specifically choose to get a clinical psychology degree ?
– Well, it’s been pretty difficult to determine the approach I was the most interested in between developmental, clinical and social psychology. I hesitated for a while, during the last year of my bachelor’s, especially between developmental and clinical psychology because I wanted to work with children and teenagers. But clinical finally won my internal fight, because I found it more diverse in practice. So clinical psychology I chose. What about you, what is your academic background ? Why did you want to study psychology ?
– After the baccalaureate, my goal was to work in the health care sector, but it was still unclear. I started by doing a first year of sport physiotherapy bachelor, but I didn’t pass the competitive examination. Having passed my first year of classical STAPS, I did a second year. I didn’t like it, so I stopped and I followed the SWITCH program at SUIO which is an orientation program. I was then able to mature my professional project. In 2018, I started my bachelor of psychology .
– Ok, And then why a master in clinical psychology?
– During these 3 years I also had a particular interest in clinical psychology and psychopathology. I therefore chose the clinical master in Nantes. In addition, it is the master’s degree that corresponds the most to my professional project
– What is your career project ?
– Ideally, I would like to work with a pediatric population with autism spectrum disorders. I would therefore like to be a psychologist in a SESSAD or an IME, and to set up therapeutic activities such as riding therapy. Indeed, following my master’s degree I would like to enrich my practice with a complementary training in riding therapy.
– Oh, it must be very interesting ! Do you know what training is available to become a riding therapist?
– There are private training courses or a university degree in human-animal relationship in Paris 13.
– Could you tell me about your internships ?
– Last year I had the chance to do 5 small internships. The first one was in a medical and psychological care center, daily hospital in Le Pellerin with adult patients with psychotic disorders. The second one was a one-day placement with an riding therapist who works with a variety of people such as patients with cognitive disorders and autism spectrum disorders. The third was also in a medical and psychological care center in Pornic but this time in child psychiatry. So I was able to see a different type of patient. Finally, the last two were in ULIS: firstly, one week in a middle school ULIS with students suffering from cognitive function disorders and another week in a primary ULIS with students with an autism spectrum disorder. These experiences were very enriching.
– Have you found an internship for this Master 1 year?
– No, unfortunately, I have not yet found any internships for this year. And you, what were your internship experiences?
– My first internship was two years ago, and it was in a medical and psychological care center. The patients were children and teenargers, from 6 to 18 years old. I was there to observe and discover the profession of clinical psychologist in practice. It was really interesting, and it consolidated my desire to work with youth. My second and only other internship took place last year, in a palliative care service. It lasted 150 hours, from february to june, and the aim was for me to begin to practice. For example, I’ve had the opportunity to lead clinical interviews with three patients over several weeks, which was very formative. I have also participated in team meetings. This internship was really rich, on a professional level as well as on a personal level.
– Okay, Those are two very different experiences. And did you encounter some difficulties during those internships ?
– Well, yes, specifically during the one in a palliative care center. The main difficulty I encountered was to deal with a feeling of helplessness, because the hospitalized patients suffered from serious illness with no hope of healing and were at the end of their life. Death is a part of everyday reality, and is not only a distant concept. Sometimes I was not sure that I would meet a patient again after a clinical interview, so it was not always easy to deal with.
– I get that it must have been complicated sometimes, even if it’s been an enriching experience. Can you tell me about your master thesis ?
– I work on the psychological effects of the first lockdown in France, in the general population. To be more specific, I study the link between risk perception, level of trust in the government and the development of PTSD symptoms.
– Oh that sounds very interesting !
– What about you ? Do you know what subject you want to work on ?
– I will work on compulsive buying disorder. It’s a behavioral addiction. Mrs. Chauchard will be my tutor, as well as Mrs. Challet. Mrs. Challet is a researcher at the federative institute for behavioural addictions (IFAC). I will therefore go and do a research internship in the second semester, in addition to my clinical internship. This internship will allow me to have access to the patient cohort and to get a closer look at the research environment. Then, in June, the researcher will present this work at the 7th International Conference on Behavioral Addictions in Nottingham. And you, what do you envisage for next year? or for your future as a clinical psychologist?
– I think I will look for a job, probably in child psychiatry, but I don’t want to close doors, so I guess I will see where hazard takes me.
– It was really nice to discuss with you, thank you very much.
– Thanks to you, it was very interesting.