Role: Highly Specialist Clinical Psychologist working with older people

Your connection to the course: I completed the advanced diploma and postgraduate in systemic thinking and practice at the University of Derby

Opening doors

When I think about the Derby Course what springs to mind is how it has opened many doors for me. In my clinical practice I work with older people in the community and when I first knock on their door I never quite know what to expect when I enter their world. This may be similar to knocking on the systemic training door for the first time when I wasn’t quite sure what I would find but once I took that first step through the entrance way the world behind the door was so much more of a richer experience than I could have imagined. Some doors have been harder to open than others as the course stretched me in new ways, others opened more easily with help from my fellow students or because they seemed more familiar, and some I’d rather not open again (such as the time I baked a layered rainbow cake and decorated it elaborately as part of an agency map). I also quickly learnt that it wasn’t just about opening the door and seeing what was inside but how you open and experience it, who you are with and being curious about doors unopened. By walking through the course door it opened up more doors such as the one opened by Gary Robinson into the DAFT committee. Who has opened, walked through the door with me and been on the other side has also been important as for me systemic thinking and practice is about relationships. I choose a lion doorknocker for my patch as a lion represents strength with lion packs working together to keep the pride strong. I will always be extremely grateful that the course opened the door to meet my friend Dave, become part of the DAFT committee pride and meet the wider DAFT community who continue to inspire and help me develop personally and professionally.