Dimitrios A.
About me
| Dimitrios A. | |
| Psychology | |
| Applied Fforensic Psychology | |
| Research Postgraduate | |
| Greece |
My employment
| Registered Forensic Psychologist | |
| HMPPS | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Government and civil service | |
| 2021 |
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A day in the life of a Registered Forensic Psychologist in the United Kingdom
It is very different than I thought it would be initially. There are a lot of glamourised portrayals of forensic psychology in the media, books, movies and TV series.
Briefly describe the organisation you work for
Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)
What do you do?
Providing consultancy
Completing assessment/formulations and interventions with female offenders with risk towards themselves and others based on evidence inforned and ethical practice
Designing and delivering training
Contributing to reducing reoffending agenda
Working in Trauma infrormed and responsive way
Reflecting upon your past employment and education, what led you to your current career choice?
The desire to understand violence and minimise harm has been my main motivations for pursuing this career
Is your current job sector different from what you thought you would enter when you graduated?
It is very different than I thought it would be initially. There are a lot of glamourised portrayals of forensic psychology in the media, books, movies and TV series. I would not described this job as glamourous but it is very rewarding
Describe your most memorable day at work
Realising that violence or crime in general most of the time is a survival response to trauma is what makes me want to continue keep going to work. The individuals I am working with have suffered severely from all sorts of traumatic experiences and the fact that as a society we have not managed to support them sooner and tried to help them in appropriate ways in order to help them refrain from having to resort to crime motivates me to try and do that.
Are there any challenges associated with your job?
You are constantly hear about very disturbing and difficult things in your job. You are also dealing with very high levels of distress, hopelessness and resistance. All those things can be very difficult and you need to be very aware of them and having things in place in order to manage them and minimise their effects on you.
What’s your work environment and culture like?
It is a very strange environment to be in. There are limited windows, bars, high walls, cameras and other various security procedures and things in place that makes this environment to not feel warm or very friendly. The culture is mostly one that supports rehabilitation but there are some sub-groups and individuals that see forensic service users as "bad" or "mad" and dismiss psychological ways of thinking. Adopting those can be very difficult as it can bring up difficult emotions, cognitions etc. when the right support is in place and witha bit of persistance those schange all the time though and the culture has started becoming more accepting of psychological thought.
What extracurricular activities did you undertake at university and what transferable skills did you develop through these?
I mostly tried to socialise with people outside of my class/field of study,I tried to get accustomed with different cultures, different age groups, I travelled a lot and tried to met as many people as possible. I took interest in cooking and tried to explore different cuisines and ways of cooking, eating etc.
Those things helped me becoming more culturally aware, they helped me create a nice healthy support network and to learn more about how cultures affect our perceptions of of the world. I became more flexible and started appreciating more the things that I have and discovering what is important for me and what are the basic things that all humans need. It helped me remain curious and respectful whilst also helped me discover more ways to connect with others and be able to build good rapport.
What would you like to do next with your career?
I would like to qualify as a forensic psychologist and continue explore how crime is connected with trauma and how we can minimise harm by rehabilitating forensic service users.
What top tips do you have for York students preparing for today’s job market and life after graduation?
This is a very competitive field and needs quite a lot of effort to get into the field. Please do not be discouraged by that. Work as hard as you can be creative about how you can gain experience and transferable skills and keep reminding your self that your hard work will be eventually rewarded. That's what helped me :-)
What topics from students are you happy to answer questions on?
Please feel free to contact me for any questions you might have. I will do my best to answer them if I can.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?
Those are very strange and difficult times. Please look after yourselves. Remain as safe as you can and be kind to yourselves and others.
Next steps...
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