Dr. WorkPsych

My latest YouTube video answers another frequently-asked coaching question: what to do once a coaching programme is over.

As coaching is a time-limited exercise, it’s important to prepare for, and consider, life after coaching.

In this video, I cover two important points: maintaining the gains achieved during coaching, then looking to generalise them into other contexts and aspects of life. This could be taking a skill applied in the workplace and using it in your personal life, or simply exploring how a skill used with one team could work with other stakeholders.

Thanks for watching, and let me know if you have any follow-up questions in the video’s comments.

I spend the majority of my time at work coaching individuals, and similar questions about coaching pop up all the time.

So, once a quarter, I run a free webinar to answer questions, bust myths and explain how to get the most out of your coaching experience. The next webinar takes place on April 24th and you can reserve your free place here.

In particular, I’ll be talking about the benefits of working with an accredited coaching psychologist, the impact of an evidence-based approach (avoiding myths and fads!) and turning your insights into skills you can generalise across the rest of your life.

I look forward to seeing you there!

In my latest YouTube video, I explore some of the reasons I really like what I do.

In part, to balance out the things I described as challenging in this video! And, as ever, in part to demystify what it’s like to work as a psychologist right now.

Let me know what you think. Does it spark any follow-up questions?

When I tell people I’m a psychologist (only if they ask - honest!) I can pretty much guarantee I’ll see an instant change in their facial expression.

It’s either a spark of interest and a probable torrent of questions about what I get up to at work, or a look of fear and the inevitable phrase: “Are you analysing me now?”.

Reader, I am not.

Because, as I find myself saying on an incredibly regular basis, “I’m not that kind of psychologist”.

In the UK, as in many other countries, psychologists train in specialities. As an undergrad, I quickly discounted the option to pursue clinical training, which is another blog post entirely. But it wasn’t until I was in my final year that I began to get interested in the psychology of work and the workplace. It struck me as being a branch of psychology that has an incredibly relevance of so many people’s lives.

Occupational what?

Here in the UK, this goes by the unfortunate title of ‘occupational psychology’. Most of the world refers to it as ‘work psychology’ or ‘industrial/organisational psychology’. But as with many things, the UK is an outlier, and it’s just one more thing to explain to non-psychologists.

I’m also trained as a coaching psychologist, which is actually what I spend most of my time doing. So I mostly focus on individuals’ experience of work, coaching them to achieve what’s important to them and change their circumstances. Mostly around the topics of wellbeing, productivity and interpersonal effectiveness.

I don’t offer therapy, (it’s very different to coaching) nor do I have a couch for patients to lie on. In fact, I don’t have patients - I have clients. So when people ask me about what I do, I often describe myself as a workplace psychologist, who helps people be their best selves at work - using the science of psychology to get there.

I love explaining what psychology is and how it makes a difference at work. But this means explaining what I don’t do, as much as what I actually do. A small price to pay in my mission to bust myths about how our minds work at work.