Work-life balance for aspiring clinical psychologists: Topics from reflective practice sessions

Abstract

WELLBEING of mental health practitioners is often challenged by a range of factors including stress, job retention, and burnout (Saddington, 2021). A recent United Kingdom study found that 52 per cent of mental health workers recorded moderate-to-severe levels of emotional exhaustion (Pappa et al., 2021). Factors such as high volumes of clinical work and unpaid overtime lead to significant burnout (Owen et al., 2021). In response to this, there is an increasing trend of emphasising self-care in trainee and qualified clinical psychologists (Wise et al., 2012) and exploring burnout in these psychological practitioners (Summers et doi:10.53841/bpscpf.2023.1.361.53 54 Clinical Psychology Forum 361 – January 2023 al., 2020). However, despite aspiring clinical psychologists, such as assistant psychologists and psychological wellbeing practitioners, also managing high workloads and psychological complexity, self-care does not appear to be emphasised to the same degree. The aim of this study was to use reflective practice sessions to understand the perspectives of aspiring psychologists on work-life balance, and its associated challenges.