If you are interested in a career in psychology, here is our conversation with Harry Roughan, about his experience at university and work, his top tips for people looking to start a career in the field and how he found navigating the sector with a visual impairment.
Introduction to Harry
Harry is a 24-year-old assistant psychologist. Having taken Psychology, Sociology, Biology and Physics in A-Level, he went on to study Psychology at university. Whilst studying, Harry was on the committee as treasurer for both the Tea society and Doctor Who society, respectively. He also volunteered as a research assistant in two different posts, one within developmental psychology and the other focusing on intellectual disabilities. He also volunteered for a charity as a leadership mentor and events host. Below is our conversation with Harry.
How did you find University with a visual impairment?
‘I generally felt well supported at university and got the adjustments that I needed. The fact that a lot of what I had to read was electronic made studying a lot easier. It also helped that psychology wasn’t a heavily vision-reliant subject. I think the only exception of this was a module called ‘Visual Perception and Illusions’ which focused on how our brain interprets what our eyes detect into what we see and how these processes can be tricked. Naturally, this was very sight-orientated. For example, the lecturer would show us visual illusions which the rest of the class could see but I could not. It wasn’t an issue though as this was purely to demonstrate the effect and I could still understand how it worked even though I could not experience it myself. I really appreciated when my lecturer showed me a touch-based illusion demonstrating the same effect but in a medium I could experience.
Can you tell us a bit about your current role and responsibilities?
‘In my specific role, I work in the adult community along the lines of therapeutic access. So, I get to speak to people in one-to-one sessions about the things that are going on in their lives, and then over time, we’ll work together to see if and how they can develop the knowledge and skills to best manage the issues they’re experiencing. Another part of my job is group sessions wherein I, another colleague, and two experts-by-experience (EBEs) facilitate emotional coping skills sessions. These sessions aim to help people gain understanding and skills about emotions and coping strategies. For us, the ethos is in validation and connection. It’s about building those connections in a community of people with similar experiences and shared struggles that is validating to them and shows them they are not alone. The other part of my job is administrative work associated with working with people, e.g., case notes, organising appointments. Every so often I am also involved in service evaluation and audit projects.’
What do you hope to do in 5 years time?
‘I hope to still be content in 5 years and feel like I am okay with whatever it is I have. If it is possible to keep doing what I am doing but in a more skilled way that would be nice. I think I’d want to be on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, often shortened to the DClin, which you need to undertake to become a clinical psychologist. If I don’t do that, maybe I will do something mental health related or I’ve considered teaching at a college.’
What kind of things has Blind in Business helped you with?
‘We looked a lot at interviews and interview technique, we went through the STAR method and looked into applying that more. I knew I was close to being successful for a job and it was more a case of ‘How do I stop kicking that final hurdle?’. Another thing was there was a whole day of mock interviews, I think there were 4 or 5 interviews from people who actually worked in business and interviewed you. I think, for me, having the experience of that was really useful because where else are you going to be interviewed by 6 people on the same day unless you just apply to jobs. What was most helpful was the continuous practice and having interview after interview, mock or otherwise, which is the only way you get better at something, by practicing. Part of it was also luck, ‘if you throw enough paint at the wall, something will eventually stick’.’
When it comes to your job hunt, how did you find applying for jobs with a visual impairment?
‘A lot of the jobs I was looking at had driving as an essential requirement, which was honestly a big issue. Many places want it and that’s just something that visually impaired individuals have to accept that we can’t do and so won’t be able to do a lot of jobs requiring it, though whether the driving requirement is ableist or an actual necessity is a different question. Fortunately, driverless cars will make that easier, whenever that future is, but until then it’s going to be a long haul. I moved myself to a city with good public transport infrastructure, so that’s really helped, because even though I can’t drive I can commute a lot easier.’
What tips do you have for visually impaired individuals wanting to get into psychology?
‘For pretty much every job where you think you may not be able to do things, you probably actually can. I do psychology. I can’t see people’s facial expressions and that may be a concern for people in terms of how I engage with and react to non-verbal cues, and that’s a great question to ask, but people are so much more than their facial gestures. For example, I think people say so much in just the tonality of voice and that is something I can still pick up on well. Even in psychology where people think that sight could be important, I would argue it isn’t, and in the cases where it validly might be, other people will be able to help you manage any risk associated with being visually impaired.
You can do the things you want to, if you can make the ableist systems adjust for you and, honestly, you should if you want to because they’re the issue, not you. It’s just if you want to go through the effort and there’d be no shame if you didn’t because it will be an effort. Currently, society and its systems aren’t designed for disabled people, we just assume everyone is able-bodied and then wonder why disabled people have a hard time living in a world that didn’t think about them. Regardless, whatever it is you’re looking for in psychology or elsewhere, I hope you remember to enjoy life’s moments of blissful enough-ness, of contentedness.’