therapylecturer.com is refreshingly different from other academic resources. It is not the intention or the aim of this blog to replace or work in opposition to any content of your training or professional development. Quite the opposite. therapylecturer.com looks to support health practitioners with their studies. Whether you are on a short professional course that introduces you to a mental health profession, or studying more long term professional courses such as a 2 year counselling course or a 4-6 year psychotherapy training, MA / MScs, Professional Doctorate or philosophical PhD levels, or even those of you who are qualified health practitioners looking to enhance your CPD, therapylecturer.com can help you with your process of learning and writing assignments that are academically underpinned.
Over the years as a former Director of Professional and Academic Studies for one of the largest UKCP accredited integrative psychotherapy training colleges in the UK, I have had the privilege to walk alongside hundreds of students in training who wish to become mental health and wellbeing professionals. Whilst there are many excellent academic resources out there (and this blog will certainly link you to some of these), what I have noticed as an educator is that many of the resources which are out there fail to understand the context and the process within which mental health students are assessed. To address this therapylecturer.com uniquely frames the process of linking theory with practice and the academic skills required within the context of mental health and wellbeing professional practice and training, to help you to produce the academic underpinning which will support your practice and professional life.
One of the most important offerings of this blog is the space to explore and improve your relationship with the academic side of your training. Most mental health and wellbeing professions comprise of theoretical underpinning (academia) and working with clients (practicum) or shadowing those that do. Academic learning and writing for counselling and psychotherapy and research brings with it a unique set of challenges rarely experienced by other disciplines. Academic assignments are not stand alone, bolt on, static dry pieces included in training programmes just to demonstrate theoretical knowledge. They are dynamic, active, engaging, demanding, and challenging, and they are meant to be. They invite the mind to be in service to heart. Your assignments challenge you in various ways, some more obvious than others, but ultimately they are in service to underpin and build your capacity to hold ethical reflexive practice. Assignments and research not only draw upon your theoretical understanding and clinical knowledge but also challenge your own personal process. They are holistic, integrative gateways which underpin your practice and invite conscious competence.
Developing your skills in writing more academically will improve your understanding of the client work and will also build your confidence as a practitioner. Understanding the importance of academic underpinning and critically evaluating Evidence Based Practice and Practice Based Evidence and its impact on your practice, will support and inform your practice. In the profession today students as well as qualified practitioners are required to be actively engaged in research conversations, mastering these skills will give you a voice. You are invited to participate in the conversation.
It is my hope that this blog will become a resource that supports you within in the mental health profession that you are training and working in.
I wish you well on your journey!
Julie
Julie Scully 
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