Alex Wren Email and Phone Number

Psychological wellbeing practitioners (PWPs) are trained to assess and treat people with common mental health problems – mainly anxiety disorders and depression. I am trained in Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (LiCBT) and see patients face to face and over the phone.

As a trainee psychological wellbeing practitioner I am learning to assess and support people with common mental health problems, such as anxiety disorders and depression.

Social prescribing link workers give people time, focusing on ‘what matters to me?’ to coproduce a simple personalised care and support plan, and support people to take control of their health and wellbeing.Social prescribing link workers also support existing community groups to be accessible and sustainable, and help people to start new groups, working collaboratively with all local partners.Social prescribing is an all-age, whole population approach that works particularly well for people who:have one or more long term conditionswho need support with low level mental health issueswho are lonely or isolatedwho have complex social needs which affect their wellbeing.

In my final year of University, I was chosen alongside a small number of students to participate in the Psychology Department’s “Outreach and Engagement” Programme, where I advised Edinburgh City Council on a project piloted in 2019 to improve the engagement and attendance of primary school pupils who faced difficulties at home. I applied research driven educational psychology in creating a six-week small group “Curiosity Club”, where pupils completed reason-based escape room style puzzles that emphasised how the children’s own actions lead to their success. Final implementation of the project was postponed to 2021 due to Coronavirus restrictions.

I worked in a psychology research group at the University of Edinburgh throughout my third year, where I assisted a team of 10 people with in-person testing using Qualtrics, and statistical analysis using R. This made me appreciate the importance of teamwork and organisation in a research setting, honing my communication and interpersonal skills, both in building a quick rapport with participants and helping to manage the collaboration of many researchers on one project.

I volunteered inside Prospect Park NHS Hospital Reading. I worked in the Rowan Dementia ward, primarily alongside mental health nurses between June and July 2018 as a “friend of dementia” volunteer, interacting directly with patients to try to create a greater sense of community. Whilst volunteering I shadowed several staff members, including psychologists and doctors through a range of activities such as assessments, meetings, discussions of appropriate treatment plans and community events. Working with dementia patients first hand has shown me the importance of empathy and care when working with vulnerable groups, and how one’s own preparedness has genuine effects on the lived experience of patience in healthcare settings.