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You can find more blogs and podcasts at www.drrosie.co.uk
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on Facebook @HannahAbrahamsPsychologist and on her website www.hannahabrahams.com
Transcript of Podcast EpisodeTragedy, Trauma and Mess: How a Psychologist Helped the Survivors of GrenfellFoundations: How and why did Hannah become a psychologist?Rosie (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=brlE3JYj3zXY-jFHicMfQPFOvpLVtHlb53wPSWXv7ZWvLPFYjIeJGmdYVxgR3pCGN1JZ9QX84lGwHJxIv2EsJkJol4Y&loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=0.94 (00:00)):
Today, I'm talking to Hannah Abrahams. Hannah is an educational and child psychologist who's worked beyond the therapy room in both the public and private sector, starting out as a primary school teacher before training as an ed psych in 2005. She's been involved in projects that would seriously intimidate most of us, including setting up a school and supporting the community after the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower. Not to mention setting up and building her own private practice. Welcome to the podcast, Hannah, there's so much that I want to ask you about and so much that we could talk about. So let's start at the beginning. What inspired you to leave teaching and become an ed psych?
Hannah (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=rn3jalHAfXfNqv7Sy9eZqU1AvhAImV1YiQHu5TsGTjegfxibIpgHlpMQZz5aH5192j6GoPid9zKahiVXqQDZkO-mIUs&loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=38.76 (00:38)):
Gosh, what a big question, and what an introduction. It actually made me really emotional listening to that. I think I always knew that I wanted to work with special needs children, and in my second year of teaching, it was really made concrete. There was a little boy that I had in my class who had been diagnosed very early on with autism. And we formed a really strong bond and a really good understanding of each other. And I think that absolutely cemented the fact that I knew that I wanted to go and work as an educational psychologist and kind of work in a more systemic way supporting staff and families and working very collaboratively. Yeah, the picture of him and my mind is so clear, but I remember coming into the class one day just going, yep, I absolutely have to follow this. So I think I had an idea from very early on.
Hannah (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=jGvMX_l6x7NnRm6hwwygiGrAPCrwKenHr9ESmfxA-dpYDeTJX-iI9HdEsGbZAH-LqpfOEouNVJHJeDroXgzeS8l9fkI&loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=95.23 (01:35)):
I also did work experience when I was 16 in a school for children who were deaf, and they taught me to sign really quickly. Obviously, I was not fluent. But I think for me it's always been about communication, and interestingly, about communication with people who find it more difficult to communicate in the neuro-typical way. So I think from a really young age, I was really interested in building relationships and building bonds. And I think that ed psychs have an incredible gift of being able to do that in all sorts of different settings. So I hope that answers your first question.
Rosie (https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/Edit?token=rh0GwIA72WTIxaDwdlKrk8BXU8OBoWKOXO5I1lB9lexodEgXcSdmO_P6jUox9bNi9M5oqR1nWuO505yw0z3Ukw1LOgY&loadFrom=DocumentDeeplink&ts=129.4 (02:09)):
Yeah, it does. I mean, I was just thinking about how strong that motivation must've been. Like you've literally, I can see, the audience can't, but I can, and see like Hannah gets really animated when she's thinking about that boy. I'm thinking, was that what got you through what must've been really difficult? Because training as a psychologist is hard, especially as a second career.
Hannah...