Rachel Salmon

• Year of graduation: 2022
• Current job title: Family Liaison Officer
• Organisation: Harry’s Rainbow
• Industry Sector: Charitable Sector, Bereavement

Your University Experience

Why did you choose your course at UON?

I was interested in Mental Health, having worked as a one-to-one TA for many years I knew how vital this was. However, the main aim for my career was to become a Bereavement Consultant and I felt that this course offered a range of skills and knowledge that could then be applied to this role. It was an area I lacked training in, and this course offered a wide variety of subjects that would aid me to support children and young people from a variety of settings as well as support the settings themselves in understanding how mental health can be impacted by bereavement, no matter how long ago the bereavement took place.

What aspects of the course did you enjoy the most and why?

I enjoyed learning to critique, to ask questions and the realisation of how mental health is much more than just a mental illness. Luckily, in my first year (I did this part time), we were able to meet face to face and the group that year had such a wide range of experience and knowledge that we learnt so much from each other, as well as the course. The tutors actively encouraged us to add to their content with our own personal experience and knowledge, which made the course feel very accepting, welcoming and a safe space to discuss very sensitive and sometime upsetting topics.

Your university to career journey

How do you think your studies have helped your career or personal development?

This course has opened my eyes to how mental health is so important in so many roles, in clinical, educational and community settings. It gave me an insight into a variety of settings, and this will help me with multi-agency work that is so vital in this field. I also learnt about roles which I would have never known existed and these connections helped me to learn where support can be reached, and how it might look, again this can be applied to so many roles that this knowledge is invaluable.

The course itself was full of content on so many aspects, from counselling techniques, to legislation, to specific communities and groups that may be hard to reach, engage with or reluctant to be supported. The tutors used their professional and personal experiences to highlight this and how they have overcome barriers, as well as allowing us to reflect on and use our previous experience as learning points.

Personally, I feel I have a much deeper understanding of mental health and the barriers faced by so many when trying to access help, especially earlier on. I use this knowledge to understand my friends that may have some mental health problems themselves, as well as deepen my understanding of the frustration some of the families I work with experience.

I also promote good mental health and wellbeing through activities offered in the groups I help to organise and run, and this is now a larger focus for the charity than it was before.

Describe your career progression so far, and any plans you have for the future. Are there any hurdles you may face?

I was not expecting to be in this role! Thankfully, due to the MSc CAMH course I felt confident enough in my own abilities to apply for the position when it was advertised. I applied skills learnt about critiquing, developing and evaluating current services in my interview and was successful, in part, due to this. My passion for ensuring every bereaved child gets the support they need, when they need it also helped.

I plan to remain in this job for now as it is a dream job. However, when the time comes to move on, I know that the qualification alongside the learning experience I had on this course will allow me to explore other roles, but I still wish to remain in the bereavement industry, preferably in the charitable sector as I find it not too intense, but immensely rewarding!

The hurdles I face are a lack of jobs in this industry and the lack of funding available to charities to allow roles such as mine to be readily available.

Which, if any, skills and knowledge/understanding gained on your degree are most useful in your current role?

I find that I utilise skills I learnt every day in this role. The module on therapeutic and counselling styles allows me to actively listen to the families when they talk to me about their situation and ask for advice. The critiquing allows me to look at what we do as a charity and how we can always improve, as well as looking further afield and being critical of what research is coming out in this field.

The legislation lessons have given me a base knowledge of what restrictions we may have on what we can and cannot do, and how the families may have had barriers due to these.

The module that covered a whole plethora of individual circumstances, diagnoses and communities that may be impacted more by mental health helped me to see how being part of a certain community, or multiple communities, cultures and identities (intersectionality) then puts people at a disadvantage before they even try to reach out for support or may even stop them reaching out for support.

My dissertation and the research methods has helped me to undertake a research project in my current role, that is focusing on a specific group of people that are at higher risk of suicide and how we, as a charity, can better reach that group.

Are you currently involved in any community or volunteering projects?

I work for a charity, so I am heavily involved with that. I always get involved in the other aspects of the charity, such as fundraising and events as much as I can, so my work spills over to my personal life, but in a positive manner. The charity is so passionate about what they do that it is hard to not be inspired by that.  I am so passionate about providing support to bereaved children and young people that my job, and the extra volunteering, keeps that spark alive for me.

Your advice

In one sentence, what advice would you give to undergraduates interested in this career path or anything you wish you had known earlier?

Everything you do can be used towards experience in this role. I used to worry that I couldn’t commit time to volunteering as this seemed to be the best way to gain experience, but look at what you do now, the skills you use, and you will be surprised by how much you already know and have!

In ten words, or less how would you summarise your UON experience?

Interesting, thought provoking, tough at times, worthwhile.