Hi! My name is Charli Moore, and I am currently beginning my fourth and final year at Bishop’s. I am completing a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Pre-Clinical concentration… and I love it! In addition to the awesome courses I get to take at Bishop’s. The past two summers I have been fortunate enough to have completed a psychology work placement. Run through the Experiential Learning program at BU. Both years, I worked at Borderline Personality Disorder Clinic in Ottawa, ON.
Throughout my two summers at BPD Clinic. I was busy with lots of tasks and projects, assisting my boss (a BU alum). One part of my job was doing many administrative tasks such as filling session notes, transferring hundreds of clinical records into the clinic’s new database, ensuring all clients provided informed consent, and scheduling client appointments. These administrative tasks helped me gain insight on building trust with clients, rolling with the unexpected, and more.
In addition to administrative tasks. A large project was transferring the DBT manual’s hundreds of handouts for clients to work on their Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotional Regulation and Distress Tolerance skills. This being one of my major projects this summer that I was simultaneously conducting research for my boss. On various fields such as psychopharmacology, psychopathology, and diagnostic frameworks for personality disorders.
Although my work placement was filled with many highs, there were certainly some memorable lows. I was faced with some ‘heavier’ tasks, such as needing to call and seek guidance from the authorities, regarding a high-risk and life-threatening circumstance that a client was facing. Despite having felt nervous when picking up the phone, it was a learning experience which I feel helped improve my ability to remain
‘level-headed’ while working in clinical psychology, and not let the emotion get to me.
I felt direct correlations to many of my classes which I’ve taken at Bishop’s. Specifically, I applied much of the knowledge I learned in Psychopathology, Interviewing, Child Development and Personality.
For me, there was zero hesitation in taking part in the opportunity to complete this work placement once again. Additionally, the Experiential Learning program was so supportive, which was amazing.
MANY thanks are in order. To Dr. Hood, thank you for all that you did in helping me land this work placement once again – I am so grateful. To Bassam, my supervisor from Experiential Learning, thank you for your kindness, always encouraging me and giving grace throughout the process. Lastly, HUGE thanks to my boss at BPD Clinic, Victoria – I feel so lucky to have met you, gotten to know you, and worked alongside you… you have taught me so much and I am forever grateful.
I would say my key piece of advice for any student is, if the opportunity presents, TAKE the work placement! It is one of the best decisions I have ever made. As BU students we are lucky to have the support of Experiential Learning, so it’s 100% a rare opportunity.
