Danielle McNulty

When I was in my early 20’s I lost my little sister and my mum to suicide. During my grieving I accessed a therapist. The experience I had during that time was something I struggle to put into words as it was so special to me, but I knew I wanted to help someone else have the experience I had in a dark time. I just knew I wanted to be a therapist and if I could help even one person like my therapist helped me then I had to do it. Unfortunately, I was a new mother when I lost my loved ones and I wasn’t able to follow my desire to train as a therapist. The desire never left me and my passion only grew stronger, so when I was able to I applied to Edge Hill to follow my dream.

I initially chose Edge Hill because they offered the access programme fastrack. Going through the fastrack route meant that I would be able to achieve enough UCAS points to progress onto the degree that I wanted to do. I also fell in love with Edge Hill when I went on the open day and toured the campus. I spoke to course specific tutors and I knew once I was there that it was the place for me. My favourite places on campus are the lake outside my building, where I love watching the ducks and the wildlife. I also love the comfy chairs in my building, where I can catch up with my friends.

The top three skills that I have developed during my degree are:

• Active listening
• Reflexivity
• Patience

The most memorable moment of my degree has been the friends that I made, who I know will be lifelong friends from the connection we formed through our growth on this course. This degree is no ordinary degree. It will change you as a person, and only my friends on this course will understand that and that is so special to me, we will forever have a special bond.

My favourite thing about my degree is that I was given a financial contribution to engage in therapy. This was amazing and not something other universities offer. It helped me to delve into understanding myself, my personal process and helped me deal with anything underlying that could possibly get in the way of me being present for my clients. For anyone considering studying this course, I would advise them to utilise the money given for therapy, sit in the chair, be the client. Even if you think you don’t need therapy do it anyway! For yourself and for your future clients – do the work!

I have had the most amazing personal tutor, who was also my personal development tutor for 2 years which helped massively for a trusted relationship and for her to see my personal growth. I also had an amazing tutor for supervised practice which again helped massively as this grew a relationship of trust and respect, he was also able to see the development of my practice and how I was growing/developing as a therapist.

The University helped me to have experiences that enriched my development as a Person-Centred Psychotherapist. I was able to attend weekends and conferences when I was away from Edge Hill. This also helped me network with other therapists, organisations, and like minded peers.

When I graduate there are so many things I want to do. I hope to be practicing in the area of bereavement and loss. I am applying to do a post-graduate MRes, and I hope to also be able to be part of teaching and developing grief education.