u/TheCounsellingGamer

I applied last year while I was still finishing my undergrad, and I got waitlisted for an interview, but I didn't get one. I got some advice from people on here, and I feel more confident about my application this year. 1,200 words isn't a whole lot of words to sell yourself, but I tried my best.

I think last year I put too much emphasis on my clinical experience. I kind of word vomited about my 7 years working as a counsellor. In hindsight, it might have come across as "Oh, look at me, I've got this experience, I'm awesome"! This year, I put my professional achievements on my CV and saved the personal statement for the deeper stuff. I talked more about how I've had around 300 hours of personal therapy through my life, monthly clinical supervision for 7 years, and how that helped me my motivations. I talked more about my dad as well. I mentioned him last year, but only in passing. My dad is one of my main reasons for wanting to do the doctorate. He struggled through his whole life, especially with the loss of his own dad. He turned to drugs and alcohol, and he passed away when he was 52. I always thought he didn't ask for help, but he did. When I was going through his things, I found a folder full of his medical records. He asked for help a lot of times, and he really did try, but it didn't work. I'm pretty sure he was undiagnosed, AuDHD, because I got an ADHD diagnosis last year. I've experienced having therapy for depression and anxiety, which didn't work because those things stemmed from my ADHD. I can't help but think if he had access to the right support, he would still be alive.

The overall focus of my personal statement was that it's not just about giving people support. It's giving them the right support. I'm a humanistic counsellor, which is why I don't want to do clinical psych, but I do believe that where appropriate, diagnosis and accurate formulation can help people get the right support. I've seen what can when people get support but not the right kind, and it isn't pretty. I did feed it my clinical experience with all of this. Saying that as I've grown as a person and a practitioner, I've recognised the limitations of my current role.

I have done a 12 month MRes course as well, to boost my research experience.

The only slight problem is that the MRes lecturer, who I was going to use as a reference, is currently striking. They're scheduled to strike all the way through April, and the reference is due before then. I've had to put my generic undergrad reference down, but I did email the uni to let them know.