Sophie Buchanan
Cockermouth,United Kingdom
Summary
A professional with expertise in effective communication with stakeholders, resilience under pressure, and record keeping. Demonstrates psychological insight and empathy, contributing to a collaborative and supportive work environment. Committed to leveraging these skills to drive organisational success and foster positive relationships.
Overview
14
14
years of professional experience
4
4
years of post-secondary education
Work history
Education Mental Health Practitioner
Barnardos Mental Health Support Team
2023.04 - 2026.04
- My role as an Education Mental Health Practitioner involves undertaking both group and person-centred one-to-one intervention, generally based on CBT and guided self-help techniques. My role involves travelling between schools and colleges undertaking early interventions and assessments of children and young people and being able to communicate effectively and build meaningful therapeutic relationships with children, young people and parents. It is also an important aspect within my role to refer children and young people to alternative services or to a high intensity support service if necessary and plan, implement and manage my own caseloads. I am also responsible for writing up confidential notes from client meetings and keep records in accordance to relevant ethics and confidentiality guidelines. Along with this, I have also been involved in providing training to schools and other mental health agencies about the mental health needs of children and young people following a whole school approach. I have also been involved in presenting workshops to school groups which explored the topic of transitioning to secondary school and better managing worry. It is important that I establish and maintain effective professional relationships with a range of staff at schools or further education colleges, with relevant social care and mental health colleagues and with other agencies as needed. I am also able to involve, consult and educate family members or carers as appropriate whilst promoting both awareness of mental health and the training of self-management of mental health.
Progress and Welfare Coach
Lakes College West Cumbria
2021.03 - 2023.03
- As a progress and welfare coach I was responsible for students’ mental wellbeing and monitoring their progress during their time in college. This role allowed me to support vulnerable young people and encourage them to reach their goals. I found this to be incredibly rewarding and it required me to have a flexible and enthusiastic approach to tasks, workload, people and working situations. I had a significant case load where I was assigned 100+ students at any given time. I met with each group of students weekly where we discuss any issues they may be having in relation to their education or home life. Many students on my caseload experienced difficulties with addiction, homelessness, domestic violence, poor mental health and being involved in criminal activity. Assisting the students in navigating these issues required a non-judgemental approach, particularly when handling sensitive, confidential, and potentially distressing information. One of my key responsibilities in managing my caseload was liaising directly with internal departments and external professional organizations; most notably social workers, Cumbria constabulary, medical services (e.g. CAMHS) and the third sector. This enabled me to network with local services that provide further support such as homeless charities, local food banks and other supportive services. I often worked to tight deadlines and had multiple changing priorities which has honed my skills in workload organisation and the ability to remain calm during difficult circumstances. It is paramount that I was in regular communication with students and their guardians to be aware of any potential issues that could impact their wellbeing or ability to attend college.
Receptionist and General Assistant
Allerdale Court Hotel
2020.09 - 2021.03
- My role at the Allerdale Court Hotel consisted of front-of-house duties, greeting guests and attending to their needs, ensuring a superb customer experience. I pride myself on being able to build a good rapport with all guests and provide the highest standards of customer care, whilst demonstrating professionalism to resolve any complaints or issues promptly. An important aspect of my role was good communication skills and a customer-focused approach. I was responsible for guest billing processes to maintain accurate and efficient accounts. It was important to always maintain a high standard of cleanliness and organisation in the hotel. My responsibilities included general office duties, all forms of correspondence such as emails, the hotel switchboard, social media, and third-party booking agencies to ensure the smooth running of the reception area. I ensured the duty manager and reception supervisors are kept up to date with any relevant feedback from guests and other departments, making sure the handover forms are constantly up to date. I was responsible for health and safety procedures including the daily fire list, which ensures all guests are accounted for in the event of a fire or emergency. I have greatly enhanced my hospitality skills whilst working for this company, especially in paying attention to detail and going above and beyond to ensure service runs smoothly with clear and effective communication between all team members. I valued my colleagues and was able to appreciate the importance of working together and empowering each other to deliver a professional and efficient service.
Assistant Child Psychologist (Temporary contract)
NHS
2020.03 - 2020.09
- This role involved working with children who have chronic health conditions including diabetes, cystic fibrosis and heart conditions as part of the wider PPSS service. This role provided me with the enthusiasm and dedication that I believe will allow me to be able to make a positive impact within psychology. I was heavily involved in service development, in particular developing a new online group therapy platform for children. I found incredible value within this role and have had experience of conducting mental health assessments, interpreting and scoring data from questionnaires, and undertaking research into service evaluation in the form of an audit, into children’s unmet psychological needs within paediatric clinics. This role pushed me to look into what works and what can be improved and provided me with a pragmatic outlook as to how a service can flourish and develop. I was able to build strong relationships with my colleagues through sessions of supervision. I pride myself on being able to work well as part of a multidisciplinary team whilst also being able to work independently.
Barista and Waitress
Treeby and Bolton
2012.09 - 2020.03
- I was able to greatly increase my confidence here by interacting with a wide range of different people and realising what is needed to run a successful business. My responsibilities involved serving customers, calculating cash flow, making different coffee’s & teas, prepping some of the food & making sure everything was stocked up at all times. I also ordered the coffee fresh in every week & ground it. It was an important part of my role to promote stock to customers and encourage them to buy various items we had on offer. I learned excellent sales techniques in this area of work, in particular supervisory skills as it was usually my role to train new employees.
Education
Postgraduate diploma - Mental Health And Emotional Wellbeing Studies In The Education Environment
Northumbria University
2023.09 - 2024.09
Masters Degree - Psychological Wellbeing in Clinical Practice
Manchester Metropolitan University
2018.09 - 2019.11
Degree - Psychology 2.1
Manchester Metropolitan University
2017.06 - 2018.06
Access to Higher Education Diploma - Health and Social Care Professions
Lakes College West Cumbria
2014.09 - 2015.06
Skills
- Effective communication with stakeholders
- Resilience under pressure
- Record keeping expertise
- Psychological insight and empathy
MY REFERENCES
References are available upon request.
Timeline
Postgraduate diploma - Mental Health And Emotional Wellbeing Studies In The Education Environment
Northumbria University
2023.09 - 2024.09
Education Mental Health Practitioner
Barnardos Mental Health Support Team
2023.04 - 2026.04
Progress and Welfare Coach
Lakes College West Cumbria
2021.03 - 2023.03
Receptionist and General Assistant
Allerdale Court Hotel
2020.09 - 2021.03
Assistant Child Psychologist (Temporary contract)
NHS
2020.03 - 2020.09
Masters Degree - Psychological Wellbeing in Clinical Practice
Manchester Metropolitan University
2018.09 - 2019.11
Degree - Psychology 2.1
Manchester Metropolitan University
2017.06 - 2018.06
Access to Higher Education Diploma - Health and Social Care Professions
Lakes College West Cumbria
2014.09 - 2015.06
Barista and Waitress
Treeby and Bolton
2012.09 - 2020.03