The Aspiring Psychologist Podcast - From Radiography to Psychology | It’s Never Too Late to Change

Episode Date: November 10, 2025

Changing careers in your 30s or 40s can feel daunting — but it might also be the best decision you ever make. In this episode of The Aspiring Psychologist Podcast, Dr Marianne Trent talks with a former cancer-care radiographer who retrained as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP). They explore the emotional impact of working in healthcare, recognising burnout, overcoming fear, managing finances, and pursuing a career in psychology later in life. This episode is packed with motivation and guidance for anyone wondering how to start a psychology career, apply for the PWP course, or rediscover purpose through compassionate work.Timestamps:00:00 – Introduction: When your career no longer fits01:14 – From radiotherapy to mental health support04:18 – Why therapeutic work felt more fulfilling than clinical treatment06:04 – Recognising compassion fatigue and value misalignment09:11 – Balancing family, health and the decision to retrain11:31 – Funding, salary changes and managing the practicalities13:13 – Health as a motivator for career change16:04 – How NHS experience supported the PWP application17:31 – What it’s like to train and qualify as a PWP19:14 – Starting again in your forties: challenges and mindset shifts21:51 – Accessing academic and wellbeing support during training23:48 – Why it’s never too late to thrive professionally25:10 – Permission to pursue fulfilment and alignment26:33 – The “Smile File” strategy for motivation and reflection29:18 – Closing reflections: authenticity, courage and growth🫶 To support me by donating to help cover my costs for the free resources I provide click here: https://the-aspiring-psychologist.captivate.fm/support📚 To check out The Clinical Psychologist Collective Book: https://amzn.to/3jOplx0 📖 To check out The Aspiring Psychologist Collective Book: https://amzn.to/3CP2N97 💡 To check out or join the aspiring psychologist membership for just £30 per month head to: https://www.goodthinkingpsychology.co.uk/membership-interested🖥️ Check out my brand new short courses for aspiring psychologists and mental health professionals here: https://www.goodthinkingpsychology.co.uk/short-courses✍️ Get your Supervision Shaping Tool now: https://www.goodthinkingpsychology.co.uk/supervision📱Connect socially with Marianne and check out ways to work with her, including the Aspiring Psychologist Book, Clinical Psychologist book and The Aspiring Psychologist Membership on her Link tree: https://linktr.ee/drmariannetrent💬 To join my free Facebook group and discuss your thoughts on this episode and more: https://www.facebook.com/groups/aspiringpsychologistcommunityLike, Comment, Subscribe & get involved:If you enjoy the podcast, please do subscribe and rate and review episodes. If you'd like to learn how to record and submit your own audio testimonial to be included in future shows head to:

Imagine spending years in a career only to realise the part that truly lights you up isn't what you're trained to do. That's what happened for today's guest, Manisha, who worked in radiotherapy helping cancer patients through life-saving treatment. But it was when she supported patients' mental health, calming panic attacks, easing fear and helping them feel safe that she realized where her real purpose was. So with a family, a mortgage and a steady career, she decided to start again. In this episode, we talk about what it really takes to retrain later in life, the fear, the finances, the family juggle and the freedom that comes from finally doing something that aligns with your values. If you've ever wondered whether it's too late to change direction, this episode might just be the permission slip you need. I hope you find it really useful if you do like and subscribe for more. Hi, welcome along to the aspiring psychologist podcast.

I'm Dr. Marianne. I'm a qualified clinical psychologist. And today I am joined by our guest, Manisha, who is a psychological well-being practitioner. Hi, Minisha. Hello, Marianne. Thank you so much for being here. And, you know, for helping us to expand the narrative that it's always okay to listen to your inner kind of thoughts, feelings, maybe sometimes even bodily sensations,

that maybe the career you're in is not for you. And retraining, regardless of your age, is an option worth exploring. Could you tell us a little bit about your history and where you're at, Manisha? Yeah. So I suppose I've always had a passion for psychology, for mental health, for helping others and understanding others for a long time. And initially, I suppose, I wanted to do psychology, but didn't feel like it was quite right when I originally went to university to do it. So I decided to train in radiotherapy, which is treating cancer patients and helping them to get through radiotherapy treatment.

So it's been a really rewarding role in career because I've been able to help others. kind of something I strongly value. So I suppose in my career, natural career progression, I've kind of moved up in my job and then, and I guess I've always thought the purpose of that was to kind of get to the next step. And I think once I kind of got to that kind of final position of where I wanted to be, I started to think, actually I'm not really sure, is this for me, is this what I want going forward? And I started training in various things of where, you know, I place more value. So that was like in supporting cancer patients with their mental help to help them get through treatment, people who struggle with anxiety, depression, claustrophobia.

So helping them to manage and I really like, really felt for those patients and thought, you know what, I want to do more here. And my passion is actually more about helping people with their mental health than not necessarily treating them because obviously I wanted to do that. That was part of my job. But I felt like my focus has changed. shifted or maybe was always there but kind of didn't listen to those niggles along the way that kind of was pushing me in that direction. Okay, so if people are like, oh, I thought radiographer was someone that x-rays broken bones, that's not quite what you've been trained in. That's not quite what you were doing, is it? No, that's, so diagnostic radiotherapy is a little

bit different. So those are the people who x-ray patients for different things. Radiotherapy, so a therapeutic radiographer is someone who will treat cancer patients going through the treatment of radiotherapy. So for example, different patient cancer patients like to have different treatments such as chemotherapy. So radiotherapy is one of the treatments that are using ionising radiation to treat a patient's cancer, basically. Thank you. That's really helpful. It's reminded me of when my dad was having cancer treatment.

He had to have it on his, he had it's offered you or cancer. I think he had some sort of mask made for his face. So that's sometimes why some patients can feel a bit claustrophobic because they have to be laid in a mask on the bed that's kind of pinned down to the bed and they've got to be still to have their radiotherapy treatment. Okay, so just remind us or just illuminate us then. What's the function of that mask?

Is that just to immobilise the patient or is there some magic that happens? Yeah. So that's to all patients will have certain immobilisation to keep them still in the bed. Obviously, if we're using radiation, we don't want to miss what we're treating or we don't want to, you know, it's very accurate, very precise and it's becoming more targeted. So we have immobilization aids to help keep the patient in the correct. correct position for their treatment. They do also have images taken as well to again check that we're in the right position. We're happy that their position is consistent and throughout their treatment because some patients can come for one treatment and some patients can come for a course

of radiotherapy. I see. So the masks would be kind of fixed to the bed where they're having the treatment so that they can't move. So yeah, I can absolutely understand why that might feel claustrophobic yes okay so that's you know even in this listening to this podcast people are able to help think about their own upskilling their own knowledge but of course we're also thinking about yeah that you recognize that maybe some of the more therapeutic aspects were just hitting different for you yeah and I think when I went into radiotherapy initially so though there are those two routes I wanted to do more of the therapeutic side for that reason but I suppose because cancer is becoming you know it's there's more and more people

experiencing cancer so focus is on getting patients through treatment and obviously there's waiting time so the priority is to get cancer patients through their treatment unless I'd say focus on psychological side the impact of that on cancer patients especially going through treatment So as part of what we call the patient support team who then specialise in helping cancer patients get through treatment who are struggling. It's just giving them that extra sort of support through their treatment. It might be talking to them beforehand, but really it's about providing them support to get on the bed to get through their treatment. So people who might have panic attacks or who might feel very anxious to help calm them down. So it's like talking to them over the intercom, doing some brew.

reading and some patients we did some graded exposure when they're experiencing the mask and struggling with that. Thank you and how lovely that you have been able to see the distress in the client be moved by that distress and want to help them to get through essential treatment because it really matters, doesn't it? You know, the engagement of this treatment being successful means that they will get hopefully more days, more weeks, more months, maybe even more years, more decades. sometimes with to live life you know to be part of of their own life yeah I think it's a

real struggle if someone's really struggling with their mental health and then they can't go through treatment because they're struggling so much to get through with their mental health and I think that's really difficult you know for anyone going through any sort of health condition or treatment but then to have that kind of or maybe feel like they don't have that option because of their mental health and struggling with that. It just didn't quite sit right with me and I think, you know, I wanted to help people to be like, actually, you know, you can do this and I feel like I'm quite a compassionate person. So I think that sometimes we all just need a little bit of help and support and we can get through, you know, with that kind of right help,

right support. So I think how we are as professionals can make a big difference and a big impact on other people, you know, and it's sometimes just the little things that we can do. So yeah, I think that's, you know, really important. Absolutely. Absolutely it is. And, you know, they deserve to have a good experience, but also you deserve as a clinician to feel like you're living your best life as well. So how old were you when you started to actively pursue kind of retraining options? I suppose when I had my child, so around 2017, I actually trained to be a coach in the NHS. So I trained as a coach and I was super passionate about that because again, it allows me to help people to reach their goals.

And again, that was something that I was really passionate about. and then I kind of brought that into the service to also help. So that I'd be helping staff in the wider trust, but also I wanted to help people in our department who wanted to look at their career progression. And again, with interviews, sometimes people would feel quite anxious going through an interview to supporting them in different ways,

where that kind of, I suppose, mental health kind of creeped in as well. So that was another thing that I'd started doing there. So I think that really, I suppose having that time out when I had my, when I was off on Matt leave, kind of made me think, oh, do you want something a bit more and I want to be doing more of where I'm focused on helping people, but helping people get through to the other side. So that, I think, probably started things off really. and I suppose that's kind of what has led me to there, but I think I've always had that. What I've been told about career, you know, you get your next level and then you go, you know,

and you just keep on going. And I think sometimes we don't stop and think, is this really what I want and is this what I want to do? Because it doesn't have to be, well, you just keep on going up the career ladder. It does that fit in line with your values, your purpose? And I think those are the things to sit in, consider. Yeah, and it's also, as you go up that career ladder, you know, your standard of

living probably and your salary and your banding gets higher. And then you've obviously got, you know, dependent as well. You've got your son who's probably around eight years old, you know, and they are not cheap. Keeping them in Robux alone is difficult. You know, and then when you're thinking about retraining into a psychology career, you're like this is probably going to involve quite quite the pay cut so it's not you know there's often lots of factors involved yeah definitely so i think with psychology it's always kind of be there do i go and i kept seeing things or you know thinking but again i was thinking of that pay cut and how i don't you know manage with that but i suppose um one big thing that did have an impact on my career

was my health, like I struggled with my health a lot, and I knew that I needed things to be a bit differently. And I also believe sometimes that your health search sometimes might show up when you're kind of not fully aligned with where you're at as well. So I learned through my health journey that actually that my health was probably having an impact because things weren't really truly in line. And again, I knew that I needed to do something, but I think it took my health to really be like, no, something's, I've got to make a change and do something and it's taken that for me to really realise. I think I would have still made a change, but I think I was, you know, I was dizzering for a while and that was like the kind of final deciding thing that actually

I want to be able to work from home. I want to be able to pick up my child from school and just yeah, and I want that kind of, I want to feel joy when I come to. to work. I'm not saying that I didn't, but I think I was losing that a little bit because I wanted to do more of the supporting patients with their mental health and less of the other side of my job, which was the main part of the job. So I think that was kind of a bit of a wake-up call as well. And I did think when I was thinking about career changes and options, that was one of the things the salary. But I suppose in that position, I something had to give a little bit. And I there's so many options like when you come into this world there's so many options and okay there's

going to be a pay cut can I manage with that yes I can you know it's a funded course that I did so that was even better and I'm training on the job so I get a job as long as I pass which I did and I get a job at the end of it and then after that there's so many different options for me to progress and I've done it before so I know that I can do it again. So if I'm going to change my career and do all that, I felt like now's the time to do it rather than waiting even longer when I know that I'm not happy. I couldn't see myself in my job in the next five years, 10 years. And I thought, well, I need to make that change. It sounds like your drive. So drive is so important to us and it actually can help us to do really difficult things

because we're just energized by that, but your drive had definitely diminished for the work, which then brings, you know, it just feels a bit more drudgy and it feels like it takes more from you, which again ultimately can impact on you holistically, which is thinking sounds like what you'd experienced. And you then got onto the funded psychological well-being practitioner course.

Were you able to do that straight from what you were doing? doing from the degree that you'd done or did you have to do any kind of conversion for that? Yeah, no. So I was very lucky actually because I was able to go straight from my course to doing this and they will actually, there's always loads of applicants. So there were 100 applicants for my job and training. So I was luckily one of the two to get through to that based on the experience that I had had. So I'd had some mental health first aid training. I'd worked and supported cancer patients with their mental health. I'd done a lot of work with in the trust with black and ethnic minority champions and setting those up. So because our work is

very an inclusive practice and works on the community and how we can get more access to people wanting to access mental health. So all those things that I'd done really played a part in getting me that application and getting through that process. So I was, I think I was quite lucky, not lucky, because I'd done the work, but it was enough. And I'd also have a friend who is a clinical psychologist who also, what used to be a radiotherapist and had gone through that journey. So again, just a little bit of help and support to get me through as well. Amazing. And when you can see it, you can be it, right? So actually you know that that's possible. So it's interesting to think, actually, if people are watching this because they're like,

I really want to do something in mental health, that actually not having a psychology undergraduate degree or a master's conversion is not a barrier to becoming a PWP, which is really, really important. If you were, I'm not going to say that you are, but if you wanted to then go on and become a trainee, Incite or to do something like that, I guess you would need to do a conversion master. to have that kind of stamp of approval from the BPS. Is that what you understand, Manisha? As far as I know, I think that's what you'd need, a conversion masters, I think, to have,

I think there needs to be something like that in place to further that ahead. But this, I think it gives you a really good understanding and, you know, like a baseline and a good level of experience of, not that role, but the extent of the role, you know, It's a very good baseline start, I would say. If someone wants to go in that direction,

I think that this course would be a very good foundation. Great. And once you are qualified as a PWP, essentially you would be able to go on and become, you know, a CBT therapist or something like that as well. Is that right? Yeah, that's correct. So you can train.

So again, you generally need a core profession, but you can do a conversion so then you can do the funded course after you've got to have at least a two years gap but then you can do a funded course to train as a cognitive behavioral therapist and that's a year's training from what i understand and then yeah so then you can train to be a cognitive to be a therapist and there's other roles in terms of being a senior or lecturing other things that you can do as well from this but again that would then open up certain possibilities being a cognitive behavioural therapist as well. Yeah. And if anyone's watching this and going, why do I need a two-year gap? It's because if you've

received health education England funding or Health Education Scotland, maybe even Health Education Wales as well, you need to have given two years of not having funded of being qualified before you draw on any future training. And the same is true for people accessing. clinical psychology funded doctorates as well that you need to have had two years. What is worth saying is that you don't necessarily have to have worked in that qualified capacity as a PWP. You could go and do something different, working a different role. It's purely just the funding that you've got to have at least, you know, those two clear years from when your training finishes and the next one starts. So tell us then, Manisha,

what is it like for you having got there? I think how old are you currently, Mnisha? So I'm 42, yeah. So, yeah, it's not being an easy journey, I'd say, for sure. Yeah, and how is it, how is it then being 42 and relatively recently qualified as a PWP? Do you love it? Was it worth it? Oh, yeah, no, definitely.

It's definitely worth it. It was definitely the right thing to do. Yeah, and I think those little nudges. that I listened to were definitely in the right. I never thought, why, well, sometimes I did think why I've done this when I was studying, but not more so I always knew that it was the right decision. It wasn't easy at all. I think changing careers later on in life, having a family, working full-time and studying

is really tough and it is a really intense course. You kind of told that before you start, but I think until you go through it, you don't really realise how difficult it is. and then when you're trying to juggle lots of different things. So, yeah, definitely being very organized and managing your own self-care, I think throughout the course is really, really important because it is really tough. But I think because it's for a year,

you can see that end in sight a lot quicker than if it was a longer course. So, yeah, now I think it's trusting that you have the capability and the ability to do those things once you've got the interview, you and you know going through it you've been assessed you've got those skills you can do it can get through it and I think it's having that trust in yourself that belief in yourself that each thing is going to be difficult but you'll get through it sometimes you know the shift in certain things that have happened along the way like getting used to doing treatments with clients getting used to doing assessments with clients there's a period where you think oh my god no I cannot do this how am

going to be able to do all of this but then you do and it shifts along the course this those little shifts you learn a bit more and it's the next thing how i can get through supervision and do all my cases and then it's the next thing then you just again as the caseload increases it's those little shifts but always remembering you know what i'm here for a reason i've got through and i can get through so i think it's just having that that belief in yourself and using the support that you have around you because this field is a very supportive and compassionate field and i think pulling on those support that you've got to kind of get you through well because I had a lot of difficulty in personal circumstances, so I did need a lot of support

and it did mean extending my deadlines to kind of get through. But there's no shame in that if you need the help and support, go get it. We need it as much as anybody else. Absolutely. And if people are listening to this and I'm like, oh, I'm not quite sure that I'll necessarily meet the academic standards of, you know, putting in my case presentations or my essays or my assignments or my reflective pieces, whatever it is. Is there support from, you know, the academic centre for writing or your tutors to help you meet the expectations? There's a lot of support.

Like even for writing, there's like skills at university. There's loads of different support that you can do. There's from time management to organising, you know, there's lots of support that you, and it's just about accessing that support. You told about it, but then sometimes people don't access it. I used it and I thought it was really helpful and it helped me to get through the course and different things that I was finding difficult. You know, everyone is really supportive.

So nobody wants you to fail. So there is the support there. It's just about, I think, accessing it and utilising it and taking on the advice that you're kind of given. Yeah, and using that really. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I think even when I was on training, so I think I think I I was 27 when I started, and there was a 40-year-old and a 43-year-old, and that was quite

radical at those times, but actually it was really important for the cohort, but also for those people to not invalidate themselves, to not think, oh, I'm too old, like it's, you know, I've passed my time, like, we all deserve to thrive, don't we? And with the idea that maybe retirement is maybe like a thing that may or may not ever happen for us. If we're going to carry on working, maybe we're choosing to carry on working, then we deserve to be fulfilled in what we do is what I would say. Would you agree, Mnisha? Oh yes, definitely.

I think, you know, life's for living. Who wants to spend their time at work and feel miserable? Well, I definitely don't. So I think, and if you feel like that, then that's, you know, a definite sign to kind of something needs to change or something needs to give unless you can feel happy and content there being in that same environment, then find, you know, like, you know, then my advice would be to carry on. But if you're not happy, then there's nothing worse than spending your time at work, not feeling happy with what you're doing. so that, yeah, that would be a big sign to kind of do something different and change. And even at my age, I never think that I'm too old to do anything because I don't see age as a thing. You know, I feel quite young inside.

So, but yeah, obviously you've got different things to consider at an age in terms of finances, potentially children or other responsibilities that people might have. So it's not easy. but it's not impossible either you can do it and I think now's a perfect time you know what you want yeah like maybe rather than trying to push down that thought that maybe I want to do something different allow it some oxygen you know

actually if I was to take myself seriously if I was to give myself permission to do this to fulfil this career aspiration and if I was to really think about maybe it's okay for me to choose what I do maybe some of the other choices I've made have made sense at the time but now the age I'm at right now

maybe it's okay for me to empower myself to meet my own needs to put myself first and to know that all of the people around me will actually be happier and thrive more if I am authentically driving. Yeah. I think what I did is I started to think about what is it about my job that I like

and what is it that I don't like or, you know, to try and kind of filter out, what is it that lights me up? What am I liking? What do I see in other jobs that I think, oh, I like want a bit of that, you know, and that kind of really helped me. But I think I always have that knowing in terms of psychology and mental health and that support really was always there. And sometimes I think it always is, it's just if we're listening. listening really. Yeah. Okay. And do you think reflective journals are helpful? Did you keep any notes at work about the things that lit you up when you felt really good? I had notes on my phone. I'd keep like a little bit of a positive log so I'd look for like feedback I'd get or anything that

you know, like I'd really light me up. And I think having all that kind of evidence was kind of telling me these are the things that I'm good at and these are that's where my skills are and this is a I think it gives you those signals for your direction and where to go and you know all of that and I felt like more of that was coming away from radiotherapy for me so it was put everything started being like the coaching even the inclusive practice in terms of the champions was all linked to radio therapy but not the con it wasn't the main bread and butter. So that was my biggest sign that actually it's not here, it's not in this environment, it's somewhere else. Yeah. I have something on my phone as a phone album called Smile File,

which sounds like it's very similar to what you have, but things that happen that make me feel really good. It might even be a screenshot of a note of a reflection I've had. It might be, you know, a feedback that someone's given me about some of our work that we've done together. It might be a book testimonial. It might be someone saying, oh my God, I've got. I've got into clinical training and you're a big reason why like and all of those are in a smile file so you know when you're just when you want a few different reasons you might want to reflect you might want to you know validate yourself when you're feeling like you're having a really tricky day or you might want to use that to refocus your energies like but i've got that to draw on for a

variety of reasons so yeah if you don't already have a smile file i think i need to get that instead because it sounds like a habit, but just in a different way, but yeah. Yeah, it kind of brings all the things together into one place. So, yeah, I do use notes, but then I'll take a screenshot of the notes, I think would be well suited within the smile file. Smile file, yeah. Smile file. Thank you so much for your time, Manisha, and I hope that you continue to really enjoy

being a PWP and, you know, providing a quality service where you're living your authentic best self, living your values and knowing that it's really important that you do. So thank you so much for sharing your story with our viewers, with our listeners, because it really matters. And, you know, one of the most powerful things about this podcast, we're over 200 episodes in now, is that people are like, oh, actually, this is really giving me food for thought,

for thinking about retraining, for thinking about making myself happy, doing something authentic and that meets my values and your story so well encapsulates all of that. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me as well. You're so welcome. Thank you for your time and wishing you well with whatever comes next for you. Thank you, Marianne. Thank you. Thank you so much for watching and again to our fabulous guest, Manisha, for her time. What has this ignited for you? Is this validating, is this the permission slip you needed? I would love to know in the comments. I would love to know, you know, what this has started for you or what this has continued to validate for you. If you're watching on YouTube, please do drop a like. Please do drop a comment.

And if you're on Spotify, you can do the same there too. On Apple Podcast, you can rate and review the show. And I'd be so grateful if you did. Wherever you're watching, subscribing or following the show is the kindest thing you can do for any podcaster or creator that you rate. If you would do that, I would be so, so grateful. And yeah, it helps me to keep providing this content that you find hopefully so useful. If you are thinking about retraining, or if you are underway with retraining, or even just making it your first career, I think you will find the aspiring psychologist membership an incredibly useful resource. And what I would say is it's never too early to join.

For that matter, it's never too late to join. If you've got an interview coming up, you know, dive in. People have got interviews, have got jobs just from watching content, even on replay. But the live stuff is pretty good too. When you do join, you'll get access to the last three years of membership content as well. So there's nothing not to like. people speak really highly of it. If you've got any questions about whether it might be right for you, please don't be a stranger. Please do let me know. And if you'd like to join the membership or check

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