The Aspiring Psychologist Podcast - Girls, Sport & Confidence: The Psychology Schools Need to Understand

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi, my name is Emily. I am a master's student studying clinical psychology at Southampton. I bought the book The Clinical Psychologist Collective to help myself prepare for my first round of doctorate applications, and I'm so glad I did. Seeing how others have reflected on their journeys has been so insightful, and it's given me a lot to reflect about with my own journey and skills. It's also helped to put things into perspective and reminded me that if I don't get on to the doctorate this year, that's okay. I think the most unexpected pleasure of this book, however, was just how inspirational each and every person's journey was. And using these stories as my morning motivation each day has been such a pleasure. I'm almost reluctant to come to the

Starting point is 00:00:50 end. What if one of the most powerful tools for girls' confidence was hiding there in plain sight on the school timetable. Today I'm joined by Dr. Mel Morrison, aka the Sporty Ed Psych. And we are talking about why girls in sport isn't just about fitness. It's about emotional regulation, identity, belonging, resilience. And crucially, how inclusive access to sport can actually help girls to thrive in education. Because when girls feel strong somewhere, it changes how they show up everywhere. I hope you'll find this episode really helpful. If you do, please like, comment and subscribe for more. Hi, I just want to welcome you along to the podcast. Today I'm joined by Dr. Mel Morrison, the sporty ed psych. Lovely to have you here, Mel, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me,

Starting point is 00:01:51 looking forward to getting into the discussion. Absolutely. And it's a really interesting one today. Why does it matter that girls get into sport and exercise? Why is that a good thing? thing for their kind of psychological development, would you say? Yeah. So a really big topic at the moment is girls in sports. And it is absolutely brilliant, in my opinion,

Starting point is 00:02:15 for their psychological development, because it gives them a completely different lens to see themselves. There are so many benefits. So you think about emotional urban development. So sports just gives young people, our girls, a platform to, you know, to. express emotions to recognize different emotions. So for example, you know, intense joy, anger,

Starting point is 00:02:41 frustration, excitement, confusion, you know, they're allowed to be expressed and we almost expect it to be expressed in a sport, sport based domain. But it also allows girls to learn how to regulate those emotions as well. You know, it's brilliant to express these emotions in a variety of different depending on which sport is chosen, but also we're able to learn how to regulate in a safe and structured way, which is really healthy than having big emotions just stuck in our mind and no outlet. Socially, in terms of, you know, girls' development, sports allows for a sense of belonging, which is really important in this day and age where a lot of young girls struggle with loneliness and feeling isolated. Sports allows us to be with others, to socially connect, to have shared goals.

Starting point is 00:03:35 You know, for example, being part of a gym class or a running club or a team sport. You're with your peers, you're with consistent coaches on a weekly daily basis, building those social bonds, developing social interaction skills, which is really important, you know, in life, work, development and growing up. Another reason is for, you know, girls' identity and confidence, you know, if you think about the teenage girl, adolescence is that period of time where they're really struggling with their identity. There are so many pressures and stresses going on in their lives. You know, they're figuring out who they are and, you know, why they matter and who they matter to, where they belong. There are so many challenges that, you know, we hear in media around, you know, body image, you know,

Starting point is 00:04:25 with girls, our girls today are living in a time of filters and selfies and what the ideal body is, you know, achievement culture, you know, wanting to do well in school, a lot of social media comparison and just the pressure to have it all, have it all, you know, be sporty, be academically bright, have a have a good body, meet society's standards. But sports is, you know, one of the places where that is a, lessened and it's not about looks and academics. It's about performance. It's about fulfillment. It's about learning new skills. You know, the narrative is changed. You know, I recognize that that might not be automatic, but, you know, in terms of that, that's really powerful. It's about look at what I can do, look at where I can belong, look at what I can tolerate, which is really

Starting point is 00:05:20 important. I think sports also is brilliant for, you know, just developing that resilience, you know, how to handle discomfort, you know, how to overcome, how to be mentally tough, you know, these are the skills that we want to see later on in life. And also just in terms of development, it's just about, you know, sports is a way to have joy and to have play. You know, try something new, laugh and have fun. You know, it's not always competitive. But there are those elements too. And I think all of those things are, you know, really important for girls to experience. Yeah. Yeah, they certainly are. And, you know, listening to your talk is really making me reflect on on the opportunities that certainly I'm

Starting point is 00:06:02 speaking as a 44-year-old woman, the opportunities that weren't really around for me as a teenager. And, you know, those shoulds and those shouldn't, like, that's maybe not for you. And it made me reflect on, you know, when the Olympics were in London, London, 2012. And at the time, I was just about to get married. So I was a qualified psychologist, very excited. And the poll vaulting really spoke to me. And I was like, oh, I think I was 31, 32, maybe at the time, something like that. And I was like, oh, isn't that incredible?

Starting point is 00:06:42 And I was like, I never, I've never poll voted. Like, I seem to remember there was that kind of equipment at school, but it was never offered to me. I've never had a chance to do that. And I just think it's a real shame. So I might never have been an Olympian pole vault, although my family do wind me up and like, oh, Marianne, the pole vaulting's all, you still haven't done it. And now I've had two cesarean sections, and I'm 44. So probably I'm not going to be winning any gold medals.

Starting point is 00:07:12 But shouldn't we be encouraging everyone? to have a go kind of at everything, especially if the equipment's already there, right? Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, the narrative around sports is changing and it's not just saved for those who want to be highly competitive or who are naturally skilled. We are, you know, sports is trying to reach those who just want to have fun, who just want to feel a sense of empowerment, who just want to feel, you know, want to explore new skills, who want to just try new things and those things aren't bad. You know, I think we've gotten into a poor narrative of if you're not competitive, then, you know, you shouldn't be taking part. But, you know, in terms

Starting point is 00:07:54 of who it's reached, and I think that's definitely widening, the narrative is changing. You know, if you didn't start off with a sporty background in your younger years, you know, one thing I am loving seeing is, you know, women or girls later on getting involved and just that narrative completely shifting and watching them just have fun. And, you know, and explore what their bodies can do, which is empowering but all by itself. And you know, I think when you're when you're older as well, the motivation changes for sport. You know, you've chosen it because you want to do it. You know, you've made the time for it. You know, life looks a bit different. You know,

Starting point is 00:08:30 you might have, you might have had children in your younger years and now you've got the capacity to pour back into yourself and just, you know, try and belong to, you know, new clubs, new people. So I think, yeah, I think that's Right? Yeah. And I have been a member of gyms at different points in my life. The first time I was an aspiring psychologist, I think I was in my early 20s. And it was really something that felt like a punishment. It was not something that felt like joy. I didn't build it into my routine. It was definitely that sense of should. And it's only really when I got to 39 and it was kind of pandemic times. I took myself out running and then ultimately,

Starting point is 00:09:14 started doing that every day. And I was never a very good runner, but I really liked the way it made my body feel afterwards. And, you know, it really helped me feel good and help me have that time for myself during a really wild time for the world. And then ultimately, after the pandemic, I spotted an advert for a personal trainer. And I thought, well, she looks amazing. Like, I'll have a session with her. And I went into the gym and I looked around and it was all. weight smell and I thought oh no I've made a horrible mistake this is not for me this is awful I thought it was going to be treadmills and you know elliptical trainers and sit-ups and I thought this is horrendous yeah and so very

Starting point is 00:09:59 accidentally I'm still strength training four years later because I loved it and yet I never would have chosen that for myself and it's it's changed my life so I'm now 44 and I said just before we met I've rejiged my whole day today to go to a gym class that I really, really love. I've straightened my hair on the hop, I've deswetted myself, and I'm here because it's just different. I was driving to the gym the other day and the motorway was closed and I was like, oh no. And I'm going to have to try and think of another way to get to the gym and I'm just going to drive around this roundabout while I think about that. And I thought, if I really want to go,

Starting point is 00:10:44 I really want to go. It was a Wednesday evening. I thought, because I've got a busy life and I've got two children. If I don't go, it's not like there's an easy opportunity for me to go a different time. So I just had my brain thinking, I thought, oh, this is different because Marianne in her 20s and early 30s would have treated this as a gift from God to not go and to go and to go and sit and say, well, I tried, but I'm like, no, I really value this time and this chance to move my body And that's the shift, you know, it's never too late, right? If I discovered this in my, in my late 30s, early 40s, there's always opportunity. Yeah, I think it's amazing that you've embedded sports and fitness into your daily routine

Starting point is 00:11:30 because I think it's, you know, something that's easily pushed to the side when we've got a lot of competing priorities and we've got lots of different stresses, lots of different demands. And that's definitely something I relate to, you know, in terms of what sports gives me in terms of the emotional regulation, the structure to my day, the peace of mind, you know, just a space to think and keeping my mind clear, especially working as a psychologist when we're constantly thinking about children in different cases, different lifestyles. I think having that blocked out is really important for wellbeing. And I love what you had mentioned about you just trying strengths-based style training. You know, we've

Starting point is 00:12:12 come a long way with that because there has been a really like poor narrative around women lifting weights and women shouldn't, you know, shouldn't be lifting weights because they will look X, Y and Z or it's been feminine or, you know, our culture has kind of dictated what, you know, the ideal feminine woman is supposed to be and, you know, for so long women have been afraid of, you know, wanting to be strong. But I love that you have decided to, you just decided to take a chance because sport, you know, strengths training is me, it's my heart really. And I think the sense of the pride, the accomplishment, the achievement. And if you think back to, you know, psychological theory around perma well-being and how important it is to feel that sense of

Starting point is 00:12:56 accomplishment and a sense of achievement that I do get, and it sounds like you get from sports, you know, contributes to our well-being. So I love that. Absolutely. And do you know who was right all along but got a lot of flack for it? So I grew up in Spice Girls' Ear. Mel C was an aerosopter for sporty spice wasn't she and I think she did lift weights and she was strong and she did flip and she you know at the time she was many times told that's not feminine that's not okay this isn't okay for girls and it's actually I actually messaged her the other day on Instagram she hasn't respond to us Mel you you were right yeah I'm she was ahead of the game

Starting point is 00:13:41 And I'm sorry I wasn't ready for that message then, but you know, she's still, she must be 50 now. She looks incredible. Incredible. Yeah. Absolutely. You know, you say sport and you've got the image in your head of the tomb, you know, the tomboy. And just how hard society try, you know, they've pumped that message because, you know, we still think about it today. And it was just, you know, everything in your power to not be that.

Starting point is 00:14:10 But now I think, you know, we're with things are looking good. And I think we've got so many role models, women in sport who are speaking out, being more visible, acting as role models that, you know, really are changing the game. And you know, women are, women are stepping out. Girls are stepping out. We just need, you know, everybody else to follow us and believe in us too and give us the opportunities as well. Yeah. And strong can be sexy, right?

Starting point is 00:14:35 Strong can be so inspiring. And, you know, it was like, oh, we don't get too mussely or don't get too strong or too thin. You know, men won't want you or, you know, if you're interested in ladies, no one will want you. And it's like, actually, I'm doing this for me. It doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks about me. The right person for me, or maybe people, if we're like keeping our options open, will love me for me. And they want to be with me because I'm incredible, not because they think I do or don't look the right way. Absolutely, which is again, you know, why visibility, you know, of powerful, strong and having, you know, women in sports, you know, all shapes, sizes, body types is so important so that, you know, girls, you know, women, girls are age and younger, you know, our view of sports and what it allows us to do and it allows us to feel, you know, it is shaped healthily in a healthy way. You know, that's something I definitely struggled with when I first started strength training was how am I going to be?

Starting point is 00:15:39 be perceived by the people around me. Am I going to be looking sexy? Am I going to be attractive? You know, it was a really big fear that, you know, if I'm honest, kind of put me off for a while. But then, you know, growing up and seeing, you know, confident women, you know, my role models would be, you know, like Denise Lewis and seeing her. It's like, yeah, that's what I want to be. So I think role modelling and visibility is really important, you know, to contribute to that culture shift and that narrative around, you know, women being strong and women being confident, really. Yeah, and I think, you know, what can be really powerful?

Starting point is 00:16:17 Because you're obviously speaker as an Ed Syke who's really into sport as well. Yes. How can we help you sport, not as a way of girls and young women, feeling like, oh, God, it's that should. And, you know, everyone's going to look at me and see me. I think I will say that I was raised in a era. We had to wear big gym briefs with. just a t-shirt and we had to tuck it in.

Starting point is 00:16:41 That was not an easy time to be alive. That was not a good look for me. I hope that we're allowed to wear, you know, clothes now that are a little bit, a little bit more, less self-conscious making, but still for young women, as our bodies are changing, it can be really difficult to get changed, even in a changing room, to get changed and to go out there and move your body and maybe even get sweaty and, you know, to draw attention to yourself, either being good or feeling like you're not good, you know. The idea of playing rounders, like I was terrible at swinging that bat. That was not for me.

Starting point is 00:17:20 You know, there's a ball coming. I have to run for it. Like, how can we try and use sport to help young girls and women to thrive in their education? Yeah, absolutely. I think over time, I've become quite passionate about sports-based interventions for children and young people, more so for those who might struggle to be engaged in academia. I think it would be, I think it is a really strong alternative. And I speak from a couple of different lenses, you know, one myself. I definitely struggled academically in the curriculum, and sports and PE was kind of the one area that I thrive, I thrived in, you know, to this day really. And one thing I always talk

Starting point is 00:18:11 about in EP practice is paying attention to the different domains and the, you know, the different areas where young people can thrive or where young people are thriving and using that to frame, you know, their educational experiences, using that as an incentive. One of the things that I have seen firsthand and, you know, I have experience is, you know, I used to work as a teaching assistant way before my EP day started, where I was involved in an enrichment initiative called Strength and Conditioning that involved bringing a group of young people to train at a gym in Birmingham with some coaches and they would be taking part in Metcon Cardio, so high intense cardio, and some weights. And we made a real effort to ensure that the group was not, you know,

Starting point is 00:19:01 full of students who were top of the class, who were constantly getting everything right. We were, you know, bringing pupils who struggled to engage at risk of exclusion, who weren't top of the class, who, you know, didn't get on well with teachers. And, you know, seeing them, you know, thrive. And by thrive, I mean, not only were they good at sports, but this was probably the first time I had seen them pay attention to instructions, respond well to praise and reinforcement, that for them was actually more meaningful.

Starting point is 00:19:35 It was probably one of the few times I had seen them excited to come back. They were fully engaged, they were enjoying learning things about themselves. And those attitudes kind of carried over into the classroom because at school it was a bit like, if you kind of fall out of line, you won't be going back.

Starting point is 00:19:56 So it was definitely a motivator for them. So that's definitely something that I champion. But sports definitely can be used in schools in various ways. You know, we look at there's a lot of talk around the PE curriculum and making sure that it's inclusive. And by that, we're thinking about flexible uniforms or flexible PE kits for our girls. In particular, you know, an example that I think about is a, young girl from a Muslim background who said, you know, she'd love to get involved in sport,

Starting point is 00:20:30 but because of the way the uniform looks, she can't or it's a bit worrying for her. And so, you know, taking that into account and I've seen, I'm seeing loads of different campaigns, A6, Nike really broadening what, you know, sports wear kit, making sure, I think schools play a really big part in the narrative around sports and what it, you know, just our attitudes towards it if it's always spoken about as something on the side, not important, it doesn't have any benefits, it's, you know, it's nowhere near as serious as maths and English is it. But that narrative is fed into our pupils and then we're missing on how it can be used to enhance education. So, you know, it can be used to motivate pupils, you know, especially those who don't engage in maths, English or struggle to come to school full stop. if they can come into school and engage in a sports-based intervention before the lesson starts to help them regulate.

Starting point is 00:21:30 You know, that could be great. You've got our PE staff that can be used as mentors as well because they are a little bit detached from the curriculum, aren't there? They're not walking around in suits. They're more accessible and more relatable. So, you know, I'm a big fan of, you know, using PE staff. Making a PE more inclusive in terms of not making it so competitive, you know, making it a place where we are just improving our well-being, we're having fun, we are moving, we are connecting with our peers, we are developing social skills, we are developing our cognitive skills which are which is going to be important in education period. You know, these are the ways

Starting point is 00:22:12 that it can be used to enhance, you know, the educational experience. It can be an outlet, you know, we release our frustrations and then we go back into class and we're good to go again. those are some definite ways. Absolutely. And I'm just thinking kind of in our very modern schools, you know, issues around ADHD and autistic girls as well. How can we use sport to optimally engage everybody? Yeah, absolutely.

Starting point is 00:22:43 I guess, you know, one thing I do love at the moment or, you know, in my EP journey is working with young people who may be, who are or maybe on a pathway or who are just neurodiverse because sports is so it's structured it's safe there are clear instructions it's this or it's that and for somebody who may be ADHD for example or autistic for example this is an area where they thrive however it's not automatic you know you can't just you know send somebody with you know who may have ADHD or autism autism to go and play rugby or netball and you know they'll engage and they'll do well automatically you have to make sure that the environment is safe and structured and enough for them to

Starting point is 00:23:30 thrive so if you think about it those who are neurodiverse may have sensory sensitivities they find environments overwhelming and sports and naturally you know can be fast and predictable it requires and smelly as well right yes smelly it requires rapid interpretation, it's unpredictable, and it can be mentally exhausting as well. So I think you have to bear in mind that we have to make sure that the environments or the, you know, the environments take those, you know, consider those things. The coaching styles are adapted as well. So for example, coaches need to ensure that their coaching style is adapted for those who may be neurodiverse. So for example, they may need to be more explicit in their guidance.

Starting point is 00:24:22 They need to make sure that their games, their sports, their, you know, activities are clearly structured and that is communicated maybe in advance. For those who are neurodiverse, that there's a lot of repetition. We can't assume that everybody just gets everything. You know, things have to be broken down. And I think, you know, especially neurodiversity in girls as well. We don't want them to come into sporting atmospheres and feel incompetent or feel, you know, that they're not welcome. They spend a lot of time masking and looking like they understand things and that they can get involved, which can lead to burnout. So we want to make sure that things are clearly structured and that they feel safe to try. So yes, there's a lot of research

Starting point is 00:25:09 showing that sports can is a really good way for those who are neurodiverse to get involved because of the structure because of the repetition, because of the social networks and just the non-traditional ways to develop social networks and opportunities, but we just have to make sure that the conditions on our part are in place in order for them to thrive. Absolutely, absolutely. And I think if we're thinking about some of the barriers to sport, you know, cost is certainly a barrier. I really like the work that Jason Manford, the comedian, does about trying to make paddle accessible for everybody, not just kind of middle class people that have lots of money and spare time. And, you know, it's thinking about how can we try and

Starting point is 00:25:55 make sport more, even things like swimming, that can be, you know, expensive. How can we try and make sport accessible for as many people as possible? Yeah, absolutely. You know, cost and being able to access sport is always going to be a huge barrier for our young people. And I think one of the ways that one of the things we think about is maybe, you know, sliding membership options. I think a lot of sports these days have a lot of, you know, fixed, you know, six weeks, six month based memberships. And, you know, if you can't afford one, you can't come back for the other six, you know, the other five weeks. And, you know, that instantly excludes a lot of people. So if we could have like sliding memberships, for example, that would be great.

Starting point is 00:26:44 I think there's a lot of, you know, street games, a lot of sport Birmingham, a lot of charities really looking into how can we make sport more accessible? Is it, do we need to go around and revamp all of our basketball courts and our parks? And, you know, the answer is yes. Yeah, I think that would be an idea. Subsidized costs, yeah. Perfect, amazing.

Starting point is 00:27:07 Could you tell us a bit more about you, and your work please now. So, yeah, I go by the Sporty Ed site for a couple of reasons. So I'm an educational psychologist by trade. So I'm very passionate about, you know, working with children and young people and I'm mindful of their development. And, you know, I'm passionate about ensuring that they enjoy education. They're able to access education and they're able to thrive.

Starting point is 00:27:30 But at the same time, I am very passionate about sport. I'm going to say sport, you know, as I had mentioned before, that definition has broadened. It's not just those who play football, basketball, the traditional team sports. It's broader now to include, you know, those who like to walk, those who do high rocks, athex, functional fitness, you know, it's trying to include everybody. And a couple of reasons that I, you know, kind of brought, you know, this name together is I'm very, I'm very big on bringing the two together. One, because of what it has done and offered for me,

Starting point is 00:28:07 personally you know I am a strength athlete I'm very big into weightlifting I call my I go by the everyday athlete you know and just you know sports giving me the confidence I wasn't always an outspoken young you know young woman I was quite shy but sports has given me the confidence it's given me the empowerment it's given me the sense of achievement that I didn't really get from school you know I've found academia really really difficult you know And just seeing that, you know, seeing that change in myself is something that I'm really passionate about ensuring other people get the opportunity to experience as well, you know, hence the if we can edit costs so that more people can access, great. A lot of the, you know, more recently I have dabbled a lot in competitions and the competitive side of things.

Starting point is 00:28:57 And the more competitions that I've, you know, being involved in, the more hurdles that I've experienced both physically and mentally. and I've always kind of attached them to the principles of sports psychology, you know, hence my interest there. And one thing that I do think about a lot and I do practice is the principles from sports psychology. So if you think goal setting, visualization, you know, principles of motivation, they can be applied to the classroom to support children and young people as well. And they also support people like me, the everyday athlete.

Starting point is 00:29:35 you know, we're not pro, we don't get paid, we're not on TV, but we do go through the same mental struggles that pro athletes do in terms of, you know, self-belief, motivation, disengagement, body image, and therefore we need those principles as well. And so hence the sports yet, it's like it's mesh together. And so, you know, in terms of what I do, I try, well, I apply principles of sport psychology to support my young people. I'm a very big advocate for, you know, I'm a very big advocate for. for equal access to sport. You know, one of the barriers for girls is that they, one, don't have opportunity and two, they don't have the same resources that boys do, especially in school. Boys get taken on the away trips or the away matches. They have a little bit more than the grass outside

Starting point is 00:30:23 to explore, they get scouted out quicker than girls. You know, and I'm really passionate about ensuring that there's fairer access and making sure that, you know, ensuring that girls can tap into these benefits, you know, in a period of storm and stress and confusion and identity, you know, and just having fun with it. I think I'm very big on sports in school being seen as fun and enjoyment, as well as it being an opportunity to find a strength that we can use to help you further engage in school or a career pathway or, you know, finding out a different

Starting point is 00:31:03 part of your identity, you know, especially around, you know, young people who have a really bad narrative at school. It's really nice to find, you know, something, sport or maybe not, that they are excelling at and bringing that to the forefront. And so that is a bit of me. That is what I do. Yeah, amazing. Thank you. And it's making me think about when I was at school, like the tennis courts were never used by girls at lunchtime and break times. They were commandeered by boys to play football on. And I guess it's thinking about equity. So it's actually thinking about, you know,

Starting point is 00:31:46 obviously I think maybe there's perhaps more female football players now than there were when I was at school. But also, you know, what if, you know, someone wants to actually play tennis or netball or do something different, you know, there's got to be the equitable opportunities in schools for those, I think they're multi-use games areas now, aren't they? But I know that my year eight son, so he's 12 years old, I know that every lunch and break, he is out on the mugger playing football, but how, you know,

Starting point is 00:32:17 how are schools facilitating or how could they facilitate making that fairer so that it's not just commandeered by the boys, I guess. Maybe, you know, someone listening to this or watching this might be able to think, oh yeah, yeah, we could maybe do that a little bit differently. Yeah, I think that's really important because, you know, our girls need exposure, you know, to these opportunities. You know, they might try and they might be amazing. They might try and might never do it again. But I think that equality, you know, of exposure is so important. And maybe schools need to be looking at one, provide, looking how they can provide more of a range so that both boys and girls more so are able to experience different types of

Starting point is 00:33:01 activities. It might be some kind of list or wait list where teachers are picking out who gets to use certain facilities. Maybe it's a girls only session on one day and the boys only session on another day and then a mixed session on the day after. Just being more mindful about, you know, opportunity and I think we do need to have our hand a bit more, especially in schools about, you know, who gets access to the opportunities just to make sure that it's fair. I don't think that we can just leave it. You know, we build a new basketball court and it's free for all because it will be dominated by boys. We do have to put, we do have to take a bit response, a bit more responsibility with this and and really kind of scaffold, you know, who, what times can we bring in

Starting point is 00:33:53 different role models, different, you know, female coaches, if, you know, because that might be a thing as well, you know, a lot of girls get put off if it's like a male coach because they're like, you know, how can I express myself and do I feel safe to? Might be more female coaches, but definitely having a hand in kind of manipulating almost who gets access to what. Absolutely. Such brilliant, brilliant ideas now. Where can people learn more about you and your work? If you want to learn more about me, I'm on LinkedIn under Melissa Morrison, the Sporty Ed Syke, and I'm on Instagram, Melissa Morrison 193, until my website comes along, which is very soon. But those are the best ways to engage with me.

Starting point is 00:34:37 Thank you so much for your time and sharing your wisdom with our audience. It's so important. So thank you so much. Thank you for having me. You're more than welcome. Thank you so much again to Dr Mel, aka the sporty ed psych. Please do go and follow her on LinkedIn. I'm speaking to you when it's been continuing to rain in the UK currently for 42 days in a row. Wow we, that's a lot. And I am actually kind of embracing it. I'm still going to outside exercise classes. You just kind of wrap up warm and

Starting point is 00:35:13 make sure there's a shower available at the end. It's making me feel chilly just to think about it. How do you keep yourself active and moving? How do you honour your own body? I would love to know. Please do drop me a comment or connect with me on social media and let me know. If you find this episode helpful, inspiring, encouraging, please do consider sharing it to your stories on social media and tag me too. That would be so appreciated.

Starting point is 00:35:43 And if you can share us more publicly on your social media, I would love that too. I'm a psychologist and I'm a psychological practitioner from Newcast I just wanted to say the biggest thank you to the contributors of the clinical psychologist collective book. I've enjoyed reading this so much and loved having an insight into the rain. of backgrounds and experiences. People have prior to applying for the doctorate. And it's been really

Starting point is 00:36:38 interesting seeing the potential barriers to the application as well and how I can try and work around this. I really started to doubt myself and whether I was good enough to apply for the clinical psychology doctorate. But this has really given me the confidence boost that I needed to give it a shot. So the biggest thank you ever.

The Aspiring Psychologist Podcast - Girls, Sport & Confidence: The Psychology Schools Need to Understand

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