“It’s allowed me to champion the causes that matter” 

What's it like to be part of a DCP committee? 

For me being part of a DCP committee, both locally or nationally, has been a great way to network with others while having a voice in shaping our professional future. It's allowed me to champion the causes that matter most to me, the trainees and colleagues I work alongside and the service users and carers we support. 

The committee I volunteer on has committed and interesting people who care enough to go above and beyond the usual call of duty. I've built friendships across professional and hierarchical silos and contributed to the greater good of our profession.  

No organisation is perfect of course, in this messy world that we're in, but we are better when good people join together and do our best to shape things according to our moral compass. The BPS has a good code of conduct to guide us.   

Without the voluntary contributions of good and committed committee members, we wouldn't have all the necessary effective professional functions, including good practice guidelines, relevant CPD, a principled and psychologically informed code of values and ethics, clear standards of training and an orientation for future challenges and opportunities.  

Can you tell us any benefits you've experienced through volunteering for the DCP? 

I think there are benefits of joining in DCP activity at any stage of life: for me in the middle and later stages of my career, I've enjoyed the camaraderie, mutual friendship, support and mentoring that has grown between pre-qualification, trainee and established professionals. 

It's been a great way to bridge the gap between holding down busy NHS and university roles and the start of working life beyond employment.   

What are some of the activities that you've been particularly proud to have worked on? 

An example of DCP activity in the South West was offering Schwartz Rounds throughout the pandemic to psychologists who were otherwise isolated while working at home without accessible reflective spaces or moral support. 

Another example was running a well-attended series of creative webinars led by local trainees, on the values and importance of cultural diversity and inclusion. Another, which is still ongoing, is building a strong partnership with other professions in the BPS in the South West providing mutual learning and CPD events to help one another engage with urgent issues of social justice, including attending to the climate and environmental emergency.  

This necessity to work beyond our divisions is ever more urgent in this deeply divided world, and our profession needs principled people to help keep alight a vision of mutually respectful good practice.