Not that kind of Psychologist...

When I tell people I am a psychologist I am often met with two responses. “Oh no please don’t psychoanalyse me” which is often accompanied by half-joking nervous laughter. The second response is more earnest and is where people share the difficult experiences of themselves or loved ones. Whilst there is amazing work done by those in the commonly understood roles of psychologists in areas of clinical, counselling, health, sports, educational, forensic, and organisational psychology, I am not however that kind of psychologist. I fall into the ‘academic’ realm of psychology, that of the researcher.

Psychological research in fact forms the foundation of knowledge that underpins all the above practices and informs the help that is offered to people in need. However, it goes far beyond this, literally beyond our world if we consider preparing people for living on space stations or philosophically when considering the existence of consciousness, free will, and death! I hope through this blog to share a little of my research, that of some of the amazing researchers I meet, and random bits of shiny psychological related things that grab my attention. Call me a psychological magpie.

While psychological research is incredibly varied, at the heart of it, it has YOU and me. It’s all about people, how we behave, how we feel, and why we do what we do. It’s about understanding how we can help people and by doing so improve the social and physical worlds we live in, both for us and all that inhabits this earth. Psychological research and its history can be light, dark, fun, and serious. I invite you to join me in my pink slippers on a hitchhikers journey through psychological research. It is never-ending, often confusing, and generally creates more questions than it answers, but it’s seldom boring. I believe psychological research matters to us all and should be for all of us. Not that I am biased.