Issue 1
Hannah Atkinson
Hannah has always been interested in discovering new approaches to make a positive difference in people’s lives. The diversity of health and social care is fascinating, and there is always something new to learn. Hannah has pursued this interest since her GCSEs, and she has continued to expand her knowledge on the subject all the way through university and with plans to carry this on beyond her degree. Hannah has always been intrigued with youth crime, particularly with the response England and Wales choses to take to address crime. Hannah chose a year 3 option module on youth crime as she was curious as to why the age of criminal responsibility in England and Wales was so low compared to other countries. Hannah’s dissertation topic and question was inspired by the difference in laws across various nations. Hannah also believes that this subject needs to be explored and addressed more due to the detrimental health outcomes connected with early contact with the formal youth justice system, as well as the need for children and young people to have a voice.
Molly Sheridan
This is Molly, she began her university adventure in 2019 after the completion of her NVQ Level 3 as an Early Years Educator. Molly is extremely passionate about the voices and mental wellbeing of young people, more specifically those with special educational needs, prompting her to pursue a specialist degree in Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing. During her study, Molly became interested in teenage pregnancy and the effects on the child and how this may influence the manifestation of mental health in the offspring or, learning disabilities which is evidenced in her dissertation project. Her passion lies within the area of children with special educational needs and how their mental health is just as important as anyone else’s. Molly feels as though further research is required to enhance the current support in place to protect teenage mothers’ mental health when having their first child as there is a lack of evidence to suggest the developmental outcomes of the child and how their mental health can be maintained.
Matthew Hyland
Through writing his dissertation, Matthew attempted to uncover the barriers to accessing mental health services that exist for elite, male athletes. Matthew have always been fascinated by competitive sports and, more recently, his education in the field of counselling and psychotherapy has left him concerned with the effects that this highly competitive industry may be having on male athletes’ mental health. Writing the dissertation has given Matthew a deep insight into the reasons male athletes struggle to access mental health services, something that he is now able to take forward into a potential counselling career within the sports industry.
Olivia Taylor
Olivia is very interested in supporting mental health among children and young people. This arises from Olivia’s personal experience with mental health and how the support benefitted her. Olivia has worked with many children and young people, particularly those with complex needs in Rawtenstall. Olivia feels that social media has a significant impact on the mental health of children and young people Olivia’s undergraduate dissertation employed a qualitative technique to interpretively analyse images related with the hashtag #Depression on Instagram in order to better understand how people identify specific images with a ‘negative’ term.
Nicholas Clarke
Nicholas is a third-year student at Edge Hill University studying on the BSc (Hons) Critical Approaches to Counselling and Psychotherapy programme. This course has been instrumental in his development and has led to him pursuing a career in a supportive role, for the near future. His dissertation emerged due to his interest in the course for two reasons. The first being that he had found counselling interesting thus making him want to understand counsellors’ experiences and get first hand insight into their work. The second reason was that he had experienced what it was like to be a student during the Covid pandemic and how this caused struggles. As a result, he wanted to explore a counsellor’s experience of working during the pandemic as he knew students who had struggled due to it. With these two reasons combined it created his dissertation topic of university counsellors personal experiences working through the pandemic.
Issue 2
Chloe Milner
Chloe is passionate about homelessness stemming from her time working in homeless shelters. This linked in with her studying for her BSc Health and Social Wellbeing which helped her to become a support worker, – her dream job working with vulnerable people, especially with people who identify as LGBTQ plus.
Holly Lynch
Holly was really interested in exploring the relationship between social media and body image amongst adolescents. Her passion for this topic was underpinned by her experiences of studying on the MSc Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing programme and working in residential care with young people. Holly recognises that there is a strong link between research and promoting the voices of young people.
Ellie McKenzie
Ellie has loved her time being a student on the BSc Nutrition programme here at EHU. She was able to develop skills and experiences that have helped to prepare her for working on issues to do with nutrition, eating behaviours and mental health. Read more about her work relating to primary school children’s eating behaviours and habits from a lunchtime staff members perspective.
Issue 3
Clare Brown
Clare is a BSc Critical Approaches to Counselling and Psychotherapy student who is passionate about working with children and adults with mental health difficulties. Being a student on the programme has helped Clare to understand the issues she has faced in life more, and the skills developed from the programme has laid the foundation to drive her on to further study and to help others in need.
Helen Highton
Helen is a person-centred counsellor and being on the BSc Critical Approaches to Counselling and Psychotherapy has enabled Helen to develop and widen her knowledge and skills on issues to do with the political and social impacts that contribute to the challenging lives marginalised people face. Helen has been offered employment as a result of being on the programme where she hopes to make a difference in the lives of people in residential shelters.
Jessica Disley
Jess is a student on the BSc Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing programme and is passionate about promoting and supporting young people with mental health difficulties and promoting their often unheard voices.
Robyn Mutch
Robyn is a student on the BSc Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing programme and particularly enjoys reading into mental health and children within educational settings.
Sarah Martin
Sarah is a student on the BSc Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing programme who is keen to promote positive mental health and wellbeing amongst children and has recently undertook a study into the the impact of the challenges of being a student dancer and mental health.