By 
Wednesday 8th February
17:30 – 18:30
Live on TEAMS
Are you interested in a career in psychology and/or mental health?
Join us to hear from a panel of Kent alumni, now working in the profession, to find out more about what they do and how they developed their careers after graduation.
Click here to join the meeting
Our speakers include:
Lola Akisanya -Family Therapist, Social Worker; NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
Lola is a Kent psychology graduate, a social work graduate and has been a social worker for the past 4.5 years, mainly working in child protection. She has been a CAMHS clinician for the past 3 years and is a newly qualified family therapist currently working in a CAMHS service. She has worked in both the public and private sector and is a Trustee for a charity that offers affordable therapy.
Jamie Harper – Senior Clinical Research Practitioner; Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust
After completing her Psychology BSc and MSc at Kent, Jamie has worked in a variety of roles within the NHS and is now a Registered Senior Clinical Research Practitioner working on mental health research in Kent. Within this role, Jamie recruits to and collects data for both UK based and international research studies, and works with service users with experience of a variety of mental health and neurodegenerative conditions including psychosis, depression and dementia.
Emma Hayes & Kane Allarakhia – Behavioural Therapists, Autism; Autism Partnership UK – London
Kane and Emma are both Psychology alumni from the University of Kent. They are ABA therapists at the Autism Partnership London. They work with autistic children across a variety of settings including their homes, schools and therapy centres. Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) is an intervention method they employ to help autistic individuals access learning and teach them functional life skills. They use discrete trial teaching as a method of teaching skills and behaviours to reduce behaviours that may be harmful or impact a child’s ability to learn.
Sophie Lakin – Criminal Justice Mental Health Practitioner; Met Police
Sophie is a Psychology alumni with an MSc in Forensic Psychology from Kent and currently doing her Doctorate in Forensic Psychology at the University of Nottingham. She has worked in the Forensic field for a decade, having spent the majority of her career in the prison service and on psychiatric wards. She now works as a Criminal Justice Mental Health Practitioner for SLaM NHS Trust within the Met Police and is a Clinical Lead for the Veterans Accreditation Group. Sophie conducts psychiatric and risk/needs assessments of detainees in Police Custody and Court. She then formulates reports that advise and inform the Metropolitan Police and Judiciary, and, when necessary, divert those who are acutely unwell to hospital under the Mental Health Act.
Emma Fawcett – Leadership Consultant; Heidrick & Struggles
Emma graduated from the University of Kent in 2019 with a BSc in Psychology having also completed summer internships at Pearson Clinical Assessment and the University of George Mason, USA. Emma started her career in technology recruitment before travelling in New Zealand and Australia. In September 2020, she started her Master’s in Occupational Psychology at the University of Nottingham, following which she joined Heidrick & Struggles as an Analyst in January of 2022. Emma works in the Consulting branch of the business focusing on providing clients guidance in leadership assessment/ development, culture and organisational design.