Careers in mental health – interview with Registered Psychologist Christian Aliferis

Hi I'm Christian. I'm an adventurer, an explorer, and I'm a psychologist,

I find working as a psychologist to be incredibly rewarding and knowing that I'm making a difference in a unique way.

I would definitely encourage a school leaver to pursue psychology at university. There's such a need to provide support and advocacy and assessment and treatment services to communities in Australia.

In Australia, to become a Registered Psychologist, you need a minimum of six years of full-time equivalent study. So, I've completed my undergraduate in psychology, which is a three-year degree. From there, I completed a fourth year equivalent Honours or Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology. And from there, I completed my Master of Professional Psychology, which was followed by a one-year internship.

I do work across multiple roles in one role that might involve me providing face to face assessments or providing therapy to people who are struggling with addictive behaviours like gambling or alcohol or illicit substance use.

I also attend various meetings with other health care practitioners involving in the client's care plan and also providing single session services via telephone or online.

So, if you're interested in a career in psychology, I would say go for it. It's an incredibly rewarding and rich profession emotionally, and you really get an opportunity to make a unique, positive impact on the lives of other people.