News and views

Kick-starting a career: Sarah’s Big Life journey

Working at The Big Life group has provided a lot of opportunities for me to progress my career in mental health.

I’ve worked at The Big Life group for nearly four years, working in a variety of different mental health services. My journey started at The Sanctuary, in Wigan, where I was supported people overnight who were in crisis. It was a challenging role, but I gained lots of important skills and experience of working with people with mental health problems. After a year, I decided to apply for a similar support worker role, but this time on the day time crisis line, which gave me the opportunity to develop my counselling skills over the phone.

About a year ago, I decided I’d gained valuable skills and experiences to take on a new challenge. So, I decided to apply for a role as an eTherapy Coordinator. In this role, I support people using one of our many eTherapy packages, which provide online therapy for anxiety and depression. I carry out assessments and monitor people’s recovery and progress.

Working at Big Life has provided a lot of opportunities for me to progress my career in mental health. The knowledge and support of my colleagues is really invaluable. Everyone is friendly and supportive and working arrangement are flexible. It’s a busy environment, so things change often. But I always have opportunities for case management and supervision, so I feel motivated and supported in my work.

In the future, I’m interested in pursuing a traineeship as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner. I’m also considering specialising in Personality Disorder, to help remove the stigma associated with it and provide specialist support. Given my past experience, I’m confident that working here will give continue to give me the opportunities I need to develop.

Sarah O’Loughlin is an eTherapy Coordinator at Talking Therapies Manchester, which provides online support and professional therapists to help people deal with negative thoughts and feelings and make positive changes.