Soniya Iqbal

I am seeking for an assistant psychologist post because I intend to apply for the Clinical Psychology Doctorate course. My ambition of helping individuals to grow and thrive can be fulfilled on acquisition of this qualification. Due to personal exposure to relational trauma, cultural conditioning, and to be blessed with the awareness of how this limits us in being our true authentic selves, I have an intrinsic desire to help others who are struggling to connect with their true identities. To add to my skillset, being a Muslim British Pakistani female speaking multiple languages (English, Urdu, Punjabi, and Arabic), and encountering first-hand exposure to multiple cultures and religions, I am able to identify and understand varying perspectives of relational dynamics therein. Therefore, I feel that the Clinical Psychology Doctorate will enable me to further enhance my skillset to empower others through an academic (cross cultural collaborative lecturing) pathway while providing niche therapeutic services (using psychodynamic and multi-modal approaches) to have a greater impact on the wellbeing of people from all backgrounds, especially for those less represented within the community.

Seminar Lead                                             University of Salford              January 2025 - May 2025 (Social Psychology) 

I will be facilitating student learning in their first year of university life, continuing to reflect from and build upon previous teaching experience in Semester 1.

Duties:

• Deploying a Problem-based approach to trigger critical thinking discussions in the classroom
• Preparing teaching materials prior to the seminar, supporting students through assessments, and marking of assessments

Seminar Lead                                            University of Salford               Sept - Dec 2024 (Psychology in Contemporary Contexts) 

Teaching students in their first semester of university life, I have been managing various emotional levels/states of particular students. I have also learned to expand my intra and interpersonal connectiveness in the classroom.

Duties:

• Deploying a Problem-based learning approach through groupwork
• Guiding students through their assessment queries

Research Assistant                                University of Salford                  July 2024 - December 2024

Continuing to employ research skills after completion of my studies. I am perfecting the advice to give to students related to up-to-date qualitative research methods (one-to-one interviews), conducting literature reviews, and how to execute their personal research aims.

Research Assistant                                University of Salford                 August 2024 - October 2024 

Recruiting and facilitating discussions between clinicians of assistive device users in a focus group provided me with experience of managing multiple perspectives on a given issue. This further contributes to the growth of my interactional ability in the classroom where hearing and validating different opinions is key to cultivate analytical thinking.

Volunteer Teaching Assistant         Mauldeth Road Primary School          January 2020 - March 2020 

This role gave me the opportunity to practice how to individually relate to and fulfil the educational needs of reception and year 2 children.

University of Salford                               2018 - 2024

• BSc (Hons) Psychology

The Manchester College                      2018                 

• Level 3 Access to Social and Community Work