Being a student, it is often challenging to be able to afford going to a conference, which is why I felt extremely lucky to receive a bursary from the British Psychological Society to attend the Division of Health Psychology (DHP) annual conference at the start of June.
I was nervous when I first arrived as I had never attended a conference alone, but after meeting other like-minded people, I felt very comfortable and excited to learn more about the current research and projects that are happening! I was also pleasantly surprised by the breadth and depth of the papers and presentations. There was everything from a talk on a 12-week intervention for women with bladder pain syndrome, to disordered eating behaviour in type 1 diabetes.
I attended many presentations, some of which were specific to my area of interest, women’s health, and others which were not specifically related to women’s health but were still extremely interesting and made me broaden my interests! For example, I learnt about how women with autism experience the menopause; an acceptance and commitment-based visible difference parenting toolkit; nutrition and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome; body image and sexual risk taking in LGBTQIA+ groups; creative health; how social media impacts appearance perspectives; and much more!
Something specific which stood out to me was how often psychoeducation was mentioned in many of the presentations I attended, which was incredible to see as I feel this can be overlooked in academia and practice.
I was so glad I went to presentations which were not just specific to women’s health, as this gave me the opportunity to explore my other interests and widen my knowledge of health psychology. I was also glad to meet others in the field, as I am currently completing my Master’s degree in health psychology at the University of the West of England, and I wanted to explore topics which I could include in my dissertation next academic year.
I also need to complete a placement in the field, and I met some incredible people who can help me find this work experience! This was very important to me, as my undergraduate course was severely restricted by Covid-19 and strikes, so I did not have much opportunity to connect with psychologists during these years, but attending this conference definitely helped me to bridge this gap of connections!
I feel I gained a lot of confidence by attending, not only in myself but in my areas of interest, as the presentations and content in these helped me realise my interests in health psychology are valid and current.
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