Profile
Claire Melia
Really impressed by all the questions i've had so far. So interesting!
My CV
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Education:
Whitby High School 2005-2010, West Cheshire College 2010-2012, Keele University 2012-now.
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Qualifications:
10.5 A*-B GCSEs, BTEC National Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care (D* D* D), BSc in Psychology and Criminology (1st class), MSc in Psychology of Health and Wellbeing (Distinction), and working on my PhD in Psychology now.
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Work History:
I’ve worked in retail, an elderly care home and as a Research Assistant. I currently work in a mental health hospital, and of course at Keele as a PhD researcher!
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Current Job:
PhD Student in Psychology at Keele University, I also work part-time at a mental health hospital as a support worker.
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About Me:
I’m 26, a PhD student in Psychology and I like to knit and rock-climb (not at the same time of course).
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Read more
Hi!
I’m Claire, I’m 26 and i’m a PhD student at Keele University in the psychology department (sorry to disappoint, but no I can’t read your mind!). I’m finishing off my PhD but I now live in London leading the Process Evaluation of the ODDESSI project. This is a huge trial exploring the effectiveness of a new kind of mental health therapy called Open Dialogue (google ODDESSI for more information). My job is to find out why the new therapy does or doesn’t work!
I’m a bit of a grandma, so when I’m not working you can usually find me snuggled on the sofa watching Netflix and knitting. I also really love the outdoors, so sometimes you might find me rock climbing or hiking a mountain. There’s not many mountains in London though, I definitely miss the outdoors of the North West and Wales! Living in London i’ve taken full advantage of all the theatre shows too 🙂
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My PhD project is all about alcohol use and how we talk about it. How do we describe alcoholism? What do we think is ‘normal’ drinking? Who do we blame for alcohol addiction? My research looks at how we talk about describe different types of alcohol use. I collect data from online such as from blogs and Twitter. I also run focus groups. I then analyse all of this data to look at patterns of how we talk about these issues.
In addition to my PhD, i’m also working on the ODDESSI trial (google us!). This is looking at a new kind of mental health therapy called Open Dialogue to see if it can work in the NHS. My job is the ‘Process Evaluation’ which is a fancy way to say I have to try and explain the results of the trial, why does or doesn’t it work?
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My Typical Day:
This is no such thing as a typical day! Some days i’m running group interviews, some days i’m analysing data and some days i’m reading papers or even writing my own paper.
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As a PhD student, my job is to complete a project for 3 years. This includes thinking of the project, carrying it out, analysing it and writing it up – it’s a lot of work!
At the moment i’m in the middle of collecting my data. That means that i’m sending lots of emails and having lots of meetings with people to find times when we can set up a focus group. This means having 5-10 people in a room and asking them a list of questions and getting everyone to talk and discuss.
This group is audio recorded and after this group I have to write down everything that was said. This takes a very long time! When I have done this for all my focus groups (6 of them), then I can start to analyse the data and figure out what my findings tell me.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I would run an interactive alcohol awareness workshop in local primary and secondary schools where students can run an experiment and experience what it’s like to be drunk (there is no alcohol involved though!)
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Chatty, Excitable, Psychologist.
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wanted to be a lawyer because I have an answer for everything (hopefully this will help me with I'm a Scientist!). I also wanted to be a counsellor because some of my friends struggled with mental health and I wanted to be able to help. In the end I couldn't choose and so I studied psychology and criminology to see which I liked most.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Absolutely not. if someone shouted at me I would burst into tears... I still do!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
I will listen to almost anything, but I will always have a soft spot for Panic! at the Disco.
What's your favourite food?
Definitely pizza, I actually have a tattoo of a pizza slice.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To be successful in my career, to do research that will actually help people, and to be genuinely happy.
Tell us a joke.
I'd tell you a chemistry joke, but I know I wouldn't get a reaction. (I'm a big fan of puns)
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