Bethany Moody

It’s funny to think how much has happened in the short time since I graduated ACAP.

3 years ago, I took a placement in a wellbeing team in a high school as part of my Graduate Diploma in Counselling study with ACAP. Little did I know back then that that very placement would lead to me heading up a large high school wellbeing team just a couple of years later.

My journey with ACAP started with a conversation I had with a friend who had recently graduated. I was feeling at a bit of a crossroads at the time. She raved about ACAP and told me about all the benefits of the college over the bigger universities.

I liked the idea of smaller, more personal classes and the course sounded interesting so I decided to apply. While on the placement towards the end of the course, my supervisor pulled me aside for a chat about my goals once I finished. It was then that I reflected and realised I really wanted to continue working with children. I found it easy to establish connections with the kids and knew I could help them.

He came up with the idea of me volunteering for a few months once I’d graduated, and set it up for me at a different school that had shown interest in the placement program.

I learned so much from volunteering and made some useful connections. When a permanent counselling role became available for the Middle School, they suggested I apply and I was so excited when I got the job. Before I knew it, I myself was supervising dozens of placement students from ACAP. It was kind of daunting but I’d learned so much in my time there as a student and then a volunteer that I just got on with it.

Fast-forward to today and I’m now Head Counsellor of the School, managing 25 counsellors and 15 social workers. It’s full-on but such fun. No two days are ever the same, and the pace can go from 0-100 in seconds. But that’s one of the things I love about it, and I wouldn’t change a thing.