27 March 2007

JOB:PSYCHOLOGIST

It's not about crazy people

To become an Army psych you need a sense of adventure, a desire to do new things and a willingness to step outside your comfort zone, says Captain Steve Kearney.

Fortunately, CAPT Kearney signed up for exactly those reasons – “something different, unique experiences, variety, adventure” – and, six years later, the Army hasn't let him down.

“I get bored easily, so the thing I like about the Army is that I do such a variety of work; there is always a new challenge and new stuff to do. I very seldom spend my whole day sitting in front of the computer – I do lessons, I go out into the field, I do PT. And I get to do things that no-one else has done.”

CAPT Kearney was so keen to join the Army that he rolled into camp just two days after finishing his Masters degree (a requirement for psychologists). But it was a couple of years later before he realised just how lucky he was.

“I caught up with a friend who’d done the same courses as me and was doing a civilian equivalent to my job, working for a bank. But they had spent the last two years selecting middle-level bank managers – that had been their job all day, every day. I’d just come back from [a three-month deployment to] East Timor, and had all kinds of cool stories to tell – that’s when it began to strike me that it was a pretty cool job.”

Since his first deployment to East Timor in 2002, his job has taken him as far afield as the Middle East, Kyrgyzstan, the UK, Canada, the Solomon Islands and back to Timor several times. Many of these short trips are for mission de-briefs, where he meets with personnel just before their return to New Zealand.

“We talk about the tour, highlights and lowlights. There can sometimes be some weirdness that goes on when you come home to a family or partner, so we like to educate them that it’s okay for things to be awkward initially, that it takes a while for things to click again. Being aware of that can make the process a lot less stressful for everyone.”

Psychologists may also brief personnel before and during their deployment, and follow up with them after they've settled back into life in New Zealand. Other responsibilities of psychs include helping personnel in high-risk jobs with “critical incident stress management”; officer selection; and selecting personnel for specialist trades such as military police, SAS, physical training instructors, and IEDD (improvised explosive device disposal) operators.

“A lot of people are under the misapprehension that we’re just there to weed out the crazy people, but that’s not the case. We’re there to look at someone’s aptitudes and abilities, and disposition, to see if they suit those roles. For example, if someone has passed a PTI selection board, that doesn't mean they’re going to be suitable as an IEDD operator, different aptitudes and different personalities are required.”

Ensuring the applicant “fits” into the role is not just a safety net for the Army. “I say this to all the candidates I assess, ‘If you’re suited to it, the Army is a really fun place to be – I love the Army and I'll be in the Army for a while – but if you’re not suited to it, the Army is not a fun place to be at all’. So it’s really important for the individual that we get it right.”

As the Training Development Psychologist Army Training Group in Waiouru, CAPT Kearney’s role is to improve the way the Army trains its personnel, using what we know about how people think.

He finds training intrinsically interesting. “In my six years in the Army I've debriefed over 1,000 people that have deployed, and time and time again I see how important the training that we do with soldiers is, in terms of their experience on a deployment – right down to inculcating the ethos and core values of the Army: integrity, comradeship, commitment and courage. I try to train those values into soldiers, as well as skills, because those values are really important, particularly on operations.”

Because their breadth of experience and the quality of the training they receive, former Army psychs are sought after if they eventually decide it’s time to leave the Army.

“To be a psychologist in New Zealand you need to have a Masters degree, and then you have to do a year of registration, which is a supervised process”, he explains. “The Army’s process is very robust and we invest a lot of time, effort and resources to produce psychologists we can trust later on in their careers to do a good job. We set the standard regarding the development of junior psychologists.”

But CAPT Kearney cannot imagine leaving the Army. “I'm having too much fun to get out”, he says. “And at this stage, there are a number of options open to me and a career path that can stretch out for many years. The ACGS Pers began his career as a psych, so the sky’s the limit!”

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The team of about seven psychologists provide psychologist services, advice and research to all levels of the Army, from private soldiers to senior officers. They conduct in-theatre, pre- and post-deployment debriefs; educate personnel on managing stress; advise on officer and specialist trade selection; and conduct training, research and minor counselling.

COULD I BE A PSYCHOLOGIST?
To become a psychologist you need to be registered with the New Zealand Psychology Board, or be eligible for registration by having a minimum of a MA or MSc in psychology (including required papers).

Personal qualities: Army psychologists must be adaptable, self-motivated and practical, and possess other officer qualities such as integrity and honesty.

Skills: research, communication and computer skills, including familiarity with statistical analysis software.

TRAINING
Psychologists attend the five-week Specialist Officers Course. Later, they attend conferences, training and courses in areas relevant to Army Psychology Service activities, as well as further officer training.

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