Tahira Haider

From Armidale to Lahore

How did you come to study for your Clinical PhD in Psychology at UNE and how would you describe your experience? 

I have always found the field of psychology fascinating and my interest grew while working in the worker’s compensation insurance sector in Australia. I choose to study at UNE because it is among the top universities in Australia providing flexible learning.

It was a life-changing experience. I had the benefit of being mentored by some of the most esteemed professors and clinicians in my field. It provided me with continuous opportunities to learn and grow. As a clinician, I learnt how to hold a client’s trust and walk with them in their journey of self-discovery. It is a privilege for which I am very grateful.

How do you feel your UNE studies helped prepare you for your subsequent career? 

UNE study not only made me work-ready but it equipped me with the ability to juggle competing demands and priorities. The university curriculum was practical and applicable to the real world. During my time in Australia, I worked in the worker’s compensation industry as a case manager, rehabilitation consultant, and as an injury management advisor. I also worked in a range of NSW mental health facilities and as a health researcher, evaluating and improving the use of evidence-based practice.

After gaining my registration, I predominantly worked as a clinical psychologist in private practice and in a private hospital in northern Sydney. Returning to Pakistan was difficult, however my father was unwell and I wanted to be close to him.

What does your role as head of Counselling and Psychological Services at Lahore University of Management Sciences involve?

I manage our full-time clinical team, operations team, our placement program, internship program and our up-and-coming research team. About 200 students use our university-based psychology clinic each week.

However, my job description is continually evolving as we introduce new initiatives. I’m currently working to increase student engagement with our mental health services, and highlighting our department’s presence across campus. We are also looking to use e-technology more in the delivery of mental health services and to help manage our workload.

At the university level, we are trying to create awareness of mental health issues and to help improve the mental health and well-being of our student community. We are conducting workshops and using social media platforms to provide students access to mental health resources, and I am hoping our students can use the skills and tools we provide in their time at university and beyond.

What are the challenges of providing psychological support in Pakistan?

Psychology is in its infancy in Pakistan and is currently unregulated. At the same time, we are experiencing a mental health crisis. Those who are aware of the benefits of psychology struggle to find a credible clinician. If they do reach out, most ethical and competent therapists are booked out sometimes for six months or more. Unfortunately, a large number of people struggling with mental health issues suffer in silence.

In Australia, psychology is highly regulated, and the registration and training required to practice in the field of clinical psychology is very rigorous and can take up to 8-10 years. However, in Pakistan there are no regulations and no boards, and no registration process. It makes the implementation of ethical and evidence-based practice very challenging.

What contributions do you feel you are able to make, given your UNE education and experiences in Australia?

I was very lucky to have clinicians and professors at UNE who drilled in me the importance of evidence-based practice, even before my clinical training started. Through our department placements and internship program here at Lahore University of Management Sciences my aim is to work with provisional psychologists to teach and train them in treatment modalities that are evidence-based. I aim to ensure that the clinicians we are hiring as part of our permanent clinical team have ongoing professional development around using best practices. Our department is also gearing up to conduct research in mental health in Pakistan, to examine the existing mental health models and treatments that we have borrowed from the west and to investigate their efficacy within our cultural context. The long-term goal is to create interventions that are evidence-based and effective in Pakistan.

We have seen a growth in online health delivery in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Do you think this trend will continue internationally?

We are currently working on a research project to better understand the application of online therapy in Pakistan. In our context, there are challenges relating to confidentiality. Being a collectivistic society means families live together – including grandparents and sometimes even extended family members such as aunts and uncles. There is potential for family members of either the therapist or the client to walk in during a therapy session. Internet connectivity and electricity outages can also make online therapy challenging.

By the same token, online therapy offers us many opportunities. Students who were socially anxious and reluctant to seek therapy in the past are able to reach out, and online delivery provides for continuity of care, wherever they are living. Online treatment also gives people more opportunities to choose from professionals with specific expertise nationally and internationally, all from the comfort of their home at a time that suits them.

Do you think the COVID pandemic has made all of us more conscious of our mental health and the importance of self-care?

COVID has changed the way we work, live and socialize, and our new reality poses a unique set of challenges. Around the world, we have seen that mental health issues are on the rise and nurturing mental wellness has become a collective social responsibility.

Self-care can certainly help manage the progression of mental illnesses, as it includes practices that an individual can enjoy on a day-to-day to basis to promote physical, emotional, spiritual and mental health. But self-care also means accessing professional health services. The digital transformation accelerated by the pandemic, including the use of tele-consultation, means we now see online therapy as an effective option. Hopefully this will give more people easy access to mental health professionals and the support they need.