CREST Team Case Study - Michelle Cregg

Michelle is a Consultant Forensic Psychologist at CREST

What made you apply for your job?

I’ve worked in several settings with people stuck at different stages, and I don’t believe the problem is with the person. It is mainly with the system, and that is something that CREST believes in, too.

What do you do day-to-day?

It’s varied for me. On an average day, I can be trying to arrange a hospital visit to review files to talk to individuals in their care, see what training someone needs, and talk about research and how to contribute to it.

Then, I might be looking at how to support someone involved in complex rehabilitation and elements of my development. I feel very supported in this at CREST, and given time and challenged to think about what would help me to do my job better, whereas I haven’t always had that in other jobs.

One example is research. I’m currently interested in the way we think about how we evaluate how CREST benefits our service users: what can look like a tiny step forward to the outside world can be massive progress for them.

What do you most admire about CREST?

It’s determination to do something different. Each individual brings their own culture, and we challenge each individual and look for shared solutions, and that raises the bar each time. CREST doesn’t shy away from that.

What do you want to see in the future at CREST?

That we live and breathe trauma-informed responses from every part of the service. How do we make sure that people understand the impact of trauma rather than acknowledging it in merely a tokenistic fashion? We are currently trying to think through what the foundation training is, and after that, how do you keep people fresh on the service user’s life story?

How do you look after your mental health?

Family life helps – I have to shut down my laptop at the end of the day. There’s no choice with two small children! I feel very supported: CREST allows people to bring the understanding to work that they are people.