Developing a community psychology service in one local community through a practitioner-researcher pilot study

Abstract

Community perceptions that socio-political change happens to them opposed to with them has created a sense of angst. There is disparity between these views and that of the Government’s Big Society (Cabinet Office, 2010). Communities with high levels of deprivation, where capacity of support services is outweighed by demand present us with a critical question: How do we continue to deliver high quality and equitable services against a backdrop of economic and socio-political change? Such instability calls for creative and proactive solutions, which both meet the needs of local communities and, in essence, are created by them. This pilot project used a practitioner-researcher approach, where personal reflections from day-to-day meetings with community members provided the basis for a change in practice. Areas of concern included behaviour management, emotional well-being and support for parents. A new way of working, rooted in evidenced-based psychology, was developed based on these concerns and later shared with a range of key stakeholders. This paper reports on the rationale and development of practice for one educational psychologist within one local community and offers optimistic messages about addressing concerns and the dilemmas this created. The study demonstrates how individual practitioners may attempt change with the vision to empower communities in a tough socio-political climate. This way of working may act as a catalyst for collective response towards sustainable change through action.