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Declan Campbell

Assistant Psychologist

Cygnet Healthcare

Declan Campbell, Assistant Psychologist at Cygnet Healthcare, was inspired to pursue a career in mental health after witnessing the challenges faced by friends and family struggling in silence. Now working closely with service users and multidisciplinary teams, he focuses on empathy, active listening, and trauma-informed care to build trust and deliver effective support. In this interview, Declan shares insights from his daily work, the lessons that guide his teamwork approach, and his ambition to train as a clinical psychologist.

1. What inspired you to pursue your current career path?

   I would say my own personal experiences encouraged me to follow this career path. Throughout my life, I have seen friends and family struggle with their mental health, often in silence. I wanted to be part of an active change where people feel supported when their mental health starts to deteriorate.

2. What lesson from your first job still guides you today?

   The biggest lesson I have taken from my first ever job is the importance of strong relationships within your own team. It is vital that communication, trust, and ideally friendship, are present in any team. If you look out for others, they’ll look out for you at work.

3. What does a typical day look like in your role?

   The day starts by reviewing handovers for any incidents to be aware of before going into a morning meeting to review what our plans are for the day. After this, we often have another meeting to discuss particular service users. Later in the day, I often attend therapies and interventions with about three to four service users that can vary between 10 minutes to an hour. After these, the notes are written up and posted on our database for the day, along with any outstanding admin tasks.

4. Which skills have been most valuable to your success?

   I would say being an active listener and utilising trauma-informed empathy. Service users are aware when you are not really listening and understanding them, and this can negatively affect your rapport. Also, it’s important that you use active listening in meetings with the rest of the team so you can challenge any opinions or plans you disagree with.

5. What are you most excited about in the next stage of your career?

   I’m excited to (hopefully) one day get onto the clinical doctorate, which means I will be able to train properly to become a clinical psychologist. It will be a very competitive and tricky process, and means I’m back at university for three more years. However, once I have completed this, it means I can specialise in a specific area of mental health support. It also allows me to be more active in significant decision-making, as people will be confident that my opinions are based on expertise, experience, and knowledge.