Born and raised in Australia, I would be best described as an individual who is pretty easy to talk to and get along with. I generally always strive to learn new things and have varying interests, which is most probably what you the viewer had noticed at first glance of my home page. I’ll be bias and say I am a nice person : - ) however being nice does not stop me from speaking out in important matters and I have no issue with standing my ground if the need arises in discussions or disagreements. This trait has served me well when working with forensic / addiction clientele. I don’t have an issue admitting when i am wrong, while I believe ‘Yes’ people lack integrity because it naturally rids the other person of an opportunity to consider a different option. After all advice is advice, you don’t have to accept it although it’s always good to hear a different view. I grew up in a family that valued working for you money, honesty, integrity, self reliance, taking responsibility for your own actions amongst other things.
When I was young I never did great in school although there were most probably a couple of reasons for this. In reflection, it was likley I didn’t see the relevance in some subjects, nor did I feel at the time much of the teachings were targeted in a way that grabbed my attention. Information was being forced fed and dribbled via text books although their was no context for me to relate. I left in year ten because a teacher mentioned not to peruse my HSC as they believed I wouldn’t pass. Instead stating I should go out and get any job I could, even a garbage collector job if the opportunity arose. I was told to make sure I maintained the job and not become a weight on society as a dole bludger. So needless to say because I respected this teacher I believed them and that’s what I did. I worked in factories as factory hands/machine operator, process worker, vertical drapes ∕ security door and fly screen manufacture, pet shops, data entry, for the better part of 10 years after leaving school because that’s all I thought I could do.
Their came a point where I was so despondent with working life because I couldn’t see any bright future ahead if I didn’t break out of the factory work / low paid cycle. The jobs were paying the bills... Just! If the car ever broke down then my year’s savings for a holiday would be gone just to fix the car. Eventually I was so uncomfortable I decided to go against prior advice and went to TAFE where I completed the Associate Diploma of Animal Technology. It was at this point in time I had actually realised I could complete the things I wanted. Having worked in the field for a period of time, I decided to take my first overseas travel on my own and try living overseas for a year.
My anxiety was high at this time because I feared I might be making a mistake travelling alone and with all the things that could go wrong who would help? I ended up obtaining a working visa where I stayed and worked in England for approximately a year. I enjoyed working in the Waltham Centre very much and my work colleagues and the organisation were great. When the time came to return back to Australia I realised in the plane no matter how much I loved working with animals, I wanted to continue furthering my education as I felt I could do more and give more. My thoughts at the time were unless you’re a vet; working with animals in other employment positions was relatively quite low paid in Australia. Maybe the reason for this is for every one person leaving the animal field, 50 were trying to get in so their was no need to pay high. I therefore decided to apply for a University Bachelor of Psychology Degree. I thought if I could complete an Associate Diploma at TAFE, surely I could do a degree. Right?
When entry into the course was accepted and it was time to attend university to undertake my Bachelor of Psychology some laughed and cracked jokes, and at the beginning of the course while I grappled with the complexities of university some said it would be easier to leave and get a job. Finding that university was somewhat very different than TAFE, I had much to learn to increase my proficiency at academia and therefore arranged summer school classes to assist with my learning the things I was expected to have known in the first place i.e HSC prep for uni. I found one of my university lecturer’s was not supportive of me being in the course. In a meeting the lecturer told me I should leave the course because I was not a High Distinction Student and couldn’t see me becoming a psychologist. It was also mentioned that person had believed mature aged people (I was 27 at the time) were taking up spaces of younger people who had completed the HSC. Needless to say I was quite shocked when this lecturer had even suggested alternative courses I should do instead of psychology. Leaving that course would have been a regret I would have carried all my life. However I didn’t leave because I based this person’s suggestion as being no different to my high school teachers opinion. Just because a person is deemed to be in a position of power, does not mean they are automatically right! And by completing the degree I unambiguously demonstrated that point.
From completing my Bachelor of Psychology Degree, I was fortunate enough to locate a professor to supervise me during my two year psychology internship. Around this same period I also obtained work as a Drug and Alcohol Counsellor in a rehabilitation facility where I worked under the guidance of a psychiatrist who had worked extensively with clients of addictions. I was very fortunate to start my career this way and learning from these two professionals gave me a great start to my psychologist career. I completed my internship and while working at the rehab I transitioned from intern to registered psychologist. I then decided to test the waters and see if I could complete a masters degree. Working full time and studying masters was very difficult, however I thought at the time it was no different than studying my Animal Technology course where I had also worked full time + weekend work + studied at night. With everything in life, hard work usually pays off and I was able to complete my Master’s in Health Science (Sexual Health). By the time the end of the fiifth year working in the rehab arrived, I had decided to start my own psychology practice where I predominately work with clients who have addictions.
Their have been many lessons in my life, however the most prominent lessons in the forefront of my mind would be (1) to recognise failure is not the issue, however what you do with the failure is. (2) The lessons learnt from your errors are the only thing standing between you and your success in the future. (3) I would rather try something and fail than never to try it at all. (4) Just because others tell you things are not obtainable; it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t achieve your goals. (5 ) Accept responsibility in your life and stop finding excuses as a way out of things, because you and only you will determine what you will or will not become in the future. And finally what I call (DPP) = Determination, Perseverance and Persistence are what has pushed me to further myself, find the strength in yourself and stop relying on others to prop you up (government dependency included).
Darren Hamburger
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