Meet the team: Tallulah Denman

At Pathfinder we’re dedicated to supporting our service users, and our staff supporting them. We’re delighted to have appointed Tallulah Denman as our new deputy service manager for our community homes. To mark this occasion we sat down and dived into her career, passions and why working at Pathfinder makes her feel valued, and supported and gives her the opportunity to change lives. 

Please describe your career journey and a little bit about you 

In 2015 I began studying for an undergraduate degree in psychology. It was during this time that I became very interested in mental health and wanted to help treat those with mental disorders. After graduating with a 1st I began studying for a master's in Forensic Psychology whilst working voluntarily for the charity Circles. Circles is a charity that supports people to reintegrate into the community after being released from prison. As part of my role I supported a client  by encouraging them to develop healthy adult relationships, build upon their self-esteem and supported them manage their day to day lives by encouraging them to engage in meaningful activities. After 18 months I decided that I wanted to gain experience working in a mental health setting and so I applied for a position with Pathfinder. 

How long have you worked here? 

I began working for Pathfinder as a support worker in 2019. It really confirmed to me that mental health was the field that I wanted to work in as I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of my job and the challenges that it brought me. I supported service users in their day to day living, all of whom had a range of complex mental health and physical health needs and risks. Part of my role was to manage these risks and needs and provide them with emotional support. I was also given the opportunity to build upon my skills in risk assessment and care planning, an experience which I have found invaluable. 

In 2020 I was promoted to Senior of Domiciliary care. This gave me the opportunity to get to grips with the inner workings of the company and work as part of the management team to ensure the service runs smoothly. This involved supervising other support workers to ensure that an effective service is being delivered, supervising staff to undertake risk assessments and care plans and taking part in Pathfinders clinical governance meetings. I was also given the opportunity to perform referral assessments for the company to assess the suitability of a support package for potential service users. 

I was recently promoted to Deputy Service Manager, an opportunity I’m very excited about. I also recently found out I achieved a merit in my Forensic Psychology masters and so I will look forward to being able to apply the knowledge I have gained from my degree to my current role. 

What do you like most about working for Pathfinder?

What I like most about Pathfinder is that I feel like a valued member of the team. I never feel like I am just an employee but someone whose voice and opinions are heard and taken into consideration. I am always being given opportunities to develop my skills as a professional and I feel that Pathfinder is very supportive of helping me to achieve my career aspirations. 

What does your new role bring for you - are there any changes or projects you’d like to implement? 

My new role brings more significant challenges as I move from focusing primarily on Domiciliary care to assisting with managing the service as a whole and the day to day challenges that brings. I look forward to ensuring that Pathfinder provides a safe and effective service across the board and that we continue to rehabilitate service users in a person-centred way. 

What does a day in the life of a look like? 

One of the best things about my job is that no two days are ever the same. In terms of supporting service users, on some days I may be supporting service users with their daily living activities such as attending routine appointments whereas on others I may be supporting them through a mental health crisis and liaising with the clinical teams involved. I also spend a lot of time supporting staff through supervisions and appraisals to ensure that they feel supported by management and so that they too feel they can grow in their professional development. I also regularly take part in the administrative side of the job by doing regular audits and ensuring that care plans and risk assessments are up to date to ensure that the service runs as smoothly as possible. 

What are you most proud of in your career? 

Nothing is more rewarding than feeling a service user telling you how grateful they are for something you have done for them. Many times I have visited a service user who has been experiencing a low mood due to a difficulty they are experiencing. Being able to support them to resolve what they are going through, watching their mood shift to a happier one and being told how grateful they are for your support makes my job feel very important and worthwhile. 

Do you have any goals for the next few months/years?

I’m an aspiring Forensic Psychologist and so my next goal is to complete my Stage 2 qualification with the British Psychological Society as a Trainee Forensic Psychologist, a goal I am sure I can achieve at Pathfinder!

What’s one thing that surprised you about working here? 

One thing that surprised me is how homely and relaxed the care home environments appeared to be. Having had no prior experience working in this field, I came to the job with very clinical expectations of what the care home would be like. However, I very quickly learned that our care homes are deliberately made to appear more homely as opposed to a clinical environment in order to make the residents feel more at home and relaxed. This appears to work as you can see from talking to residents that they are very happy living with us and are grateful for the support that they get from staff. 

How would you describe the company's values and culture? 

The company's values and culture are positive ones in that service users and their needs are always quite rightly put first in everything we do. We do everything we can to ensure that they all receive the best care and can lead healthy and fulfilling lives. As an employee you are made to feel valued and as though the work you do is impactful. Everyone in the company is passionate about mental health and caring for others and so we are all able to work together on the common goal of achieving a brilliant mental health service.

To find out more about Pathfinder and to explore opportunities to work for us, please contact adam.huxley@pathfinder-group.co.uk.