About Her
Full name: Freda Nomo
Degree: MA Dance Movement Psychotherapy
Career title: Trainee Psychotherapist
Q: Tell us a bit about yourself, your academic background, and how you started your career journey?
Freda: I am currently a Trainee Dance Movement Psychotherapist (DMP) (Not the same as a dance teacher, the two roles often get confused), in my second year of clinical training, at Goldsmiths, University of London.
As a trainee Movement Psychotherapist, I have worked with children and adults with emotional difficulties and learning difficulties, and in a typical session, I often mirror clients movements to get a feel of their emotional state, help clients to reflect on their emotions and provide a contained structure where deep emotional work can take place.
As it is a part-time course, I work part-time in various mainstream and special needs schools as a Learning Support Assistant. Before I decided to become a psychotherapist, I studied Health & Social Care, and then went on to study Dance and Professional Practice at the University of Bedfordshire.
Q: What are some of the key things or lessons you learned from your first job experience in the corporate environment? And in which way have those lessons contributed to your career journey so far?
Freda: I’ve learnt a few things in my career journey so far, one would be paying attention to detail. I used to be a ‘multi-tasker’ and I wouldn’t pay attention to detail and as a result, I would make minor errors, which could have been easily avoided if I had simply paid attention. Another lesson I’ve learnt is to be a self-starter, I often used to wait for people to tell me what to do instead of taking initiative, although I still sometimes wait to be told what to do, I’ve become much better at taking initiative.
Q: Besides being a Trainee Psychotherapist, you’re also an amazing writer. What inspired you to start your Lifestyle & Mental Health blog?
Freda: I initially started off writing poetry on my Tumblr blog, then one-day Oloni, Chief-Editor of Simply Oloni, was searching for lifestyle bloggers to contribute to her online platform, and I thought why not give it a shot? After some time, I decided to branch out my own, and run my own lifestyle blog, which eventually evolved into a personal development and mental health blog. In addition, training to be a psychotherapist also boosted my inspiration and passion for mental health and personal development.
Q: What are some of the key things you want people to take away from reading your blog?
Freda: Well there’s a motto on my blog which says, “Develop yourself, upgrade your lifestyle”, in essence, I want people to take away useful things that will assist them to develop their lifestyle, better their mental health, and develop self-knowledge of themselves and perhaps others.
Q: In your opinion, what are some of the main skills every career girl should acquire to become successful, not only in their job but also in the workplace? What advice would you give to young women?
Freda: In every single woman, there is a leader within them. Acquire leadership skills, even if you aren’t in a managerial position, be the leader of your own tasks, and your own projects, it’s a good way to execute leadership skills.
Also learn how to do deal with conflict, especially if you’re a people pleaser like myself, it can be tempting to avoid conflict, but avoidance just adds fuel to the fire.
Lastly, have a side hustle! Work on your creative projects in your spare time, it can be related to current day job, or not. Having a side hustle gives you the space to develop your leadership skills, project management skills, people skills (depending on if it’s a service or project), and it can bring more opportunities your way.
