An assistant psychologist at Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has received national recognition for her commitment to boosting the wellbeing and development of her colleagues.
Fauzia Khan scooped the Award for Innovation from the British Psychological Society (BPS) Division of Counselling Psychology.
Fauzia, who works in the Sandwell Older Adults Enhanced Community Mental Health Team, took home the award in recognition of launching positive psychology workshops for staff.
Fauzia, along with Clinical Psychologist Dr Kamaldip Kahlwan pioneered the ‘Unlock your Strengths’ Positive Psychology Workshop initiative for multi-disciplinary teams working within the older adults division.
The workshops were experimental and included interactive, reflective and creative exercises to provide staff with an introduction to positive psychology, helping staff to cultivate tools to identify and enhance their strengths and develop their coping strategies to boost both their personal and professional lives.
After an initial successful pilot, the workshop was piloted to more teams across the division, with Fauzia invited to share the project’s success at the BPS Division of Counselling Psychology Annual Conference in York.
Reacting to the win, Fauzia said: “It has been a very insightful and rewarding experience supporting Kam in both developing and co-facilitating the Unlock your Strengths Positive Psychology workshops.
“We have worked really hard on this project to make it a beneficial experience for our colleagues, and we were really pleased to see it so positively received by everyone.
“The comments we have had from our colleagues have been truly heart-warming and it has highlighted the marked impact it has had on both their personal and professional lives.
“It has been a privilege facilitating this workshop to our staff groups, and we’re really excited and proud that it has been recognised nationally by the British Psychological Society’s Division of Counselling Psychology in their annual awards for the innovation category.
“This would not have been possible without the engagement, contribution and feedback of our colleagues who attended the workshops, so we would like to say a big thank you to them for making this possible.”
The award is not the only way Fauzia has been recognised for her work in recent months.
The BPS accolade comes after Fauzia was Highly Commended for the Future Leader Award at the InsideOut Awards last month, in recognition of how she has demonstrated leadership, innovation and best practice in promoting mental health in the workplace.
Fauzia added: “It is an absolute honour and privilege to receive the Highly Commended InsideOut Future Leader Award, which recognises the fantastic work I have been involved with over the years, both within my professional role in the Trust, and outside of my role.
“I am still somewhat early on in my career, so receiving such a prestigious accolade is truly so exciting and means so much to me. I’d like to say a really warm and heartfelt thank you to everyone that has been a part of my journey, for their unwavering support and for continuously encouraging and inspiring me over the years. Thank you – you know who you all are!”