Rayna Tuina Tuunaifo Phillips

Rayna applies knowledge and skills gained from Criminology and Psychology studies to strengthen her practice, research, and tautua with Pasifika communities.

One of my life values is tautua—the Sāmoan principle of service—so from an early age I always knew I wanted to work alongside and with people. I actually began my study journey following on from my former full-time position as a youth worker in the community and at a Tāmaki Makaurau-based school. Based on my own lived experience with mental health and from the reoccurring patterns I saw while supporting youth as they tried to access services, I really wanted to pursue registration as a mental health practitioner. Psychology was the obvious first step, but introducing Criminology took a while. I decided to go with the Psychology and Criminology double major as this is a good combination of two complementary subjects. It ultimately came down to what would strengthen my practice later and better equip me to serve a marginalised group with specific service needs.

Straight up, the brain is so interesting. I'd be sitting in lectures across my different Psychology courses and have my mind blown every few minutes seeing how our brain, behaviour, emotions, and perception of life are interconnected. Obviously, it built my academic knowledge, but it also helped me to understand others and myself more clearly. Something I was really surprised about was how interested I became in research. Huge mihi to Matt Hammond and the Survey and Naturalistic Research Methods course. It made me curious and laid out a road map on how to begin asking those questions via research.

I'm currently studying towards my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsyc), but I'd say my undergraduate courses in Psychology and Criminology prepared me well. Transitioning into postgraduate study was initially daunting, but my undergraduate learnings gave me a strong base and lessened the growing pains. Employment-wise, I have been able to accept some research contracts privately with a family to help establish a home-based intervention but also at other universities. Projects have included research into eating disorders, the service-users movement, and in the offending rehabilitation sphere. I'd say this is where my research skills set me up with confidence.

Within my DClinPsyc path, I'm constantly building on everything I've learnt from undergrad and am now actively able to engage in my own research projects. This is where my Criminology major has helped me along. I'm currently evaluating and researching culturally responsive interventions for Pasifika youth aiming to establish transformative pathways following violent offending. I hope the interweaving of my two major subjects will guide me as I seek to serve our Pasifika youth, families, and communities, while collaboratively creating more positive outcomes.

COVID-19 has meant I have been studying by distance since March 2020 when we first entered level 4 lockdown. It has definitely changed my postgraduate experience, but it has taught me to balance my study obligations with obligations to my own wellbeing. This means acknowledging that heightened anxiety is understandable within the current pandemic and making changes to how I plan my study and workload. Nonetheless, it is possible to study amidst these uncertain times, just be sure to reach out and stay connected.