Clinical Psychology

ALumni Clinical psychologists make up the single largest specialty area in psychology. Clinicians are psychologists who assess, diagnose and treat mental illnesses. They frequently work in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), private or group practices or hospitals. Within the area of clinical psychology, there are also a number of sub-specialty areas. Some professionals are generalists and work with a wide range of clients, while others specialize in treating certain types of psychological disorders or a certain age group. For example, some clinical psychologists might work in a hospital setting with individuals suffering from brain injuries or neurological conditions. Other clinical psychologists might work in a NHS setting that specialises in individuals or families coping with stress, mental illness, substance abuse or personal problems.

Clinical psychologists usually perform a wide range of tasks on a daily basis such as interviewing patients, conducting assessments, giving diagnostic tests, performing psychotherapy and administering programs. Work settings can vary based on the specific population that a clinician is working with. Common work settings include hospitals, schools, universities, prisons, mental health clinics and private practices.

What do you need?

Getting on to this or any other UK course means meeting a number of criteria for entry. While one should to be realistic about one's chances of gaining a place, it is also important not to overestimate the difficulty of getting a place.

Nationally, in 2008 there were nearly 2,500 applications for around 600 places, which means that overall 25% of applicants were successful. In some courses, the success rate drops. Indeed, on the UCL course, in 2008, there were 752 applications for 42 places.

Each applicant can apply to four courses.

Criteria for success:

Candidates need to meet some basic academic criteria. After that, they also need to demonstrate (by gaining some relevant clinical experience) that they have some awareness of the roles undertaken by clinical psychologists, are familiar with the sorts of clients psychologists see, and have an idea of the contexts within which psychologists work. In addition, they need to show that they have the appropriate personal characteristics needed to work effectively with a wide range of potentially vulnerable individuals, and to contribute to the work of fellow professionals in the NHS or equivalent organisations.

Academic criteria

Generally, all candidates need to have obtained a good pass in a good undergraduate honours degree in Psychology. Additional postgraduate study will help and provide further evidence.

In order to be considered for a place on any training course in Clinical Psychology it is essential to have Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC)with the British Psychological Society (BPS), usually at the time of applying or certainly by the time shortlisting is completed (in February). Not all Psychology programmes confer eligibility for GBC. If you are unsure whether you are entitled to GBC you should check this with your programme staff or write to the BPS (St Andrews House, 48 Princess Road East , Leicester LE1 7DR; Tel: 0116 254 9568 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 0116 254 9568 end_of_the_skype_highlighting; e-mail: mail@bps.org.uk ) for more details.

Relevant Clinical Experience

In order to have a realistic chance of being selected it is essential to gain some relevant clinical experience before applying to the course. There are several reasons for this. It gives applicants a chance to test out whether work in this field is for them - it is much better to discover this before making a major career commitment.

Often, people work for around 1-2 years before getting on a course, and in most cases this should be sufficient.

Being clear about what counts as experience is hard to specify, especially because suitable posts vary enormously. UCL state this is what broadly candidates should look for:

. an idea of what clinical psychologists actually do
. some direct clinical contact with the sort of clients psychologists work with
. an idea of what work with clients actually entails
. a sense of the organisational context in which clinical psychology usually operates

One common route is to find work as an Assistant Psychologist. These posts are advertised in the BPS Bulletin (distributed monthly to all members of the BPS) and also (although less frequently) in other relevant publications - for example, the health section of papers such as The Guardian.

Other routes include working in a social work context or as a nursing assistant in a psychiatric unit, or as a worker in a MIND Day Centre would be extremely valuable; all would count as relevant experience.

Another route would be to take a post as a research assistant, though the research should usually offer at least some direct involvement in a clinical area. It is worth remembering that a very "academic" research post would not give candidates much of a sense of how the clinical world operates, or how they react to the sorts of clients seen in clinical contexts.

Part time work is an acceptable way of gaining experience.

Voluntary work in an appropriate area and "counts" in the same way as paid work.

As above, relevant posts can be found outside the NHS. However, it is a good idea to work (at least to some extent) in a context which gives you a general sense of the statutory healthcare system.

Overseas students

Students whose country of origin is outside the EU should note that the NHS will not fund places for students who have to pay University fees at the overseas (non-EU) rate. If in any doubt about the types of fees you would have to pay, please contact the UCL Admissions office to clarify. They can be contacted on tel : +44 (0)20 7679 7742 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting +44 (0)20 7679 7742 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or email: admissions@ucl.ac.uk (telephone calls are preferred to e-mails).

Overseas applicants and experience of UK health systems
As for UK-based candidates, applicants based outside the UK (but within the EU) will need to show some knowledge and experience of the UK healthcare system.

Making an Application - the Clearing House for Postgraduate Courses in Clinical Psychology

As is the case for all UK courses, applications are administered through a central clearing house. They provide a handbook giving details of all courses and deal with all applications. For an application form and information about other courses in the UK write to: The Clearing House, 15 Hyde Terrace, Leeds LS2 9LT, e-mail them at: chpccp@leeds.ac.uk , or visit their website: http://www.leeds.ac.uk/chpccp/ . The deadline for receiving completed applications is usually the 1st of December of each year, but applicants should confirm this.

Funding
All places on the course are funded by the NHS - this includes a salary and payment of academic fees. We do not accept trainees on a self-funding basis.

Deferred entry
If we make an offer of a place we will not defer entry to a subsequent year.

Further resources

Testimonial

Louisa Codjoe (MSc PDP Graduate 2003/2004)

I decided to go into clinical psychology as I wanted to learn a variety of therapeutic models and have the skills to use them discerningly and flexibly with clients with a range of psychological difficulties.

I went about applying by looking at the clearing house website, choosing courses and gathering advice about how to write the form from qualified psychologists.

Following my MSc I worked on a split post as an assistant psychologist/researcher on a project with mums with borderline personality disorder and their children. This gave me good exposure to working in a tertiary NHS setting with a hard to engage group. Prior to the MSc I worked for a year in both private and NHS inpatient psychiatric units as a nursing assistant.

Preparation for the interview involved a lot of reflection about what I learned from my work experiences, brushing up on research techniques, ensuring I was up to date with policies and papers regarding the areas of mental health I worked in. I thought about what I would hope to gain from the course and my perspectives on being a clinical psychologist in the current NHS system.

I am now qualified after completing my DClin Psych at Oxford University (thank god!). It was exhausting! I developed a research and clinical interest in working with people with psychosis and work in an early detection service in Brixton. I work for the Institute of Psychiatry which is keen on research so I also have ring fenced time to research areas of interest.