Clinical Psychology Prof Doc

This course is in clearing

Overview

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Professional Doctorate

  • Prof Doc Clinical Psychology, home applicant, full time

    • Home Applicant
    • Full time, 3 years
    • fee for the UK bursary places are paid directly by the government.

What makes this course different

Accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS)

This three-year, full-time doctorate-level training course is accredited by the British Psychological Society and approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

Help find solutions to growing mental health issues

You will join a clinical-academic course team committed to improving the lives of people of all ages affected by mental health issues. The ethos of the training course is distinctive, with an emphasis on critical thinking and a consideration of numerous approaches to benefiting clients and services.

Become a Clinical Psychologist with our course

You will become a Clinical Psychologist ready to work in the NHS and related settings, in accordance with the requirements of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and British Psychological Society (BPS).

Accreditation

Accredited by the British Psychological Society

See more details

Course modules

NOTE: Modules are subject to change. For those studying part time courses the modules may vary.

Download course specification

Your future career

Your future career

As a graduate of this course, you will have the necessary training to work as a clinical psychologist in the NHS and related settings, such as primary care, community contexts, hospital wards, and charities.

The training programme will also send you forward into your career with an enriched and broadened outlook that we hope will be of lasting benefit.
The BPS praised the course's critical stance as empowering the development of both therapeutic and non-therapy competencies - for example, developing skills in promoting new ways of working as well as influencing the field at a policy level.

We hope that you will graduate prepared for the new and evolving challenges within the NHS and other diverse settings.

Explore the different career options you can pursue with this degree and see the median salaries of the sector on our Career Coach portal.

A smiling male and female sitting at a table in front of a laptop and two coffee cups looking at a notebook
The University's contacts within the local NHS trusts offer a wide variety of work experience and opportunities for research. The programme leaders were innovative in their presentation of lectures and seminars. They gave a first-hand account of the profession and provided a good understanding of what to expect when working in the mental health field."
Eileen Ward

Clinical and Community Psychology, BSc (Hons)

How we support your career ambitions

We offer dedicated careers support, and further opportunities to thrive, such as volunteering and industry networking. Our courses are created in collaboration with employers and industry to ensure they accurately reflect the real-life practices of your future career and provide you with the essential skills needed. You can focus on building interpersonal skills through group work and benefit from our investment in the latest cutting-edge technologies and facilities.

Career Zone

Our dedicated and award-winning team provide you with careers and employability resources, including:

  • Online jobs board for internships, placements, graduate opportunities, flexible part-time work.
  • Mentoring programmes for insight with industry experts 
  • 1-2-1 career coaching services 
  • Careers workshops and employer events 
  • Learning pathways to gain new skills and industry insight

Mental Wealth programme

Our Professional Fitness and Mental Wealth programme which issues you with a Careers Passport to track the skills you’ve mastered. Some of these are externally validated by corporations like Amazon and Microsoft.

Our Mental Wealth programme

We are careers first

Our teaching methods and geographical location put us right up top

  • Enterprise and entrepreneurship support 
  • We are ranked 6th for graduate start-ups 
  • Networking and visits to leading organisations 
  • Support in starting a new business, freelancing and self-employment 
  • London on our doorstep

What you'll learn

In the most recent BPS accreditation, our Professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology was widely praised for its structure, quality of teaching, clinical rigour, and philosophy.

In the context of a critical and innovative approach, you will gain the knowledge and skills to become an effective clinical psychologist across different client groups and work settings. You will also learn how to apply knowledge and theory to different ways of working, such as direct therapy, indirect working (e.g. consultation), staff support, service development, and organisational change.

You will gain core skills in assessment, formulation, and therapeutic interventions. Your effective core therapy skills will include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and at least one other approach.

We offer theoretical frameworks for evaluating clinical psychology theory and practice in a critical but constructive way. You will learn about innovative approaches to practice, such as social constructionist, narrative and systemic therapies, and community psychology interventions.

The research element of the course encompasses both qualitative and quantitative methods. We offer an outstanding range of placement and personal/professional development experiences.

At a recent accreditation visit, the BPS spoke of our course as being "clearly ahead of the game" in terms of engaging with the future directions of healthcare provision. It also acknowledged that the course was viewed extremely positively in this regard by trainees, recent graduates, supervisors, and employers.

We consistently review our courses to ensure we are up to date with industry changes and requirements from our graduates. As a result, our modules are subject to change. 

How you'll learn

The course team will support your development using both a broadly critical and open-minded stance to working with clients and services. The team questions the idea of distress as being something that simply occurs inside individuals and encourages a perspective that puts individual distress in its social context.

The team is highly respected across different fields and tutors are engaged in work at several levels: from clinical practice to policy development and working with professional bodies. Team members are involved with research initiatives spanning health and societal contexts. We aim to influence practice at regional, national, and international levels.

Your clinical and academic learning will be supported by the course team and involve partnerships with NHS and related settings. A clinical academic programme has been designed to enhance theory-practice formulation and intervention.

Your clinical work placements will typically be based in settings such as primary care, hospital inpatient departments, community health centres, charities, or mental health teams. You will be required to successfully complete placements that cover the lifespan and associated psychological presentations. Throughout this time you will be supervised by qualified and experienced clinical psychologists.

Your academic teaching will comprise lectures, presentations, work within small groups, and practical exercises including reflection on your clinical work. You will also be supported to produce a research thesis in the last two years of your training.

Theses that have recently been completed include a study of how mental health issues are represented in TV series aimed at young people, a project involving young asylum seekers in the UK, and an assessment of how young people manage issues of sexual identity.

We encourage a collective approach that encompasses the idea of self-help support groups and community psychological interventions.

"We view communities as more than just geographical communities and those who seek the help of psychologists often come from marginalised communities," says Dave Harper, Programme Director (Academic). "For example, currently we have trainee clinical psychologists working in services for young asylum seekers. They listen to the young people's stories about the circumstances leading to journeying to the UK, helping them to make sense of it all."

How you will be assessed

We will assess you through a variety of ways, including exams, placement supervisors' evaluations, your thesis and practical reports.

Campus and facilities

Water Lane, Stratford