Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
School of Health and Human Sciences
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
COLCHESTER
Essex
CO4 3SQ
Telephone: 01206 873910
Programme Administrator: Claire Wicks
Link to University of Essex website
The University of Essex Doctorate in Clinical Psychology commenced in October 2005 and has been developed in partnership with commissioners from the East of England Strategic Health Authority, the University of Essex, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, and NHS Trusts based in the Essex region. The programme is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and approved by the Health Professions Council (HPC).
The programme benefits from the input and support of clinicians based in Essex and at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. These clinicians also contribute to the teaching, research, placements and other operational activities. The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust has a national role in providing mental health training with a particular emphasis on multi-disciplinary work. The programme is housed in the vibrant academic and research community of the School of Health and Human Sciences (SHHS) of the University of Essex. The School has an excellent reputation for research and teaching in health and social care, and it is committed to inter-professional learning. In the most recent Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) submission (2008), the School of Health and Human Sciences was entered within Sociology, which was ranked in first position nationally.
Our Programme has a number of distinctive features:
The programme is further underpinned by the following values and principles:
The teaching philosophy underpinning the training programme is the integration of academic, research and clinical practice learning. To this end trainees are encouraged to be active participants in their training, and to reflect constructively and analytically upon the work in which they are engaged.
Back to top
Applicants to the programme MUST:
AND possess one of the following:
Back to top
Please see our website for the Job Description and Person Specification.
Application forms are screened to determine initial basic eligibility, including GBC and residency status. University undergraduate degree status is checked, where appropriate on the BPS website. Then all applications are independently rated and ranked by a panel of academic staff and local Clinical Psychologists. All application forms are anonymised for the short-listing process.
In general, three times the number of candidates to be selected will be interviewed. All short-listed applicants will have both a clinical and an academic/research interview.
We offer feedback to all applicants, following the short-listing process and interviews. A specific time frame is usually given to candidates in which they can request feedback.
The areas indicated below are used for rating application forms to the Programme, in order to short-list candidates for interview:
All offers of a place on a programme are dependent on satisfactory enhanced CRB and occupational health checks.
A brief literacy/numeracy test is mandated by the SHA and conducted in the course of the interview. This involves literacy and numeracy skills relevant to academic aspects of the programme and further details as well as example items will be made available to all short-listed candidates.
Back to top
Trainees are appointed as full-time NHS employees on a fixed term three-year contract and paid on Band 6 of the Agenda for Change (AfC) pay scales. The salary range for 2010/11 is £25,472 to £34,189, although in practice salary is unlikely to rise beyond pay point 23 which is currently £27,534. Trainees have current standard NHS holiday allowances and other benefits as detailed in the AfC Handbook. University fees are paid directly by the NHS. No self-funded places are available on the course. Places are only offered to candidates with UK residency and who intend to practice in the East of England area upon completion of training. 10 places are commissioned for the 2011 intake.
Trainees are permitted to claim for travel expenses to placement from either their home or their base (University of Essex) whichever is the shorter journey. Journeys are reimbursed by national mileage rules at the Agenda for Change Standard rate which vary according to the type of vehicle used, or at the cost of public transport. Placements are mainly based in Essex and range from a six mile radius from the University up to approximately a 40 mile radius; there are occasionally exceptions to this rule.
Back to top
The three-year full time Doctorate in Clinical Psychology is delivered at the University of Essex. The training is structured such that the academic teaching days are on Mondays and Tuesdays (with a study day on alternate Tuesdays). Placement days are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
The first year begins with a one-month induction programme primarily based at the University. The teaching is organised within five main modules that run through each year of training. Table 1 gives details of the modules, their components and assessments related to each module. Attendance at all teaching is mandatory and is monitored, as is placement attendance.
| Module | Constituent Units/Activity | Assessments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | Supervised Clinical Practice (SCP 1) | Adult placement | Evaluation of clinical competence (ECC) 1 |
| Older adult placement / Life-span placement | Evaluation of clinical competence (ECC) 2 | ||
| Clinical Applications (CA 1) | Adult mental health | Clinical Activity Report (CAR 1) (5,000 words) | |
| Older Adult mental health | |||
| Neuropsychology | |||
| Clinical Research (CR 1) Comprises two modules |
HS945 - Postgraduate research methods | HS945 assessments | |
| HS763 - Research methodology | Literature review (5,000 words) | ||
| Personal and professional development (PPD 1) | Reflective group 1 | Appraisal & Professional development portfolio (Log book) | |
| Clinical seminars 1 | |||
| Professional issues | |||
| Diversity 1 | |||
| Clinical interventions and skills (CIS 1) | Clinical Skills 1 | Observed structured clinical examination (OSCE) | |
| CBT | |||
| Psychodynamic theory and practice | |||
| Year 2 | Supervised Clinical Practice (SCP 2) | Child and Adolescent placement | Evaluation of clinical competence (ECC) 3 |
| People with Learning Disability placement | Evaluation of clinical competence (ECC) 4 | ||
| Clinical Applications (CA 2) | Children and Adolescents | Clinical Activity Report (CAR 2) (5,000 words) | |
| People with Learning Disabilities | |||
| Clinical Research (CR 2) | Clinical Research | Service related project (SRP) (5,000 words) | |
| Personal and professional development (PPD 2) | Reflective group 2 | Appraisal & Professional development portfolio (Log book) | |
| Clinical seminars 2 | |||
| Professional issues | |||
| Diversity 2 | |||
| Clinical interventions and skills (CIS 2) | Clinical skills 2 | Clinical Presentation (oral) | |
| Systemic theory and practice | |||
| Year 3 | Supervised Clinical Practice (SCP 3) | Specialist/elective placement | Evaluation of clinical competence (ECC) 5 |
| Specialist/elective placement | Evaluation of clinical competence (ECC) 6 | ||
| Clinical Applications and Integrative Practice (CA 3) | Integrative therapies | Clinical Activity Report (CAR 3) (5,000 words) | |
| Community Psychology | |||
| Critical Psychology | |||
| Clinical Research (CR 3) | Thesis | Written thesis and viva (40,000 words) | |
| Personal and professional development (PPD 3) | Clinical Seminars 3 | Appraisal & Professional development portfolio (Log book) | |
| Reflective group 3 | |||
| Diversity 3 | |||
| Professional issues | |||
| Clinical interventions and skills (CIS 3) | Working with personality disorder | Clinical Presentation (oral) | |
| Forensic settings, assessments and court reporting | |||
| Elective |
This module encompasses the clinical component of the course. The first year placements are in adult mental health and older adult services. The second year placements are in child and family mental health services and learning disability services. During the final year of training trainees undertake supplementary or specialist areas of work, or year-long placements that contains elements of both. Clinical placements are primarily located in Essex with some placement opportunities in the third year at the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.
Module two brings together teaching related to clinical practice. In the first year of training this consists of clinical skills teaching and teaching related to areas of adult mental health, including older adult and neuropsychology. In the second year of training this module contains teaching blocks to support placements in child and adolescent mental health services and disability service contexts. In the third year there are teaching blocks on specialist service settings and approaches.
The research module runs through all three years of training and aims to support the research that trainees undertake. In the first year, most of the clinical research teaching is aimed at supporting Service Related Projects and preparing the preliminary groundwork for developing the thesis research proposal. The research teaching in the second year of training aims to provide a substantive foundation in research design, data analysis and research methodology. The teaching in the third year is of a more advanced nature to support the completion of the thesis.
This module focuses on helping trainees to develop their competencies in relation to working in teams and organisations, developing their professional identity, and managing risk in clinical settings. These topics run across each year of training and relate to the placement context that trainees are working in through each year of their training. Across all three years there is teaching in this module relating to developing competencies in the context of diversity, communication skills, and complex decision making.
This module focuses on the teaching of clinical skills in general and on particular therapeutic modalities such as CBT, psychodynamic and systemic.
Clinical supervision is provided by qualified Clinical Psychologists or, occasionally, other Applied Psychologists with input from an appropriately qualified Clinical Psychologist. An agreed placement contract between supervisor and trainee is drawn up within the first two weeks of the start of the placement, with guidance from a University programme team member and will govern all placement arrangements.
Supervisors make themselves available for no less than three hours of informal contact per week, for discussion and guidance on casework, team working, and local organisational arrangements. There is a minimum of one hour of formal supervision a week. Supervision includes discussion on personal and professional development issues, including the resolution of any difficulties that might impede the trainee's capacity to fulfil his/her training contract. Supervision includes opportunities not only for such discussion of placement experiences and learning but also for direct observation of clinical work, both by the trainee of the supervisor and by the supervisor of the trainee. The trainee's university tutor carries out all placement reviews mid-way through the placement.
A Service Related Project is carried out on placement over the first two years of training. Service Related Projects provide an opportunity to develop an understanding of evidence-based practice and to develop skills in carrying out focused clinical research aimed at evaluating and improving an aspect of service provision.
The preliminary work for the main research project/thesis begins in Year 1. The bulk of the work takes place in Years 2 and 3. Trainees are encouraged in the latter part of their first year to begin to plan an area of research that they would like to pursue, and information is given to them about the research interests of University and NHS staff. Trainees are encouraged to pursue research topics that match their personal interests within the available expertise of research supervisors. Trainees need to abide by all University of Essex and NHS ethical procedures.
Back to top
To be eligible for the Award of Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, candidates must pass all the assessed components of the modules as detailed above.
Back to top
Trainees are supported in their personal and professional development by a number of systems. They are allocated a personal tutor from the Programme team who remains with them through the course of their training. The personal tutor has a pastoral role for the trainees, which includes carrying out their placement and other formal reviews.
Trainees attend a fortnightly reflective practitioner group throughout their three-year training in order to develop reflective skills to support practice. The same group facilitator usually remains with the trainee group for the whole duration. It is designed to promote reflective practice. The aims of the group are to (i) facilitate the integration of the trainees' learning through self-reflection and personal awareness, (ii) to promote learning about working with and within groups, teams and organisations, through the personal experience of a group and (iii) to promote a forum to reflect on issues relating to the interface between the experience of the individuals in the year group, the year group as a whole, the programme and the wider personal/professional context. The team considers reflective practice as an essential part of the training and necessary for effective clinical practice and research.
Trainees also have access to the University's Student Support Office and Counselling Service and the Student Union Advice Centre.
Trainees have an allocated budget to support their attendance at conferences and their research.
Back to top
Dr Frances Blumenfeld - Programme Director
Pieter du Toit - Deputy Programme Director
Dr Leanne Andrews - Research Tutor
Dr Jan Eaton - Clinical Tutor, Tavistock Link
Professor Alessandra Lemma - Tavistock Link Lead
Dr Susan McPherson - Research Tutor
Caitlin Phillips - Clinical Tutor
Dr Peggy Postma - Clinical Tutor
Claire Wicks - Programme Administrator
Clinicians from the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and other clinicians in Essex working in various NHS Trusts and other providers are involved in placements, curriculum development, teaching and strategic aspects of the course.
Feedback is regularly sought from trainees on the quality of teaching, placements and all other aspects of the programme. Trainees meet regularly with staff in trainee-led meetings. All stakeholders, including trainees, are key members of decision-making bodies within the programme. Stakeholders' views are valued highly and influence programme development.
Home | Basics | Course Centres | Applying
FAQs | Contact Us | Site Index | Links