This is a new course for 2023 entry. Some details may change.

Clinical practice unit: children and young people

Aims

The aims of this unit are: to provide students with:

• the opportunity to develop skills as a scientist-practitioner while working closely with a clinical psychologist in a clinical setting.
• the opportunity to demonstrate the ability to implement psychological interventions for children, young people and their families/carers, using formulation as a basis for the planned intervention, taking account of the psychological and social circumstances of the client in a collaborative manner.

Learning outcomes

In completing this unit students will be able to:

• Provide a range of psychological interventions for children and young people (CYP), selecting and implementing interventions where an established evidence-base is absent.
• Be an accountable professional acting in the best interests of service users, by providing personalised psychological interventions that are evidence-based, compassionate and empowering.
• Communicate effectively through creating and maintaining clinical records.
• Conduct psychological assessment to identify the priorities and requirements for personalised, evidence-based psychological interventions.
• Develop psychological formulations to inform the delivery of effective personalised care and to enhance the range of psychological interventions that other healthcare professionals may utilise in clinical practice.
• Provide a range of psychological treatments to individuals and groups appropriate to the needs of service users in the context in which they experience distress.
• Choose appropriate psychological measurement tools for ongoing evaluation of psychological treatments that make a significant contribution to the continuous enhancement and quality improvement of clinical practice. Provide support and guidance as part of the multidisciplinary teams.
• Provide training to others to inform psychological interventions across a range of service settings.
• Undertake research and service development activities to inform change in the workplace.
• Provide psychological models of clinical supervision to the broader mental health workforce within scope of practice.
• Conduct risk assessments and risk formulations.

Skills

• Organise and evaluate information from a range of sources effectively
• Analyse and interpret information from a range of sources to critically evaluate alternative formulations/theories about psychological problems relevant to children, young people and their families
• Developmentally informed problem-solving and creative skills
• Understand and maintain the practice and research standards and the requirements of the British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Ethics and Conduct.
• Understand the legal, statutory and ethical responsibilities of working in healthcare settings as a clinically supervised practitioner.
• Demonstrate the capacity to adapt to, and comply with, the policies and practices of a host organisation including risk assessment and safeguarding practices.
• Show an understanding of the roles and remit of a pre-registration workforce in applied psychology.
• Develop clinical practice skills in psychological assessment, formulation and intervention that are underpinned by psychological theory, evidence and understanding of problems presented by CYP.
• Develop a reflective and professionally safe practice informed by professional codes of conduct.
• Make appropriate decisions within the range of your expertise, seeking guidance where appropriate, and where limits of expertise are recognised to make referral to a qualified practitioner.
• Understand the impact of difference, diversity and social inequalities on children and young people's lives, and their implications for working practices within health and social care services and educational settings.
• Demonstrate the ability to use clinical and professional supervision effectively.
• Demonstrate the ability to work as a reflective and ethical practitioner.
• Develop a critical understanding of the development and implementation of relevant practice guidance frameworks (e.g. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE))

Clinical practice unit: adults

Aims

The aims of this unit are to provide students with:

• the opportunity to develop skills as a scientist-practitioner while working closely with a clinical psychologist in a clinical setting.
• the opportunity to demonstrate the ability to implement psychological interventions using formulation as a basis for the planned intervention, taking account of the psychological and social circumstances of the client in a collaborative manner.

Learning outcomes

In completing this unit students will be able to:

• Provide a range of psychological interventions for adults, selecting and implementing interventions where an established evidence-base is absent.
• Be an accountable professional acting in the best interests of patients, by providing personalised psychological interventions that are evidence-based, compassionate and empowering.
• Communicate effectively through creating and maintaining clinical records.
• Conduct psychological assessment to identify the priorities and requirements for personalised, evidence-based psychological interventions.
• Develop psychological formulations to inform the delivery of effective personalised care and to enhance the range of psychological interventions that other healthcare professionals may utilise in clinical practice.
• Provide a range of psychological treatments to individuals and groups appropriate to the needs of patients in the context in which they experience distress.
• Choose appropriate psychological measurement tools for ongoing evaluation of psychological treatments that make a significant contribution to the continuous enhancement and quality improvement of clinical practice.
• Understand the nature and conduct of individual risk assessment in health and social care settings
• Conduct risk assessments and risk formulations.
• Provide support and guidance as part of the multidisciplinary teams.
• Provide training to others to inform psychological interventions across a range of service settings.
• Undertake research and service development activities to inform change in relevant area of work.
• Provide psychological models of clinical supervision to the broader mental health workforce within scope of practice.

Skills

• Organise and evaluate information from a range of sources effectively
• Analyse and interpret information from a range of sources to critically evaluate alternative formulations/theories about psychological problems
• Understand and maintain the practice and research standards and the requirements of the
• British Psychological Society (BPS) Code of Ethics and Conduct.
• Understand the legal, statutory and ethical responsibilities of working in healthcare settings as a clinically supervised practitioner.
• Demonstrate the capacity to adapt to, and comply with, the policies and practices of a host organisation including risk assessment, harm minimisation and safeguarding practices.
• Show an understanding of the roles and remit of a pre-registration workforce in applied psychology.
• Develop clinical practice skills in psychological assessment, formulation and intervention that are underpinned by psychological theory, evidence and understanding of problems presented by adults across the lifespan.
• Develop a reflective and professionally safe practice informed by professional codes of conduct.
• Make appropriate decisions within the range of your expertise, seeking guidance where appropriate, and where limits of expertise are recognised to make referral to a qualified practitioner.
• Understand the impact of difference, diversity and social inequalities on adults' lives and their implications for working practices in health and social care settings.
• Demonstrate the ability to use clinical and professional supervision effectively.
• Demonstrate the ability to work as a reflective and ethical practitioner.
• Develop a critical understanding of the development and implementation of relevant practice guidance frameworks (e.g. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE))

Research skills for health service contexts

Aims

The aims of this unit are to:

• Develop the ability to design and conduct applied psychological research of relevance to clinical services (e.g., service-evaluation, clinical audit, single case and small N clinical research)
• Develop the capacity to follow ethical and governance procedures in research
• Provide students with the opportunity to carry out an independent research project in an applied context by putting into practice the methods, theories and skills that they have learned.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the unit, the students should be able to:

• Understand the issues and processes involved in identifying and developing service-related research questions in consultation with a range of stakeholders including service users
• Appreciate the practical and theoretical issues involved in undertaking research within clinical services.
• Follow ethical and governance procedures in clinical research
• Critically assess different approaches to analysing clinically relevant data
• Conduct analysis of clinically relevant data using appropriate software programmes
• Practice conducting, interpreting and reporting data analyses
• Demonstrate critical knowledge of the literature on a chosen research question of relevance to the practice of clinical psychology
• Show competency in the use of a particular research design and method within the field of clinical psychology practice
• Design and conduct research of relevance to clinical psychology practice
• Produce a research report of academic and professional merit that defines a research question/questions, identifies an appropriate methodology, engages with relevant theory and data and reports on the conduct of a small-scale, service- related research study.
• Disseminate research findings to a range of stakeholders

Skills

• To learn independently and to be able to assess one's own learning needs.
• To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence.
• To gather and synthesise information from several sources to gain a coherent understanding.
• To use a range of standard and specialised research instruments/techniques either individually or under supervision or as part of a research team.
• To disseminate research in appropriate formats (e.g., presentation for multi-disciplinary audience, service report, research publication).
• Develop skills in creating, managing and analysing routinely collected clinical data.
• Understand and maintain the practice and research standards and the requirements of the BPS Code of Ethics and Conduct.
• Understand research governance in the context of the NHS

Clinical psychology practice for adults

Aims

The aim of this unit is to familiarise students with the discipline of Clinical Psychology Practice for adults.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• Understand the theoretical underpinnings and practical skills involved in Clinical Psychology assessment
• Understand the governance and practice issues relevant to psychological research in health contexts
• Understand a range of assessment skills relevant to clinical psychology practice including behavioural assessment, clinical interviewing and psychometric assessment
• Understand the nature of formulation in clinical psychology practice
• Understand the mechanisms involved in therapeutic change, with particular relevance to cognitive behavioural interventions
• Understand the professional and personal skills relevant to Clinical Psychology practice including the use of supervision
• Access information guiding professional practice of the clinical psychologist
• Understand the need for professional and ethical standards and codes of conduct for clinical psychologists

Skills

• To communicate an argument
• To evaluate others arguments and research
• To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information.
• To communicate an argument to other health professionals
• To effectively and efficiently apply principles of clinical psychology within a variety of health contexts
• To be able to identify and deploy appropriate assessment strategies in the clinical setting
• To have a sound knowledge of the principles and practice of psychological assessment
• To develop writing skills for clinical and research report
• To have a sound knowledge of methods of clinical case study design
• To develop sensitivity to the values and interests of others
• To be able to use supervision effectively

Clinical and health psychology for adults

Aims

The aims of this unit are:

• To develop a critical understanding of the different ways of conceptualising physical and mental health problems in adults
• To develop a critical understanding of epidemiological research
• To develop a critical appreciation of psychological theories accounting for physical and mental health problems in adults (For example Humanistic, Behavioural, Cognitive, Neurological and Systems theories)
• To develop critical appreciation of the role of the clinical psychologist within and outside the UK
• To understand models of health service provision for adults
• To develop knowledge and skills at integrating psychological theory with clinical practice

Learning outcomes

After completing this unit students will be able to:

• Critically evaluate different ways of conceptualising mental and physical health problems in adults, including links between mental and physical health
• Critically evaluate models of psychopathology
• Demonstrate an understanding of methods relevant to epidemiological research
• Critically evaluate psychological interventions designed to change behaviour and cognition in adults
• Integrate psychological theory with clinical practice
• Critically evaluate the major theories underpinning clinical psychology practice

Skills

• To communicate an argument
• To evaluate others arguments and researc
• To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information
• To communicate an argument to other health professionals
• To effectively and efficiently apply principles of clinical psychology within a variety of health context
• To be able to identify and deploy appropriate assessment strategies in the clinical setting
• To develop sensitivity to the values and interests of others
• To develop the knowledge of the governance, ethical and organisational issues of working in a mental health context

Clinical psychology practice for children and young people

Aims

The aim of this unit is to familiarise students with the discipline of Clinical Psychology Practice for children and young people.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this unit, you will be able to:

• Understand the theoretical underpinnings and practical skills involved in Clinical Psychology assessment
• Understand the governance and practice issues relevant to psychological research in health contexts
• Understand a range of assessment skills relevant to clinical psychology practice including behavioural assessment, clinical interviewing and psychometric assessment
• Understand the nature of formulation in clinical psychology practice
• Understand the mechanisms involved in therapeutic change, with particular relevance to cognitive behavioural interventions
• Understand the professional and personal skills relevant to Clinical Psychology practice including the use of supervision
• Access information guiding professional practice of the clinical psychologist
• Understand the need for professional and ethical standards and codes of conduct for clinical psychologists

Skills

• To communicate an argument
• To evaluate others arguments and research
• To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information
• To communicate an argument to other health professionals
• To effectively and efficiently apply principles of clinical psychology within a variety of health contexts
• To be able to identify and deploy appropriate assessment strategies in the clinical setting
• To have a sound knowledge of the principles and practice of psychological assessment
• To develop writing skills for clinical and research reports
• To have a sound knowledge of methods of clinical case study design
• To develop sensitivity to the values and interests of others
• To be able to use supervision effectively

Clinical and health psychology for children and young people

Aims

The aims of this unit are:

• To develop a critical understanding of the different ways of conceptualising physical and mental health problems in children and young people
• To develop a critical understanding of epidemiological research
• To develop a critical appreciation of psychological theories accounting for physical and mental health problems in young people and children (For example Humanistic, Behavioural, Cognitive, Neurological and Systems theories)
• To develop critical appreciation of the role of the clinical psychologist within and outside the UK
• To understand models of health service provision for children and young people
• To develop knowledge and skills at integrating psychological theory with clinical practice

Learning outcomes

After completing this unit students will be able to:

• Critically evaluate different ways of conceptualising mental and physical health problems in children and young people, including links between mental and physical health
• Critically evaluate models of psychopathology
• Demonstrate an understanding of methods relevant to epidemiological research
• Critically evaluate psychological interventions designed to change behaviour and cognition in children and young people
• Integrate psychological theory with clinical practice
• Critically evaluate the major theories underpinning clinical psychology practice

Skills

• To communicate an argument
• To evaluate others arguments and research
• To critically evaluate and assess research and evidence as well as a variety of other information
• To communicate an argument to other health professionals
• To effectively and efficiently apply principles of clinical psychology within a variety of health contexts
• To be able to identify and deploy appropriate assessment strategies in the clinical setting
• To develop sensitivity to the values and interests of others
• To develop the knowledge of the governance, ethical and organisational issues of working in a mental health context