Becoming a
Psychologist
Rachel Marfleet
The plan for today…

Careers in psychology
Educational Psychology
 Clinical Psychology

How I got into psychology
 Being a trainee clinical psychologist
 Useful tips

Careers in psychology
Forensic
Psychology
Counselling
Educational
Psychology
Family
Therapy
Health
Psychology
Researcher
Mental
Health Nurse
Occupationa
l Psychology
Sport
Psychologis
t
Clinical
Psychology
Art/music
therapist
What is Clinical Psychology?
Concerned with assessment,
treatment and understanding of
mental health problems, behaviour
problems, learning disabilities
 Problems encountered: Anxiety,
depression, phobias, eating disorders,
learning disabilities, dementia,
psychosis, social emotional and
behavioural difficulties…

Roles of a Clinical
Psychologist







Psychological assessment and formulation
Therapeutic interventions
Supervision
Consultation with other professionals
Research
Management, policy development
Evaluation of clinical practice
Teaching/training
The road to clinical psychology
Relevant work experience:
Undergraduate degree
in Psychology
•BSc or BA
•Recognised by the
British Psychological
Society
•Usually a 2:1 or 1st
•Paid: Assistant
Psychologist, Learning
Mentor, Nursing Assistant,
Research Assistant
•Volunteer work: Play
schemes, charities, Nursing
homes
Applying for the course
Getting an interview
A Postgraduate degree
Masters or PHD in a
relevant area
Getting on the course!
3 Year postgraduate Doctorate
course in clinical psychology
What is Educational
Psychology?



Concerned with helping young people who
experience difficulties in education settings
and supporting staff to help those young
people
Carry out assessment, interventions and
consultation to support the staff or student
and offer advice
Problems encountered: Learning disability
or difficulty, social emotional or behavioural
problems
Roles of an Educational
Psychologist






Direct work with children: assessment,
intervention
Indirect work: Assessment, consultation and
advice with parents, teachers and other
professionals
Teaching/training
Research
Management
Policy development
The road to educational psychology
Undergraduate degree
in Psychology
Relevant work experience
with children
•BSc or BA
•Assistant Educational
Psychologist
•Recognised by the
British Psychological
Society
•In schools (classroom
assistant, learning
mentor…)
•In community settings
(playschemes, care worker)
Applying for the course
Getting an interview
A Postgraduate degree
•Teaching degree
•Masters or PHD in a
relevant area
Getting on the course!
3 Year postgraduate Doctorate
course in educational psychology
Clinical vs Educational
Clinical
 Works mainly in health
settings (NHS)
 3 year doctorate
training
 Trained to work with
children, adults, older
adults, opportunities to
specialise on training
 Assessment and
intervention
Educational
 Works mainly in
schools, educational
settings
 3 year doctorate
training
 Client group are
children (0-16 years),
indirect work with
parents and teachers
 Assessment and
intervention
My story!
Year 9: Interested
in Clinical
Psychology
Assistant
Psychologist job
(with Clinical
Psychologist),
children with
learning disabilities
Research assistant
job: investigating
predictors for
development of
antisocial behaviour
Year 12: Work
Experience with a
Clinical
Psychologist
Applied for Psychology
degree at York
University
Summer job at a
playscheme
Mental Health Specialist
job (with Educational
Psychology), supporting
children and parents of
children with social
emotional and behavioural
problems
Graduated from
York University
BSc Psychology
Accepted as a
Trainee on the
Sheffield Clinical
Psychology
Course!
Being a trainee





3 years, full time paid employment /student
1 day a week in University, 3 days a week
on placement in NHS
Placements: Adults, older adults, children,
learning disabilities, specialist placements
Course work: Case Studies, Review papers,
Service evaluation, literature review,
Scientific single case
Thesis: 3rd year project
Cases I’ve worked on











Dementia assessments
Anxiety
Depression
Behaviour problems
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Eating Disorders
Learning Disability assessment
Selective Mutism
Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome
Family problems
Attachment Disorder
Therapy
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
 Narrative therapy
 Person Centred Counselling
 Solution focused therapy
 Systemic therapy
 Play therapy

Tips for wannabe
psychologists

Be proactive:
get some relevant work experience
 visit and speak to different
psychologists

Be patient - it can take a while
 Be prepared - patients, coursework,
statistics

Useful websites
British Psychological Society:
www.bps.org.uk
 Educational Psychology training:
www.lge.gov.uk (employment link)
 Clinical Psychology training:
www.leeds.ac.uk/chpccp
