SECTION 6: THE TEACHING PROGRAMME
Trainees start with a full-time, 3½ week block of teaching, which aims to give a general
introduction to the key ideas and skills that form the foundation of clinical psychology theory
and practice. After this, teaching takes place on two days a week during academic terms.
Teaching aims to prepare trainees for their professional work as clinical psychologists in training.
There is a developmental sequence of teaching which aims to reflect the basic tenets of the
course philosophy:
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to help trainees link theory to practice, such that they understand the principles and
models which underpin their work, and hence are better able to apply their knowledge and
skills to novel clinical situations and across clinical areas
to help trainees develop critical thinking skills, based in a sound understanding of the
theory and evidence of academic psychology, so that they can operate flexibly and
creatively in their work and contribute to professional innovation
to help trainees understand the principles underpinning psychological interventions as well
as ensuring that they have the skills to undertake them
to understand the evidence-base relating to clinical psychology, such that trainees are aware
of evidence and the manner in which it is obtained, understand its limitations and are able
to bridge any gaps in available research
reflecting the course’s pluralistic ethos, trainees are encouraged to develop an
understanding of and respect for the major schools of psychological therapy
in line with BPS accreditation criteria, we aim to enable all trainees to achieve competence
in two evidence based models, one of which must be cognitive behaviour therapy, the
other psychodynamic or systemic therapy
to support trainees’ personal and professional development and their capacity to become
reflective practitioners who can function in diverse clinical contexts
Full details of the current academic programme are available on the Course web site. Relevant
sections of the academic programme are sent to supervisors at the start of the placement, to
ensure that they know what is being taught at college.
We try to match academic input to placement experience. This is easier at the start of the course,
since almost all trainees start with placements which expose them to adults with mental health
problems. After this each trainee will follow a different placement order, which creates more of a
challenge to the link between teaching and practice. As such, trainees are expected to actively
shape their own learning right from the start, through reading and an active participation in
supervision, in order to meet the demands of their placement context.
The teaching programme consists of several modules that reflect the various academic and
clinical aims of the course. These take place in parallel and are timed to reflect a developmental
progression in trainees’ knowledge and skill base and their accumulating clinical experience. As
such, the first two terms focus on key scientific and clinical principles and central skills for
assessment, engagement, intervention and research. In addition, specific therapeutic models are
introduced that are particularly relevant to working with adults in order to meet the demands of
trainees’ first placements. Teaching on research methods begins in term 2 of the first year. In
the third term of the first year and the first term of the second year, the teaching programme
considers lifespan developmental processes and this teaching coincides with clinical skills
teaching on behaviour therapy and systemic therapy. Alongside this lifespan perspective,
practice-focused teaching in these terms examines psychological work with children, adolescents,
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adults and older adults in a developmental sequence. The rest of the second year then focuses on
disability and health and forensic psychology, and again marries academic teaching with related
clinical skills teaching, practice-related teaching and professional issues. Statistics teaching is
provided during the latter half of the second year.
There is a reduced schedule of teaching in the third year with trainees attending teaching one
day per fortnight to allow time for research. The aim of the teaching in the third year is to introduce
advanced issues in clinical psychology science and practice. This includes attention to more
integrative therapies and new developments in theory and research as well as a consideration of
important professional issues designed to smooth the way into qualified professional practice.
Furthermore, in the months following submission of the thesis trainees take responsibility for
the organisation of the teaching programme.
CONTENT OF THE ACADEMIC PROGRAMME
The teaching programme is organised along what are known as ‘core competency’ lines. What
this means is that the programme has been designed to reflect what are generally agreed to be
skills and knowledge that clinical psychologists should possess and able to apply across a range
of client groups. Our belief is that focusing on the knowledge base of psychology as an
academic discipline and bringing together and synthesising clinical expertise and experience
from a variety of disciplines is key to achieving this aim.
The curriculum is organised around these ideas and consists of 6 core modules.
These are:
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Academic Psychology
Assessment and Formulation
Interventions
Professional Issues
Research
Active Learning
The content of each of these modules is fairly self-evident. The Academic Psychology Module
represents teaching on the academic knowledge base relevant to clinical psychologists. The
Assessment and Formulation Module teaches the theory, knowledge and skills required to
conduct informative, sensitive, appropriate and individually tailored psychological assessments
and to use psychological theory and models to conceptualise clinical material in a way that
organises clinical thinking and interventions. The Interventions Module aims to give trainees a
solid grounding in philosophy, models and skills associated with four major schools of
psychological therapy – cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), psychodynamic psychotherapy,
behaviour therapy and systemic therapy. In addition, the module provides training in a range of
core clinical skills that are common to all schools of therapy (such as the skills required to
develop a working alliance). The Professional Issues Module provides teaching on a wide range
of issues relevant to professional practice, including issues of conduct and ethics, relevant legal
frameworks and government initiatives that shape the context of services nationally. Especially
important in this module is the consideration of issues of difference and diversity as they affect
trainees’ critical understanding of theory and work as a clinical psychologist. The Research
Module provides in-depth training in research methods and statistics and forms the backbone
and support for the development of trainees’ major research project. Finally, the Active Learning
Module is designed to allow trainees greater opportunity to reflect and debate key clinical and
academic issues in clinical psychology, draw links between disparate components of academic
clinical psychology and use their critical skills in a collegial, discursive environment with the
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guidance of clinical and academic members of staff and experts in the field. The module also
focuses explicitly on trainees’ personal and professional development and encourages their
development as reflective practitioners through regular seminars.
Each module is coordinated by at least two people. In many cases one will be an internal
convenor from the course, the other(s) a psychologist(s) from the region who have expertise
and experience in the relevant area, and can represent the relevant BPS Faculty or Special
Interest Group. There is close coordination within and across units, which aims to minimise overlap
and repetition, and to ensure that the curriculum aims are met.
The curriculum is currently organised in the following way:
Induction Programme for Year 1
There is a 3 day induction programme for trainees.
Day 1 is kept fairly low-key, and includes an opportunity for trainees to start getting to know
each other, and to meet members of staff, a ‘debrief’ from selection, and a question-and-answer
session with representatives from the second year.
Days 2 and 3 include registration with the University and with Camden and Islington Mental
Health and Social Care Trust and Occupational Health clearance. Information is given about the
course and its administration (including an outline of the academic programme, clinical
placements and administrative procedures). There is also a workshop on the management of
stress during training.
Module: Academic Psychology
The course has adopted a developmental psychopathology framework as overarching means
to understanding psychological difficulties. Developmental psychology offers a broad, integrative
framework that can take account of a wide range of theories, as well as biopsychosocial factors.
As such we use a life span approach to thinking with trainees about the many factors that can
contribute to the development of psychological disturbance or in turn increase individuals’
resilience.
Units
Central Themes in Clinical Psychology
The aim of this unit is to provide the conceptual background to training as a clinical psychologist
in the NHS. This involves familiarity with major theoretical frameworks in current use by clinical
psychologists working in the field. Each of these approaches will be covered only briefly
highlighting critical epistemological assumptions, broad explanatory frameworks for both normality
and psychopathology, the evidence base of key tenets of the particular perspective and the
investigative and clinical methods that are associated with these points of view.
Problems, Processes and Disorders
The aim of this unit is to outline major psychological disorders and difficulties, critically examine
theories relating to their aetiology and outline the conceptualisation of mechanisms of development,
maintenance and change. Where the evidence indicates that certain psychological problems are
most appropriately conceptualised from a CBT model, they will be covered as part of the CBT
unit of the interventions module.
Lifespan Development
This unit focuses in detail on development across the lifespan, by considering pro cesses of
continuity and change, normal and atypical developmental pathways, factors affecting the
negotiation of critical developmental tasks and the inter-connections between developmental
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changes in cognitive, emotional and social capacities and the environments in which these are
embedded. The unit examines normal social and cognitive development in childhood, common
psychological difficulties of childhood, the role of parenting and attachment in socio-emotional
development and the transitions to school, adolescence, adulthood, parenthood, mid-life and
older age. The unit considers the changing patterns of social relationships across the lifespan
and issues and problems that are particularly prominent at different developmental stages.
Consideration is given to developmental changes associated with ageing in later life, to shifting
social expectations and attitudes associated with different stages of the life span and the impact
of changes in social relationships across the lifespan, such as marital dissolution, loss and
bereavement.
Health and Disability
This unit covers in detail the various manifestations of human disability, including learning
disability, physical disability and chronic illness, and pertinent issues which are relevant to
clinical psychology theory and practice. The impact of underlying impairments and illness as
well as societal barriers on psychosocial functioning will be considered. Psychological
perspectives on health will be introduced within a health psychology framework, with an
emphasis on the two-way relationship between physical health and psychological processes. An
overview of the main theories, concepts and issues in health psychology will be provided, and
health psychology approaches to managing illness and disability, and health promotion, will be
discussed. Psychological approaches to learning disability will be considered within the broader
social context and in relation to the numerous barriers to good quality of life for individuals with
learning disabilities.
Module: Assessment and Formulation
The aim of this module is to understand the role of clinical formulations in treatment planning
and enable trainees to perform a wide range of psychological assessments. The module is
concerned with ensuring that trainees can psychologically assess and formulate across a wide
range of clinical settings and client groups. At the end of the module trainees will have
knowledge pertaining to the assumptions, uses and limitations of different assessment methods
and how these relate to the development and evaluation of clinical formulations. The module
requires some familiarity with major theoretical frameworks (eg cognitive behavioural and
psychodynamic), which influence the selection of assessment methods and the nature of the
clinical formulations.
Module: Interventions
The aim of this module is to introduce trainees to commonly used and innovative models of
intervention practised in the NHS. For each model of intervention the rationale will be
introduced, the basic skills and techniques described and practised, and the evidence base for
efficacy and effectiveness will be examined. Their application for different problems, different
populations, and different stages of the lifespan will be discussed. The limitations of each model
will be examined.
The Interventions Module has six units:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Core Clinical Skills
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Behaviour Therapy
Systemic therapy
Advanced/integrative therapies
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In line with recent changes to the BPS accreditation criteria, the module aims to enable trainees
to achieve competence in two evidence-based models, one of which must be CBT, the other
psychodynamic or systemic therapy. This is achieved through a combination of teaching on
theory and its clinical application in the different approaches, small group supervision in CBT
across years 1 and 2 and seminars in psychodynamic and systemic therapy in year 2.
Module: Professional Issues
This unit aims:
1.
to ensure that trainees have basic information relevant to professional practice, and to
support trainees in
2. developing a capacity to practice reflectively
3. managing issues where there is an interplay between personal perspectives and
professional activity
4. to ensure that trainees have an understanding of the need to be very mindful of issues of
diversity, including: inequity in access to health and psychology services, the effects of
discrimination and social disadvantage on functioning, potential reasons for different
prevalence rates and presentations and the need to critically evaluate the
appropriateness of any psychological theory and intervention in light of such issues.
Because many of the issues covered can become sources of stress, the teaching will be delivered
in a manner which should normalise the inevitable and predictable challenges which
psychologists encounter. It will do this both from the perspective of training and the trainee, and
from the perspective of everyday practice, and give a framework for managing them as well as
possible.
Module: Research
The aim of this module is to give trainees the knowledge, skills and confidence to carry out
research, evaluation, and audit studies.
In this module trainees will become familiar with the fundamental methods and concepts of
clinical psychology research, including qualitative and quantitative methods, small N designs,
audit and evaluation methods. Trainees will be able to read and appraise published research
studies. Trainees will have acquired a grounding in main methods of statistical analysis, and be
able to use the SPSS statistical package to carry them out.
Through the completion of both a service evaluation project and a major piece of rigorous
scientific investigation, trainees will gain experience of the scientific method through the stages
of planning, execution, analysis, presentation and dissemination.
Module: Active Learning
The active learning module has been introduced to allow trainees greater opportunity to reflect
and debate key clinical and academic issues in clinical psychology, draw links between disparate
components of academic clinical psychology and use their critical skills in a collegial, discursive
environment with the guidance of clinical and academic members of staff and experts in the
field. The module has six core components:
1.
2.
Clinical seminars
Academic seminars
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3.
4.
5.
6.
Reflective Practice Seminars
Cross-specialty workshops
Master Classes
Conferences
Clinical seminars
These seminars have been an important part of the teaching programme for many years.
Trainees attend 2 seminars per term, and take turns in presenting cases from their clinical
placement. These cases are then formulated in detail using different theoretical models, and the
group discusses pertinent clinical and theoretical issues that arise. The seminars are each
facilitated by two experienced clinical psychologists, and the emphasis is on integration of theory
and practice. Trainees are encouraged to think creatively within and across theoretical
orientations, and are able to raise clinical dilemmas and problems in an atmosphere of free
discussion.
Academic seminars
These seminars consist of small group discussions, facilitated by an academic member of staff.
Trainees are required to read key articles or chapters that reflect an important area for debate
within academic clinical psychology, with a particular emphasis on the interface between theory
and practice. These sessions provide an environment for trainees to lead discussions and engage
in academic debate in a freely discursive manner, with the guidance of members of the academic
team. The aim of the sessions is to encourage trainees to take a broader view of the literature and
content of the curriculum, to sharpen their critical and debating skills and to participate in peerled discussion of central issues in clinical psychology.
Reflective Practice Seminars
These seminars emphasise the importance of reflective practice as an integral part of trainees’
development. Trainees attend one seminar per term and within their group consider the impact
of clinical scenarios from their placement focused on a specific theme for each seminar. The
seminars are part of a much broader approach to supporting trainees’ personal and professional
development through all aspects of training and are informed by Johns’ (2004) model of
reflective practice which identifies different layers of reflection from ‘doing reflection’ to
‘reflection as a way of being’. Topics for these seminars were initially agreed by a working party
made up of staff and trainees and are under regular review. It is expected that all trainees will
bring clinical material to each seminar relating to the theme in question. The seminars will be a
mix of staff-facilitated and trainee-led.
Cross-Specialty Workshops
The workshops have been designed to bring together clinicians across areas of specialty to
address issues relevant to several fields of clinical psychology. The purpose is to help integrate
thinking about important clinical areas as they apply across client groups, and to help trainees
reflect and focus on psychological processes as they apply across the lifespan and settings.
Workshop topics include: capacity and consent and bereavement.
Master Classes
These take place on the last day of each term and are designed to expose trainees to advanced
conceptualisations of clinical material from a range of perspectives. The usual format of master
classes is a detailed case presentation by a third year trainee followed by formulation and
thoughts for intervention by three “experts” representing different therapeutic schools. The
master classes bring all year groups together.
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Conferences
The conference programme covers a wide range of clinical areas and aims to present innovative
developments and debates relevant to clinical psychology. National and world experts are invited
to debate some critical dilemmas and engage trainees in a discussion of the cutting edge of
clinical psychology science and practice. Conferences bring all year groups together and are
open to all regional supervisors, numbers permitting.
THIRD YEAR TEACHING
The third-year teaching programme aims to cover advanced topics in the different therapeutic
approaches and to revisit topics covered at earlier stages in greater depth by drawing on trainees’
advanced understanding and clinical experience. Following submission of the thesis in June of
Year 3, trainees organise the teaching programme with support from the Course.
TRAINEE FEEDBACK ON TEACHING
Trainee feedback is important to us. It helps us to evaluate our teaching programme, to
address any problems as they arise, and to make improvements where necessary for future
programme planning. It also encourages us to hear when we have got it right!
Feedback is collected electronically. Trainees receive requests to provide feedback by email
with a link to the feedback survey. For most teaching units feedback is gathered after every
lecture. However where units are taught by the same lecturer and form an integrated whole,
and for seminar series, feedback is sought at regular time points rather than after each
session.
Any specific or general concerns about teaching can be raised with the UCL staff member
responsible for the relevant unit. The Academic Director and Teaching Administrator are also
available to discuss any issues. Teaching issues and trainee feedback are discussed in the
Curriculum Committee and at the Annual Course Review.
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