Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) Doctorate

This module aims to refresh and develop your previous knowledge, skills and critical understanding of advanced research methodology, including both qualitative and quantitative approaches, as used in psychological research. The module is also designed to explicitly prepare you for the two doctorate-level research modules which occur in Years 2 and 3 of the programme, ensuring that you have the requisite knowledge and skills to successfully engage with those modules. The key foci for this module include critical review of established literature, project design, project management, data analysis and the dissemination of research findings.

These modules enable you to develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to work effectively with clients across the lifespan. The modules involve clinical practice placements in two of the following: adult mental health, older adult, and child and family services. Placements run consecutively. Work patterns and client needs vary depending on your placement setting.

Throughout the modules you relate theory to practice and adopt an evaluative and evidence-based approach to your clinical work. Reflection on your learning and development is facilitated through a minimum of one hour of supervision each week, and the use of a reflective log. Clinical tutorials give you an opportunity to reflect on your professional learning and development in the context of the clinical environment.

This is a first-year module that introduces you to the fundamental principles necessary to work with clients across the lifespan. A range of therapeutic approaches are introduced, including psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, systemic therapy and cognitive analytic therapy. The module introduces the cycle of assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation, and includes an analysis of the application of this process in work with children, adults of working age and older adults. A combination of lectures and seminars is used to introduce the main concepts and issues and the current evidence base.

This module introduces you to personal and professional development. It aims to develop your professional competence relating to personal and professional development, as well as developing your awareness of the clinical, professional and social context within which your work is undertaken. During the module emphasis is on the development of self awareness, and the ability to think and work critically and reflectively. Theoretical input introduces models of reflection, self care and working within an ethical framework. You gain a critical awareness of difference and diversity, and are enabled to work with clients with different ethnic and cultural beliefs and values. Consideration is given to the impact of socio-cultural factors on health.

This is the first of the Psychological Theory and Evidence modules that span the three years of training. These modules are where you are taught about psychological concepts, theory and models that you can use to inform practice. In this module the areas of child and family, adult mental health and older adults are covered. Module content includes development and change across the life span from infancy to old age; concepts of health and mental-health problems; psychosocial impacts on mental health such as personality, early experiences, stress and coping; attachment and loss; assessing risk across the lifespan; and critical analysis and writing at master's level.

This module aims to develop and progress knowledge and skills in psychological research methods already acquired from your previous undergraduate or master's-level study and the first-year research module of this programme. This module brings together theories and strategies by a practical examination of advanced design and analysis of concepts in psychology. You gain knowledge and experience, and develop an understanding of the relationship between theory and practice of both quantitative and qualitative (interpretive) approaches to psychological research. You explore the different modes of investigation and analyses employed within these approaches, and learn to identify appropriate contexts to utilise both quantitative and interpretive methods and understand the strengths and limitations of their application. This fully prepares you for the advanced independent work required in the research module for the third year of the programme.

This module enables you to develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to work effectively with clients across the lifespan. The modules involve clinical practice placements in two of the following: adult mental health, older adult, and child and family services. Placements run consecutively. Work patterns and client needs vary depending on your placement setting.

Throughout the module you relate theory to practice and adopt an evaluative and evidence-based approach to your clinical work. Reflection on your learning and development is facilitated through a minimum of one hour of supervision each week, and the use of a reflective log. Clinical tutorials give you an opportunity to reflect on your professional learning and development in the context of the clinical environment.

Through this module you develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to work effectively with clients with special needs deriving from developmental learning disabilities. It involves clinical practice on a placement within a coherent service. You work in a setting where it is necessary to understand the causes of developmental disabilities, communication issues with individuals with different levels of intellectual ability, and the needs of family, carers and specialist service systems. You relate theory to practice and adopt an evaluative and evidence-based approach to your clinical work.

Reflection on your learning and development is facilitated through a minimum of one hour of supervision each week, and the use of a reflective log. Clinical tutorials give you an opportunity to reflect on your professional learning and development in the context of the clinical environment.

This is a second-year module that builds on material covered in the first-year module DCS: Working with Individuals, but it focuses on the application of these skills in direct and indirect work with clients with a range of special needs. This module also prepares you for the third-year module, DCS: Working with Clients with Complex Needs, in which there is a focus on client groups in which there may be multiple interlocking needs and multi-agency involvement. In this module, you continue to develop clinical skills, but begin to apply them to more specialist client groups and services, including learning disabilities, neurology, health, inpatient and forensic settings. Specialist assessments and therapeutic approaches are considered in relation to these client groups. You learn how to apply the cycle of assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation and critically analyse the application of this process in working with clients who have cognitive or intellectual difficulties, communication difficulties, self harm or challenging behaviour.

This module introduces you to the knowledge and skills necessary to work collaboratively with other health professionals and with services relevant to clients. Theoretical input includes organisational theories, the structure and function of the NHS, voluntary and other services available for client support, management skills and working with multi-disciplinary groups and teams.

This module provides you with teaching in further depth of the major psychological models covered in the Year 1 Psychological Theory and Evidence module, that is CBT, systemic, CAT and psychodynamic models. This module also facilitates the transfer of this knowledge to client groups with a range of special needs and covers the common presenting difficulties in clients with special needs. These include clients with learning disabilities, neurological disorders, physical health problems, addiction and clients who are in a forensic setting. Clinical areas covered include epilepsy, brain injury and rehabilitation, risk and abuse, the mental capacity act and young onset dementia. It also spans service and organisational issues related to special needs and considers current national agendas – Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. The module also teaches the skills needed to write and present cases at a doctorate level.

Through this module you develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to work effectively with clients in a service setting chosen collaboratively with your personal tutor to reflect developing clinical interests and to allow consolidation of clinical skills. The placement may involve revisiting an area of work, defined by a client group or a model of intervention, or working in an area not covered by previous placements. You relate theory to practice and adopt an evaluative and evidence-based approach to your clinical work.

Reflection on your learning and development is facilitated through a minimum of one hour of supervision each week, and the use of a reflective log. Clinical tutorials give you an opportunity to reflect on your professional learning and development in the context of the clinical environment.

In the third year of training there is an option for you to gain experience of long-term case work by spending half a day a week in a specialist service. Where available this is in a model of your choice and allows for deeper theoretical and clinical understanding. In the half day, you see a long-term client or are involved in running a long-term group. You receive one hour of supervision devoted to the case and complete all administration and associated reading. The long-term case spans both of your third-year placements.

Where available, there is also the option to choose an Organisational Placement. Through this module you apply your psychological expertise to organisational issues and systems of care. You also undertake projects aimed at service improvement and audit existing service arrangements. You relate theory to practice and adopt an evaluative and evidence-based approach to your work.

Reflection on your learning and development is facilitated through a minimum of one hour of supervision each week, and the use of a reflective log. Clinical tutorials give you an opportunity to reflect on your professional learning and development in the context of the clinical environment. You are observed in a range of situations including professional meetings, team briefings, steering groups, dissemination of findings and service user involvement.

The module builds on material covered in the first and second-year Developing Clinical Skills modules Working with Individuals and Working with Clients with Special Needs. The module enables you to consolidate the skills developed in previous years, and apply the cycle of assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation to work with people with complex presentations, such as multiple traumas, severe and enduring mental-health problems, socio-economic deprivation and multiagency involvement. You learn about the nature of complexity and its inter-relating factors, relationships with other services, national directives and models of working as a clinical psychologist at a service/organisational level. An analysis is undertaken of the service setting and wider social network of the client and the implications of this for clinical practice. The working definition of complex needs on this module is ‘multiple interlocking needs that span health and social issues’.

We develop you to work as autonomous health professional. Theoretical input includes dealing with more complex ethical dilemmas that arise in practice, conducting service evaluations, supervising, teaching and consultancy.

This year increases in terms of the complexity of client group that is considered and the psychological theory, concepts and models that inform practice. Models that are specific to specialised areas are taught. The module enhances and develops your depth of knowledge and understanding of specialised psychological theories and models in relation to clients with a range of complex needs. These include building on the models taught in Years 1 and 2, as well as teaching in more complex models including dialectical behaviour therapy, mentalisation, eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing. Areas of complex needs including personality disorders, degenerative disorders, trauma, legal skills and complex health needs are covered. The working definition of complex needs used on this module is ‘multiple, interlocking needs that span health, personality and social issues'. This differs from special needs as all client groups with complex needs have experienced multiple complex traumas which can be psychological, physical or neurological or a mixture of all three. There is multi-agency involvement in this client group across different organisational contexts.

This module is a piece of independent self-managed original empirical research. You have the opportunity to consolidate your learning experiences both from the first and second-year clinical psychology research training modules and your other academic modules and clinical placements throughout the programme. You acquire a research supervision team during the second-year research module. This team consists of at least one academic supervisor (normally an academic member of the programme team or from within the wider University academic community with relevant research topic and/or methodology expertise) and one field supervisor (normally a practising clinical psychologist with specialist knowledge and experience of the participant group of interest) to support you throughout the present module. You developed the thesis research proposal during the second-year research module and normally have obtained all the necessary ethical approvals and proceeded to data collection by the start of this module. Thus, the focus here is on the completion of data collection, the analysis and interpretation of that data and the production of the thesis that provides a full report of the whole project.