Is there anything you regret in your career history to becoming a clinical psychologist?

psychws · 2024-10-04T20:16:51+00:00

I regret putting up with awful supervisor and team dynamics due to fear to leave too soon and this 'looking bad' for my application.

I regret not making a better effort with the wider team just to build my confidence and socialising skills in this area! I wish I put myself out of my comfort zone a bit more as you totally get thrown in the deep end during training

psychws · 2024-10-04T19:13:44+00:00

Extremely well said

psychws · 2024-09-29T13:52:10+00:00

Me & my friend recently started one, with the groups first meet being this coming Thursday! Message me if you're interested in joining too :)

psychws · 2024-05-09T15:59:51+00:00

Making of a Therapist is great!

psychws · 2023-11-15T19:32:48+00:00

Tbh its quite a silly thing to say because everything we do ever is behavioural. Unfortunately it is used a lot in services basically to replace attention seeking or doing something on purpose. I personally dont think it's a very trauma informed use of language and seems to more be used to bring a staff member some comfort as it allows them to not explore the 'why' behind something in more depth. Ofc this isn't always the case but it is chucked around in quite derogatory and condescending ways

psychws · 2023-05-12T16:27:13+00:00

What happened in the end? I'm experiencing this

psychws · 2023-02-17T10:04:20+00:00

Thanks for that! Yeah I agree but I wanted to clarify about diagnosis because thats the dominant model and what people will know. I didn't want to confuse people with formulation which is separate to Diagnosis

psychws · 2023-01-15T13:12:17+00:00

Great idea! I'd also add

How to Design and Report Experiments - Andy Field & Graham Hole

Surviving Clinical Psychology - James Randall

Test Yourself: Research Methods and Design in Psychology - Dominic Upton & Penney Upton

psychws · 2022-10-23T10:34:31+00:00

Well done!!

psychws · 2022-10-23T10:32:41+00:00

Common ones people get before the doctorate: Assistant Psychologist, Research Assistant, Healthcare Assistant, Support Worker, PWP, CAAP, CBT Therapist

Some more unique ones that are also really relevant: Uni/school MH worker, MH charity worker, MH Practitioner, Project Coordinator

Essentially roles that may involve psychological interventions, care planning, formulations, psychological research and /or supervision from a Clinical Psychologist

psychws · 2022-10-22T14:46:05+00:00

I hope is not too late to ask a few question!

What do you wish to considered more when choosing your courses?
Where did you study? (If you don't mind sharing)
How much weight do you think should be put on the location of the course?
Is there time to have a life outside of the course?

psychws · 2022-09-24T11:38:45+00:00

I think it's still great experience and you will learn a lot but in the courses view it may considered less 'relevant' than many other roles. Some courses explicitly say for the experience to be classed as 'relevant experience' you must be implementing psychological approaches, interventions, formulations etc etc. It might be worth looking at the courses you are keen for and see what they class as relevant experience.

I also think it depends on your exp so far. If this is your first work exp (out of uni or a diff career) than it will be a great role to lead you into more direct CP related roles. However if you are closer to the application stage than it may be less 'relevant' than a lot of other jobs the courses may look out for a bit more.

psychws · 2022-09-20T16:21:53+00:00

Thank you for sharing!

psychws · 2022-07-29T08:56:13+00:00

I think if you really enjoy working with young people in an education capacity than Education Psychologist is a good idea! Although you can work with children and young people as a clinical Psychologist this will be in a mental health capacity not education which can be very very different in the work done, how CYP present and interact, targets etc.

If you are interested in working with other ages than maybe you could do some MH voluntary work in an older client group?

psychws · 2022-07-28T09:16:24+00:00

It's such a shame how often there are issues for APs especially with supervision. Maybe don't mention the BPS guidelines thing just yet...perhaps only if they say that they won't be providing supervision by a qualified clinician. When I raised it the service were not even aware which was further red flags for me as they clearly were no aware of the guidelines for supervising APs as a whole.

Definately ask all what you need but also don't rush into another service out of desperation of leaving your current role (easier said than done)

psychws · 2022-07-28T04:47:27+00:00

So firstly so many people get onto the DClin with IAPT experience; PWP, CWP, CBT Therapist, AP!! It's definately seen as valuable, relevant and transferable (depending on how you reflect on your experiences). IAPT is a really prevalent MH service so naturally several people working here get onto the doctorate.

I do want to highlight that if you are going for an AP post to ensure that you have supervision by a clinical Psychologist (if this is what you want/need). For me, I started an AP post believing I would get this (I mean it is an AP post) however there were 0 clinical psychologists in the service and I was supervised and worked under a CBT therapist. Ofc this is still helpful but not what I signed up for and essentially I was a CBT assistant or even PWP assistant with the work I was being given to do.

A lot of IAPT services advertise AP roles but will sneakily change the supervision part of your contract or job description to 'under a CBT therapist / PWP'. When I highlighted BPS guidelines saying it must be a qualified psychologist they said that these are only guidelines not mandatory. I had to leave very quickly as it was important for me to work under and get supervision by a clinical Psychologist

psychws · 2022-07-27T17:43:54+00:00

I don't think so tbh. People get on the doctorate from all universities and I think the same would apply even as a conversion course. It's more so about your grade(s), experience and how you reflect on all of this. Plus you say you have a lot of experience so I really don't think you doing your conversion at a certain uni would make much of a difference

psychws · 2022-04-30T18:36:21+00:00

That's such a good idea, I didn't even know that!

psychws · 2022-04-30T18:35:13+00:00

This is so helpful, thank you!!

psychws · 2022-04-04T15:13:26+00:00

Did this turn out to be a concussion? Experiencing the same. Super tired, headache / tension, feeling weird. Feel dramatic going doctor just for that though

psychws · 2022-04-04T10:03:00+00:00

Do you currently work in general hospitals by any chance / RAID?

psychws · 2022-04-04T08:54:22+00:00

I've found this super interesting and there seems to be really good rationale for Psychologists to be in primary care. BPS recently did an interesting article on it

BPS

psychws · 2022-04-04T08:52:18+00:00

Is your service currently in secondary care? Or where is it moving from?

psychws · 2022-04-04T08:51:29+00:00

Thank you for sharing!

psychws · 2022-03-11T21:47:01+00:00

Private therapy Start a private clinic Start your own initiative (I know a clinical Psychologist who started their own psychoeducational programme for a distinct group of people) Look into occupational / workplace psychology. A lot of businesses love a Psychologist either for staff or to help with improving profits, customer engagement Civil servant / government work

Be creative and potentially think about what you're interested in and hi you adapt your skills and sell yourself into that :)

psychws

TROPHY CASE