Becoming a Clinical Psychologist
Chat Issue Spring 2007
The route to becoming a clinical psychologist, like many other professions, involves years of study combined with practical experience in a variety of settings. Whilst the training pathway is broadly similar for most people pursuing this career, the experiences gained prior to training can differ considerably. Some of the individuals I trained with came from different factions of the NHS, for example nurses, NHS managers and psychology PhD students.
For others, like myself, the decision to return to psychology represented a complete change of career. I worked as an outdoor pursuits instructor for several years and it was this job that sparked my initial interest in psychology. I enjoyed seeing the positive change in children and adults who achieved a goal during an activity or overcame a fear partly as a result of the support and encouragement from their peer group and instructors.
For me, helping and supporting those individuals with mental health problems seemed an important and rewarding job. After all, one in four of us will develop a mental health problem during the course of our lives. After obtaining an under-graduate degree in psychology, aspiring clinical psychologists usually spend several years working as assistant psychologists, research assistants or support assistants in various mental health settings, prior to gaining a place on a Clinical Psychology Doctorate training course
These training courses are structured so that trainees must successfully complete five placements in adult mental health, child and family mental health, learning disabilities, older adults and finally an elective placement. I decided that once qualified I would like to continue to work within adult mental health and this decision led me to choose an elective placement at the Caswell Clinic. Initially, I wasn′t sure if I would like to continue working in a forensic service once I became fully qualified. However, during the time I spent at Caswell I had an opportunity to meet and work with several patients, gaining new experiences and a clearer understanding of the role of the psychologist in this setting. I thoroughly enjoyed working at Caswell and when two clinical psychology posts were advertised I decided to apply.
What do Clinical Psychologists do?
Generally, the role of a clinical psychologist involves working collaboratively with patients, their carers, their family and/or their support team. Usually this involves undertaking a comprehensive assessment, which can include the use of questionnaires and neuropsychological assessments, in addition to information shared in a clinical interview. This helps us to develop a formulation of the patient′s difficulties.
The formulation can then be used to devise the best intervention or approach for the patient and usually this is done collaboratively with the patient. On some occasions this means the psychologist will continue to work directly with the patient, or on other occasions they may feedback to the support team and have no further direct contact with the patient. When the psychologist continues to work directly with the patient, sessions may focus on a specific issue of mental health depending on the patient′s difficulties. For example, helping patients to overcome anxiety or depression, and/or supporting them in changing the way they think and feel in relationships.
Clinical Psychology at the Caswell Clinic
Clinical Psychologists at the Caswell Clinic work in the way described above but are also able to offer specific, specialised assessments that are not usually carried out by generic adult mental health psychologists. These include detailed personality, neuropsychological, and formal risk assessments that are aided by our specific training in a number of psychometric tools that generic psychologists may not have. We also have a good deal of experience in assessing more severe personality disturbance and adult manifestations of developmental disorders such as Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD. Although we sometimes work therapeutically either individually or in a group setting with patients much of our work is focused on the appraisal of risk and offending behaviours. These specific skills enable us to develop a comprehensive formulation that helps the patient and clinical team to move collaboratively towards a positive outcome. In addition, we collaborate in identifying the goals and future treatment needs for the patient as part of their longer-term rehabilitation. This might include working with the patient and nursing team to stabilise and improve patient′s mental health, develop reliable relapse indicators and help patients to manage and cope with on going mental health difficulties and previous traumatic life events.
Although some patients may experience relapses in their mental health on occasions, we hope that the support and input that patients receive from staff, including clinical psychologists will support patients to make steady progress enabling them to move forward with their lives.