University of Bath

Structure and Content

Academic

The academic teaching on our programme will work in tandem with clinical placements, and research teaching will be integrated into the timetable to support research activities.

Year one will cover core competencies and the knowledge required for clinical practice with adults of working age and later life.

Year two will cover working with children and young people, people with learning disabilities and neuropsychology.

Year three will focus on specialist areas of clinical psychology, and emphasise the development of higher-level competencies and meta-competencies including supervisory, management and leadership abilities.

There is a progressive shift from first to third year from supervision towards mentoring, peer supervision and supervising others.

Two days per week are allocated to academic work, this includes days of teaching and for personal study.

Our programme emphasises the integration of university-based theoretical and skills training with clinical practice by using a range of research-led teaching and learning strategies, where teaching methods are aligned to intended learning outcomes.

These include: 

• Lectures 
• Workshop-based training 
• Problem-based learning 
• Reflective practice 
• Group and individual supervision
• Small group sessions and debates 

Some academic work is carried out as part of clinical placements, with integrated clinical/academic teaching being delivered by supervisors.

The clinical/research/academic integration will be enhanced by teaching conducted both by programme staff and clinical psychologists from across the region, as well as national experts and people with personal experience.

Placements

Half of the time during training is spent in supervised clinical practice. Clinical practice placements are typically six months in duration and after the first few weeks, three days per week are allocated to work on clinical placements.

Placements across the three years will enable trainees to develop core and advanced competencies. These broadly cover the following areas: 

Year One: Developing competencies working with adults of working age and adults in later life

Year Two: Developing competencies working with children, young people, people with learning disabilities and issues pertaining to development

Year Three: Developing more specialist and advanced competencies through elective placements, often including a clinical health placement

The first placement cycle begins with a graded introduction via clinical observation and additional time in the classroom for teaching and skills training, with placement starting two days per week. Placement experience will then extend to three days per week as trainees take on a more independent case-load as the first term and placement progresses. All other placements are three days per week.

Most placements are six months in duration, but in some instances it is possible to have extended, 12-month placements. This may involve ageless services in the first year (covering competencies for working age adults and later life), or specialist services in the third year, where certain therapeutic models (e.g. DBT) or client groups (people who are harder to engage or have more severe and complex needs) require more extended contact

There may be some flexibility however in timings and placement arrangements according to training needs and interests, provided competencies in the core areas have been attained.

Development and assessment of clinical skills is regularly completed using live supervision via observation and recording of sessions. All trainees are issued with recording equipment early in the programme to facilitate this.

Research

Consistent with the aim to train competent scientist-practitioners, and our commitment to evidence-based practice, the course has a strong research element. There are three main research projects within the course: 

• Main research project, 
• Literature review project, and 
• Service-related research project.

There is some flexibility as to the timing of these projects according to topics and scheduling of any relevant placement. All research projects need to be completed by May of the third year.

Research assignments should ideally be of a standard and in a style suitable for publication in an appropriate journal, rather than as a thesis which then has to be rewritten for publication. It is hoped that this will help trainees develop skills in writing for publication and ensure that much of the high-quality work conducted by trainees finds its way into journals.

Trainee projects are often presented at national and international conferences, such as the British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy conference. As a Bath programme trainee, you will be encouraged and supported to disseminate your work from early in the Programme.

Assessment

Assessments are an integral part of the degree. Our programme has worked hard to ensure that assessments are varied and interesting useful learning experiences in their own right.

Summative assessments include:

• Five Case studies 
• Clinical placement assessments in all six placements
• Main research project and project proposal
• Literature review project and project proposal
• Service-related research project and project proposal
• Viva Voce

Formative assessments include: 

• problem-based learning exercises
• presentation at final year research conference 
• reflective narrative of development as a clinical psychologist.

People with Personal Experience (Experts by Experience)

As a programme we ensure that People with Personal Experience of the range of difficulties clinical psychologists treat are involved in all aspects of the programme.

We have a programme advisory group whose representatives are involved in all aspects of the programme including:  

• Representation on all programme committees
• Equal partners in our selection interview panels
• Providing advice for our trainees in their research 
• Input into teaching sessions and supporting both internal and external teachers in developing the curriculum

Engaging with national discussions regarding the expert by experience viewpoint in training and practice through the GTiCP Expert by Experience Group.

Developing anti-racist practice and equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) initiatives

As a programme we are committed to developing anti-racist practice through providing anti-racist training to course staff, regional supervisors and first year trainees. We use Social Graces framework to explore different aspects of diversity and Talking Whiteness Anti-racism training (Wood & Patel, 2017) to develop anti-racist practice. We have an active, monthly Trainee Led Inclusivity Group (TLIG), which provides reflexive peer support and a diverse range of external speakers. Our programme has a newly formed EDI committee, and we organise yearly EDI conference for our local training community. We have a Mentoring Scheme for aspiring clinical psychologists from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic background. Some of our trainees conduct research in the areas of cultural diversity, and anti-racist approaches in clinical psychology. 
 

Staff

All academic staff on the programme are research and clinically active. Please see staff profile pages on the University of Bath website for further information about particular areas of interest.