University of Southampton

The Programme integrates academic work, clinical practice and research across the three years of training.

Year 1

Year 1 starts with a teaching block that prepares you for starting your first placement in November. You will complete two five-month clinical placements in both an adult and life span setting (e.g. mental health and health & older adults). These placements may include a range of settings including community teams, neuro settings, IAPT services, in-patient units, and older adults’ mental health teams. You will also start the first of four research modules delivered by the ESRC Doctoral Training Centre that you complete during the first year. The academic component focusses on learning key skills relevant to the first year’s clinical placements with a strong emphasis on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Neuropsychology and the initial teaching on Systemic Therapy. You will complete a small-scale research project and you will start developing your doctoral thesis research proposal.

Year 2

In Year 2 you will complete two further five-month clinical placements described as systemic, focusing on child and intellectual disability settings.  The academic component of the second year focuses on skills development for adapting ways of working for child and adolescents and intellectual disability settings. You will also complete a second Systemic Theory and Practice module. You will have developed your doctoral thesis research ideas and be working on this, alongside your supervisory team, throughout the second year.

Year 3

In Year 3, you will be able to choose one longer specialist third year placement. This happens alongside teaching and your research. The academic component of your third year comprises an advanced practice module which incorporates specialist training (some of which supports dual accreditation pathways), leadership and professional development, and community psychology. You will broaden your direct and indirect clinical practice skills and skills in working with systems and organisational level change. You will consolidate this learning through applying it in your specialist third-year placement and undertake assignments designed to demonstrate these skills. A significant amount of time is dedicated to the completion of your doctoral thesis throughout your third year. A significant amount of time is dedicated to the completion of your doctoral thesis throughout your third year.

Structure of the Week

Trainees are full time employees of the NHS and are expected to work Monday to Friday, 9 – 5.

Outside of longer teaching blocks, we aim for teaching to take place on Mondays, and some Fridays, during term time. Teaching takes place at the University of Southampton campus, and it is the expectation that trainees attend in person. We do not offer a hybrid setup.

In years 1 and 2, trainees are on their clinical placements on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. In year 3, trainees time is split between one longer specialist placement and dedicated academic and research days.