The Doctorate is intensive, running for three years full-time. The programme consists of academic, clinical and research components, and trainees are required to pass in all areas..
Academic teaching, research supervision and clinical supervision are mainly carried out by members of the Department of Psychology or other departments within the Institute of Psychiatry, or by clinical psychologists working within King's Health Partners, giving the programme an overall cohesion and sense of community. The Programme also receives specialist contributions to its academic teaching from invited outside speakers and experts.
For departmental and Institute research interests visit the IoPPN webpages.
In each year, trainees spend three days per week on supervised clinical placements (Tuesdays to Thursdays, 9:00 – 17:00) with Mondays and Fridays dedicated to teaching and research. Trainees undertake six 6-month placements. The four ‘core’ areas of the programme are Adult and Child Mental Health, (year 1) and Older Adults and Intellectual Disability (year 2). The third year comprises two specialist or supplementary placements.
Attendance at all course components is mandatory. Trainees are also expected to undertake their own independent learning.
The length of the Programme cannot be reduced through the accreditation of prior learning or experience. All trainees are required to complete the full Programme of training in order to qualify and while on the Programme, all trainees take annual holiday entitlement within set time periods to fit in with teaching and placement attendance requirements.
Academic curriculum
The curriculum comprises of teaching streams that are led by academic clinicians and NHS service-based specialist clinicians. This curriculum is revised through consultation processes with NHS specialists, trainees, service users and NHS commissioners. A foundational theme that sits across all the teaching streams is that of culture, diversity, equality, and inclusion. The specific teaching streams fall under the following headings:
- CBT Fundamentals
- Adult General
- Adult Addictions
- Adult Anxiety
- Adult Forensic
- Adult Mood
- Adult Psychosis
- Ageing
- Child
- Clinical Health Psychology
- Clinical Skills
- Clinical Neuropsychology
- Culture, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
- Family Therapy
- Intellectual Disability & Neurodevelopmental Disorders
- Leadership
- Additional Therapy Approaches
- Professional Issues
- Reflective Practice & Reflective Case Discussions
- Research, Assessment and Methodology
- Supervision
- Trauma
The programme delivers teaching based on research, theoretical literature, practice-based experience and lived experience (expert by experience and carer input). Teaching is provided in lectures, workshops, seminars and tutorials. Methods of delivery include, discussions, polls, case examples, role-plays, video displays, and didactic teaching. This is designed according to the material to be covered and the stage of training. Trainees are encouraged to contribute to the process; significant aspects of learning and development will come from each other.
Clinical practice placements
Trainees undertake six 6-month placements. The four ‘core' areas of the programme are Adult and Child mental health (year 1) and Older adults and Intellectual disability (year 2); the third year comprises two specialist or supplementary placements. The majority of placements are located within South London and are accessible via public transport links. Trainees prior experience and future career preferences are taken into consideration in placement allocation.
The third year comprises two specialist or supplementary placements. There is a wide, exciting range of specialist placement opportunities for trainees to choose from, at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM), King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCH), Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT) and in other organisations. SLaM provides the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK.
Placements are offered in a variety of specialisms and settings, including primary care, secondary care, inpatient, secure settings and non-statutory organisations. We are fortunate to have many national services across the Trusts, meaning that trainees have access to a number of specialist placements. Placements may be based in the community or hospital settings.
Research
By May of the final year, trainees are required to submit a doctoral level research thesis of between 25,000 to 55,000 words.
The thesis is comprised of:
- Service-Related Project
- Empirical Project
- Systematic Review
The Service-Related Project is completed in the first year, supervised by a clinical placement supervisor. Trainees gain experience of conducting an NHS-related project that will inform service development. Recent projects have directly investigated issues of equality and diversity in service provision.
The Empirical Project and Systematic Literature Review are completed in the second and third year, supervised by a main and second supervisor. Staff in the Department of Psychology and wider Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience offer research expertise and supervision in a wide range of clinical topics. Most trainees are able to choose their research topic based on their interests and learning needs, and to co-create a research project with their supervisors. Trainee research is supported by the rich research environment at King’s, including close links with the department of Biostatistics & Health Informatics.
Assessment
A developmental, competency-based approach is taken to assessment, combining formative and summative assessment methods. Please note that a number of the summative assessments undertaken by trainees in the third of training will be dependent on their pathway (either BABCP Level 2 or AFT Intermediate).
The failure of two placements, or of an examination resit, or resubmitted/resat case studies, case conferences or assessments of clinical competence, or the viva examination, will constitute a Programme failure. No lesser exit award is available under the Programme.
Summative Assessments (all trainees)
- Qualifying examinations are held in June of the first year. The pass mark is 50% and trainees who fail are allowed to re-sit on one occasion in August.
- Case Conferences: In the first year of training, trainees are asked to present a case that demonstrates their CBT knowledge and skills. In the second year of training, trainees are asked to present a case where they have worked with more than one person in the room, and to offer a systemic formulation and treatment plan to assess their knowledge and skills in systemic practice.
- Case Studies: Early in the second year of training, trainees will need to submit a CBT case study that will demonstrate theory practice links and reflection on their learning and development as CBT therapists.
- All six practice placements are graded Pass/Fail by placement supervisors.
- The research thesis is assessed at a viva by two external examiners.
- Research Progress Report trainees submit a report on their research progress every 6 months, which is formally reviewed by their supervisor and a panel of research tutors; a satisfactory outcome of the review is required for progression.
Head of group/division
Professor Katharine Rimes
Contact for information
Kayleigh Rawlings, Programme Coordinator
dclinpsy-admin@kcl.ac.uk
Important Information:
Before contacting the programme, please note we are unable to offer individual advice on how to create a successful application or advise on what route applicants should take. There are many different routes onto the Doctorate, therefore the pathway undertaken should be the applicant’s choice, based on their interests and career aims.
Contact email
dclinpsy-admin@kcl.ac.uk
Further resources:
- DClinPsy Clearing House Profile
- KCL-DClinPsy information about applying (padlet.org)
- Twitter: @KingsDClinPsy
