Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy)

Canterbury Christ Church University

Our three-year full-time Clinical Psychology doctorate integrates clinical, academic, and research practice to achieve the highest quality of professional training. Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), aim to train clinical psychologists to work in health and social care settings in a way which ensures that they make a real difference to services. The three-year, full-time Doctoral course seeks to integrate clinical, academic, and research aspects of training to promote the highest quality of professional practice. The model adopted within the Salomons Programme conceptualises the clinical psychologist as a critical, reflective, anti-discriminatory, scientist practitioner. This means training clinical psychologists who are both able to use the best available knowledge and skills, whilst also being able to reflect on and critically evaluate their own, the profession’s and wider society’s influence on services and practice. Such values are fully reflected by the staff team who are continuously developing the programme to take account of recent advances in health and social care, Clinical Psychology and Education, to ensure that the Programme remains cutting edge, and responsive to NHS and service user, family and carer needs. In line with these core values, experts by experience and carers are fully involved in all aspects of the running and delivery of the programme, including teaching, assessment of academic submissions, programme management, selection, and research. The course places significant importance on the value of exposing trainees to a diversity of therapeutic models (lifespan developmental, cognitive, behavioural, psychodynamic, systemic, and community) to best meet the needs of the communities and teams they serve. In addition, the course has a specific accreditation from the Association of Family Therapy, so trainees, who would like to, can achieve a Foundation Level in systemic therapy over the course of the training.