Help needed! Route into clinical psychology

Hi all,

This is my first post, i have read dozens of threads on clinical psychology on this forum and am more stressed and scared now than before iread them.

I will explain my story to you, i graduated in 2008 with 1ST Class in Psychology and then an MSC in Research Methods in Psychology with merit in 2010. After this i wasn't sure what i wanted to do but decided against a pHD as i did not enjoy the subject matter of my masters enough to take to the next level (i researched how the brain reads - in particular responses to emotion words).

I took a call centre job for a while to tide me over and then unfortunately my dad passed away very suddenly and i had to take over the running of the family business as that was the main source of income for my mum and younger brothers. It has now been a number of years and i hate running the business and feel depressed at a waste of my academic ability.

So i've now started to look to what i can do and am at the very initial stages and looking at clinical psychology. Unfortunately, i didn't get any work experience while at uni so i have nothing, looking at forum posts on this website and a number of others people seem to have masses of experience which is scaring the hell out of me!

It seems to get a job as an asst psychologist is difficult enough as you'll need experience before getting that so can anyone point me in the right direction as to how i should begin? I take it i'll need some voluntary work but where to start?

Any help appreciated.

Reply 1

Tyler Bam

Hey, sorry to see you haven't had any replies to your thread yet. :frown:

Are you sure you’ve posted in the right place? Posting in the specific university or course forum should help get more responses. :redface:

If you haven’t already found it, then university connect is a really useful way for finding people at your course/university! You can also find a list of applicant threads and courses here. :h:

It's worth checking out if you have questions.

If you need advice on your academic work, then the Study Help section will be able to help you. :h:

Hope this helps! :h:

Reply 2

JamesManc

Original post by sniper5001

MSC in Research Methods in Psychology

I did this course. Totally useless.

Reply 3

Lord Asriel

One of the best things you can do is make contact with a local psychologist and request a brief chat. While you don't have to have an assistant psychologist post it does help, especially when getting to know the lingo and understanding the work environment.

You can also read the link in my signature, and if you haven't already check out clinpsy.org.uk for more information. Volunteering options are available in most regions, and its worth looking beyond mental health as clinical psychologists work in a wide range of areas including neuro-rehab, physical health and with offenders and victims.

It is competitive, but check out Alice Knights "foot in the door" book for more ideas.

Reply 4

sniper5001

Hi Lord Asriel,

thanks for the reply. To be honest i haven't done much since i last posted but i've given myself a proverbial kick up the backside to get moving again. I have identified someone i know whose son is an experienced clinical psychologist and have asked me to put him in touch with me. At minimum i can have a chat with him but i am going to ask if her can offer me any experience or allow me to shadow him. The next step will be to try and get some voluntary work and then move forward from there.

Reply 5

Bambooza

I don't know if this will help - but maybe try to contact Psychology lecturers? I know many universities do a placement course so it might be a good idea to give the lecturers a ring for an insight to possible placements you can try contact.

Good luck :smile:

Reply 6

Lord Asriel

It's often hard to shadow clinical psychologists, because of confidentiality issues and because much of what is discussed in therapy or assessment is very sensitive. However, talking to psychologists is often very useful and they can provide information about what is available in your area.