The Student Room Group

Clinical Psychology Work Experience questions.

Hello, I am currently a first year psychology student in Lebanon and Im planning to pursue my Postgraduate in England. Here's the thing, Ive been going to the UK University fairs in my countries every time they come and I always have plenty of questions after they leave! Ive been told that in addition to my grades, I need work experience. So Ive searched for days for any work experience around my area and so far Ive found these:

1- Volunteer at NGO that Raises awareness on mental health and establish a suicide Hotline for our country. I can volunteer by running in marathons, fund raising activities, become a member, memorial walk for those we lost in suicide, etc...

2- Volunteer as a 'support person' for children and adolscents in a children's Cancer center that is affiliated with the UK.

3- Work as a Therapist's assistant. She is my therapist and back when I was at her office a few months ago she said she'll offer me a Job as her assistant when I start University so I could contact her about that now.

4- Volunteer a children's summer camp for Autism (Next summer)

5- Volunteer at the Lebanese red cross youth Club

6-Volunteer at a palliative Care Hospital

7- Volunteer at an Organazation that protects women and children against domestic abuse.

8- Eating disorder Clinic

9- Assistant of a Clinical Psychologist at his own clinic

10- Volunteer at a substance abuse center

11- Volunteer at the hospital as a support person

Now I want to know which of these would be a 'good work experience' as an undergraduate psychology student for a clinical psychologist degree?

But what Am I supposed to show in these work experiences? Like should I conduct researches or is clinical work enough? Do all of these count as clinical work experience? Ive also thought about volunteering internationally or such as the UK university programs they do at summer. And if I get the chance to work at a psych ward. What do you think? Help!!
Original post by Tamid
Hello, I am currently a first year psychology student in Lebanon and Im planning to pursue my Postgraduate in England. Here's the thing, Ive been going to the UK University fairs in my countries every time they come and I always have plenty of questions after they leave! Ive been told that in addition to my grades, I need work experience. So Ive searched for days for any work experience around my area and so far Ive found these:

1- Volunteer at NGO that Raises awareness on mental health and establish a suicide Hotline for our country. I can volunteer by running in marathons, fund raising activities, become a member, memorial walk for those we lost in suicide, etc...

2- Volunteer as a 'support person' for children and adolscents in a children's Cancer center that is affiliated with the UK.

3- Work as a Therapist's assistant. She is my therapist and back when I was at her office a few months ago she said she'll offer me a Job as her assistant when I start University so I could contact her about that now.

4- Volunteer a children's summer camp for Autism (Next summer)

5- Volunteer at the Lebanese red cross youth Club

6-Volunteer at a palliative Care Hospital

7- Volunteer at an Organazation that protects women and children against domestic abuse.

8- Eating disorder Clinic

9- Assistant of a Clinical Psychologist at his own clinic

10- Volunteer at a substance abuse center

11- Volunteer at the hospital as a support person

Now I want to know which of these would be a 'good work experience' as an undergraduate psychology student for a clinical psychologist degree?

But what Am I supposed to show in these work experiences? Like should I conduct researches or is clinical work enough? Do all of these count as clinical work experience? Ive also thought about volunteering internationally or such as the UK university programs they do at summer. And if I get the chance to work at a psych ward. What do you think? Help!!


From my personal experience (through my degree in psych which included a year on placement gaining experience in the NHS mental health community), I would say that number 9 is what most people like yourself in the UK seek to get experience. Being a clinical psych assistant is great experience as you get to basically do what a psychologist does, but with much more supervision. Option 3 sounds quite similar and so also a good idea - especially if that option is easy to access.

Failing those, I would go for something slightly less psych-related but still relevant i.e. options 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11. They are all perfectly acceptable experience, as they give the you chance to show that you can apply psychological principles to real-life situations, can cope with the strain of an emotionally-stressful role, etc etc. I would argue the only reason the clinical assistant and therapist assistant roles would be better than these is that they involve direct supervision from a professional (the psychologist or the therapist), which might give you a bit more insight into the job you're applying for.

They are all valid clinical experience, and in answer to one of your questions: clinical AND research are relevant to your application, so having one or the other or both is all great. Personally, I would go for 3 or 9 and then for any of the others if those don't work out :smile:

Good luck.
You need to be careful tho, because to do the qualifying courses in the UK you need to do a degree that is accredited by the BPS, and I think very few courses in other countries are

Quick Reply

Latest