A warning to prospective clinical psychologists

Hi everyone,

I'm writing this thread as I feel a responsibility to warn those considering clinical psychology as a career, of the true reality which now faces NHS clinical psychologists, from a 3rd year trainee clinical psychologist. I don't do this to deflate hopes, or to crush aspirations, but to provide you with real information from those on the ground in services, about the state of the profession. I feel this is crucial, given that CPs are expected to undertake basic training comparable with other established professions e.g. medicine, dentistry, law etc.

1) Clinical Psychology is a stable, safe career:

For those of you who believe that CP is a career path which offers stability, think again. The NHS reorganisation and simultaneous cuts mean that services are increasingly looking to employ private sector companies for NHS contracts, whilst increasingly getting more with less. This means that NHS mental health service, whose budget is 90% staff salaries, are looking to put downward pressure on costs, which means fewer permanent, full-time jobs for CPs. This is particularly true at senior level. Combine this with the fact that training numbers have increased in recent years, and you have high numbers of highly qualified people competing for lower paid jobs, with fewer chances for career progression.

2) CP is a well paid career:

This has sadly been eroded over recent years. The AfC put CPs on a high salary relative to many other NHS professionals. Now that the economic squeeze is on, CPs come out badly from this, as we're relatively expensive to employ, but don't have a strong union to fight against reductions in salary. This means lower salaries all round. Combine this with increased private sector involvement in the NHS who have a greater number of CPs fighting for jobs without having to adhere to the AfC, and our salaries are on the way down.

3) CPs have direct client contact and can change peoples' lives:

Whilst this may have been true before, now CPs are being required to take on highly complex clients to justify their reducing salaries, meaning that any changes we produce are small. Moreover, much of their work is consultancy based, meaning lots of training and minimal client contact. Moreover, the advent of IAPT means that CPs are no longer seeing cases whereby a person can be taken from unwell to well. Moreso now, it's consulting with staff teams to keep a person stable and to prevent crises.

4) This situation will turn around:

This is unlikely to happen in the near future. Training places have increased substantially in the last decade, and whilst many guides for graduates report that there is a national shortage of CPs, this is no longer true; in fact we're about reaching workforce capacity, which is an effect compounded by the NHS cuts. It's a simple supply:demand problem, and right now, supply is high and demand is decreasing. This is combined with the fact that the number of people applying to the DClinPsy is increasing yearly, as more and more people flock to the profession. This means that the time between graduation from a BA/BSc and getting on the doctorate will likely get even longer, MUCH LONGER. Compare this with careers which pay more and require less training, and CP is a highly demanding, underpaid job, with increasing demands to get on training, for deminishing financial and personal returns.

If you want my advice, DO NOT do this job if you are looking for certainty, a comfortable lifestyle, or a career where you can enact substantial change in people. This career should only be walked into with open eyes, with a sharp awareness of the challenges, uncertainty and costs of doing so. There are far easier ways to earn a good living, and many other careers which provide greater financial rewards, where you can enact greater change in society, and sacrifice less to qualify.

Do this for the love of it, nothing else.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 1

Sinatrafan

Interesting words of advice and a strong caveat for future CPs. I can't imagine how frustrating it must be for future psychologists to dream of being a clinc psych before university, during university, during post graduate studies and through the subsequent years of competition to finally get on the the course just to find it not live up to your expectations.

You're bang on about supply and demand. I recently read a lecture/talk transcript from a senior CP, who was praising that clinical psychology is training 350 more DClinPsych students than was recommended by the NHS. To me that seems likely a massive recipe for disappointment as you're not only condemning people who have gone through years of education and hoop jumping to unemployment, but you're also cheapening the worth of every current CP with every new graduate you train.

The great strength of medicine over the years is that they've only trained as many of us as there are jobs, so our value remains high and we get 99.9% job guarantee after graduation. This is a decision made through foresight, not through lack of people wanting to study the subject.

With clin psych being squeezed and people struggling to be interested in taking up psychiatry training posts, this is ripe to mimic what's happening in the rest of the health care service; the expansion of the noctor as leaders of a person's care.

Reply 2

MoonShadowWolf

All interesting points. But if you're doing all that work just for the pay/stability, you're probably looking at the wrong career path.

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Reply 3

Dr.Psych

It is incredibly frustrating, especially when as recently as 2006/2007, CPs had much brighter prospects (you'd see many consultant CP posts, and many people would advance into senior positions if they wanted to do so). But what annoys me the most is the endemic sense of low self-worth many CPs I've come across seem to have. When you talk about the downbanding, cuts to senior posts, lack of promotion prospects relative to say 7 years ago, many CPs talk about it as if we have had things too good, and that we somehow seem to deserve our poorer salaries and conditionsl. Ironically, these are sometimes the very people who benefitted most from the better prospects prior to the cuts and recession; I bet they didn't argue for cuts to their salaries at the time.

I think the person who said that if you're looking for stability and good pay, you shouldn't pick this profession is bang on. Whilst CP used to offer those things, it no longer does, and I for one am looking at entering into the commercial world with my qualifications to pursue a different path which offers prospects which are in line with my qualifications and skills. I would advise anybody who is thinking of entering this profession to think hard about devoting 7-8+ years of your life to this profession unless you do it for the enjoyment alone, as you may find yourself in my shoes several years down the line trying to salvage an alternative career path from the shambles that is the NHS and clinical psychology.

Reply 4

Ryan__90

well this just craps on life big style, what a miserable post for aspiring CP's. With any job you don't often just do it for the love of it pay comes into it as well, Everyone needs to get paid and I think people like CP's who deal with very problematic/complex cases and literally explore the uncharted depths of humans psych in order to help individuals deserve some great rewards really.This is the problem with our country too little pay for services which are essential to life such as nurses,civil servants, counsellors,carers,police officers and overpay for GP's, Managers, CEO's, Lawyers etc the list can go on all day.