What course

Hi I haven’t studied for about 10yrs I have an advanced diploma in person centred counselling and have a certificate in Cognitive behaviour counselling. I need some advice what course can I do to become and psychologists or what is the next step after my PCC?

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Juliebrooks

Can you give me the precise links to your qualifications? Some colleges and course providers offer diplomas and certificates that aren't necessarily in line with the NVQ framework or not recognised in academia.

See: https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels

Reply 2

Juliebrooks

Original post by MindMax2000

Can you give me the precise links to your qualifications? Some colleges and course providers offer diplomas and certificates that aren't necessarily in line with the NVQ framework or not recognised in academia.
See: https://www.gov.uk/what-different-qualification-levels-mean/list-of-qualification-levels

I wouldn’t know that all I know it was an advanced diploma in counselling. I also have NVQ in business administration

Reply 3

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Juliebrooks

I wouldn’t know that all I know it was an advanced diploma in counselling. I also have NVQ in business administration

This is more complicated than necessary then.

To become a psychologist, the minimum requirement is to do a psychology degree (or conversion course, but either should ideally be BPS accredited if it's to be helpful) + the appropriate doctorate for the area you want to go into. Do note, there is a difference between a clinical psychology doctorate (allow you to treat people and do research) and a regular PhD in psychology (used for research purposes only, and doesn't really allow you to treat people).

The thing I would do to check if your qualifications mean anything is to ask a local uni to see if you can apply for postgrad in psychology at their university. It tends to show you whether your existing qualifications hold any merit.

If they don't and you haven't done an undergrad before, I recommend doing a BPS accredited psychology degree.
If they do and you are at least the equivalent of a graduate with a bachelor's degree, then you can apply for postgrad in psychology (the doctorate where possible).
If the qualifications aren't BPS accredited and you intend to go into clinical psychology, you would need to do a BPS accredited psychology degree (be it a bachelor's degree if you don't have one, or a postgrad conversion course if you do), before looking at clinical psychology doctorates.

It might help to get a master's in a specific subdiscipline of psychology to help boost your PhD application, but I would try to avoid it if I can.

Reply 4

Juliebrooks

Original post by MindMax2000

This is more complicated than necessary then.
To become a psychologist, the minimum requirement is to do a psychology degree (or conversion course, but either should ideally be BPS accredited if it's to be helpful) + the appropriate doctorate for the area you want to go into. Do note, there is a difference between a clinical psychology doctorate (allow you to treat people and do research) and a regular PhD in psychology (used for research purposes only, and doesn't really allow you to treat people).
The thing I would do to check if your qualifications mean anything is to ask a local uni to see if you can apply for postgrad in psychology at their university. It tends to show you whether your existing qualifications hold any merit.
If they don't and you haven't done an undergrad before, I recommend doing a BPS accredited psychology degree.
If they do and you are at least the equivalent of a graduate with a bachelor's degree, then you can apply for postgrad in psychology (the doctorate where possible).
If the qualifications aren't BPS accredited and you intend to go into clinical psychology, you would need to do a BPS accredited psychology degree (be it a bachelor's degree if you don't have one, or a postgrad conversion course if you do), before looking at clinical psychology doctorates.
It might help to get a master's in a specific subdiscipline of psychology to help boost your PhD application, but I would try to avoid it if I can.

Thank you very much for all that information. Due to all of my disabilities I will have read your reply lots of times before I understand what I need to do lol.. I appreciate your time and replying to me.

Reply 5

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by Juliebrooks

Use the following search engine to find an appropriate psychology degree or conversion course:
https://portal.bps.org.uk/Accredited-Courses

Reply 6

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by Juliebrooks

Hi! So it really depends what sort of psychology related job you want. If you want to be a counsellor then it will depend on what specific qualifications you did and whether that is enough for you to become whichever type of counsellor you want to be (there are lots of different methods of counselling, ie school counsellor would be very different to a private practice for adults).

Alternatively, if you want to become a clinical pychologist, the pathway is quite a bit longer. You would need to do a BPS accredited undergraduate or conversion MSc first, as you cannot become a psychologist in the UK without the accreditation. Then you would need to gain some relevant work experience such as assistant psychologist positions before applying to do a DClinPsy (doctorate in clinical psychology) in order to begin training properly.
Overall, I would recommend looking at job descriptions and requirements for positions that you may be interested in working in and seeing what qualifications they need.

-Kat (Psychology Undergrad @ Lancaster University)