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Doctorate in clinical psychology Q??

I am getting way ahead here as I'm only just applying for undergraduate psychology but I have some questions about the process of becoming qualified as a clinical neuropsychologist. I have been dong some research and found that for some DClinPsy the 12 month experience required cannot be a placement year within your undergraduate degree. This has thrown me off as I was planning on doing a placement year to gain the required experience for a doctorate. Can anyone share their experience of how they gained the right amount of experience for a DClinPsy?

As the process of becoming fully qualified is already so long I don't want to put time into gaining experience that won't count towards my application for a doctorate. Despite this I think the idea of a placement year is appealing. How do I fit 12 month of experience in that isn't a placement year?

Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated!
(edited 1 month ago)
You need to do a job after you graduate, but a placement year could be helpful to get a job such as an Assistant Psychologist role to get experience for the doctorate (although those posts are still competitive)
Reply 2
There are specific forums for the clinical psychology doctorate - well worth reading.

From my limited knowledge getting a years experience is a long way from being the only challenge to getting onto the course.
You may want to read this thread which gives you an idea of what recent trainees have in terms of experience: https://www.clinpsy.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=145&start=420

I would generally recommend a placement year, because to come out of an undergrad degree with no experience makes things really difficult. A placement year (done well) potentially can give you contacts and a network, clinical supervision, clinical experience and NHS exposure and co-authorship on publications, which add to your experience. That all puts you ahead of psychology graduate peers all competing for the same few entry level roles.

You can't really rush this process either, and holding those expectations will probably hurt you in the longer term. The average age of new DClinPsy trainees is currently about 28, and those are the strong candidates often with 1st class degrees, Masters and AP experience who actually make it.
Right now I would focus on getting onto an undergrad course and working as hard as you can to make sure you get a first or 2:1. You could also look at getting some experience alongside your degree such as working as a HCA or support worker to get that direct contact with individuals in a clinical setting. Volunteering on helplines is also a great way to learn a lot of skills which you’ll use as a psychologist too.

The path to becoming a psychologist is always going to be a long one which requires a lot of patience and dedication. After graduating, most would then do a masters whilst getting more experience, ideally as assistant psychologists or research assistants. Although the application can say that you need a years experience, this is a minimum and many people applying will have several years experience plus additional qualifications, so you need to make yourself stand out as much as you can. Understanding the expectations now will give you an advantage.

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