This study explored newly qualified Clinical Psychologists’ (CPs) experiences of personal professional development (PPD) during doctoral training. In particular there was a focus on their experiences of their personal and professional identities. Within literature relevant to PPD in Clinical Psychology training, personal and professional development were largely conceptualised as separate processes. Yet models of reflective practice would suggest that an awareness of the personal self is necessary for effective clinical work. The research questions were ‘How do newly qualified CPs experience their personal and professional identities during doctoral training? and ‘How do they experience the boundary between their personal and professional development?’. To respond to these questions seven newly qualified CPs were interviewed regarding their experiences of their personal and professional identities during training. A qualitative research design was employed and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the data. Three superordinate themes were identified within the data: Developing self-acceptance; Enhancing awareness of self and others; Taking risks and managing uncertainty. Within these results there was a strong message of an inextricable link between personal and professional identities. It seemed that participants started from a position of being themselves, and during training negotiated the dilemmas of learning a professional role. In order to do this they would often look to others for how to negotiate this process. Yet this process could create challenges, as bringing one’s personal self into the professional arena was not always seen as acceptable. If participants were able to show personal aspects of themselves this could make them feel vulnerable and, therefore, these processes held an element of uncertainty. Where participants were able to show their personal selves and felt validated, this allowed for developing self-acceptance. The implications for clinical training and the clients with whom CPs work are discussed.

Aim: The existing evidence-base indicates that the experience of being a Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) trainee clinical psychologist is under-researched. The aim of the current study was to capture the broader training experiences of BME trainee clinical psychologists. The impact of potential personal and professional experiences that may arise for BME trainee clinical psychologists may be important for course tutors and clinical supervisors to explore with them in relation to personal and professional development. Thus, it is hoped that the findings of the current study will raise an increased awareness within the clinical psychology training courses, of their needs, perspectives and experiences. Method: A qualitative approach was adopted for this study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine BME trainee clinical psychologists. The accounts were analysed using IPA, which attempts to illuminate the lived experience of a phenomenon for small samples of individuals. Results: The analytic procedure highlighted five main themes which emerged from participants’ accounts: The hardship of not being White, The challenge of negotiating multiple identities, Challenges and dilemmas of highlighting race and culture issues, The versatility that comes with being a BME trainee and Finding connections and safe places. Implications: Current initiatives to attract more applicants from BME groups need to be considered in the context of wider structural experiences of power and difference in relation to race, ethnicity and culture that operate in the training arena. Courses need to explicitly state their commitment to supporting trainees from BME groups with regards to their experiences of difference. Emphasis should be placed on personal and professional development of all trainees and needs to include work on privilege, social disadvantage, and racism. Programmes should also undertake a commitment to training course staff and supervisors in relation to race issues in the context of training.

Aims: Research examining the process of clinical psychology training has essentially focused on the outsider perspective and given little consideration of the trainee’s lived experience. Using qualitative methodology this project aims to listen and privilege personal narratives of individuals who occupy the role of trainee clinical psychologist and parent simultaneously during CAMHS training (i.e. placement and associated teaching) in order to increase awareness of the challenges and existing resources of this population. Method: Six parent-trainees were interviewed using semi-structured interviews. Transcripts were individually analysed using methodology drawn from Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA; Smith, 1996a) to identify emergent themes and complete cross-case analysis. Results: This study demonstrates how the occupancy of a parental role during Child and Adolescent Mental Health training has significant implications for individual trainees within both their professional and parental role. The three main themes emerging from the study are: i) A changed Identity: seeing and being seen in a different light ii) A journey from dependency towards autonomy and iii). Cutting the cord doesn’t destroy the bond: The inseparable nature of the parental and professional self. Implications: This study highlights the significant impact that the occupancy of a parental role may have in the experience of a trainee clinical psychologist’s CAMHS training, and how such findings may have been overlooked in the available literature base. Findings suggest that to optimise professional and personal wellbeing and minimise potential for compromised professional conduct the impact of the relationship between parent-trainees’ personal and professional self needs to be widely recognised by individual parent-trainees, training providers and the wider context of clinical psychology. The results from this study may also have wider implications for the ethical practice of those occupying any dual role in the training context as well as the broader field of therapeutic work.

Objectives: This study aims to gain an understanding of how current trainee counselling psychologists perceive the scientist-practitioner model. Design: This is a qualitative piece of research grounded in a social constructionist perspective. Two focus groups were conducted lasting 60 minutes at two UK universities. An online survey was also conducted to capture additional views. Method: 29 trainees participated in the study. 15 trainees on counselling psychology doctorate programmes took part in face-to-face focus groups whilst 14 trainees from doctorate programmes or the independent route responded to an online survey. The data collected were analysed using Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis. Findings: Five main themes were identified in relation to the scientist-practitioner model: The Nature of Counselling Psychology, The Nature of Being a Counselling Psychologist, The Nature of Science, What Counts as Evidence, and What Happens in the Therapy Room. Conclusions: Much of the ambiguity and tensions in the literature were present in the views of participants. Three views emerged: the model as a spectrum, the model as two complementary roles, and the model as a toolbox. These views are explored and then implications for practice and possible directions for future research are outlined.

This research is qualitatively aimed at investigating how female clinical psychologists reflect on the construction of gender in psychotherapy. The motivation behind such research was to investigate how gender influences the co-construction of reality within this space. Female clinical psychologists were interviewed due to the historical prejudice of the female gender in psychology. Where previous research has been directed towards patients' experiences of gender, this study aimed to understand the psychotherapist's understanding of it. Gender has been treated as static within psychology. In addition, feminist constructionist writers have argued for a more analytical engagement with gender in the field. This is important in the South African context, as previous research has indicated psychologist may be ill equipped in their training to deal with gender and gender-based violence. This study is positioned from a social constructionist epistemology. It is concerned with constructions of gender through talk-as-interaction. It considers the usage of language as the vehicle of such construction. Therefore the method of analysis used here is conversational analysis, as to consider just how these psychologists construct gender. Hence, this research is of a descriptive nature. Some of the finding of this research indicate that gender is not only present in psychotherapy, but important in its work. Even though gender was difficult to describe outside of anatomical difference, these therapists indicated how it affected their therapeutic work. This was described through gendered projections and transference. These psychologists believed that their limited training affected their initial work with gender, often requiring them to learn about it in vivo. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

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Supervision of psychotherapy constitutes a major component of the professional training undertaken by individuals pursuing careers in clinical psychology. The empirical literature has only recently begun to address the impact which supervision has on the development of its recipients. The present study explored relationships between changes in the theoretical orientations and personal values of therapist trainees and the theoretical orientations and values of the training faculty who provided them with supervision during a one year training program. Trainee theoretical orientation and personal values were assessed at the beginning and at the end of the training program for three successive training years, yielding a trainee sample N of 16. Follow-up assessment of theoretical orientation was obtained from this sample three to five years after they had completed this one year program. Background characteristics assessed included measures of personality functioning, locus of control and prior clinical experience. Parallel data were collected from 11 supervisory faculty. Regression analyses assessed the extent to which changes in trainee orientations and values could be predicted on the basis of the perspectives held by their supervisors. Trainees were found to enter the program with a positive bias toward psychoanalytic and experiential forms of therapy and a negative bias toward cognitive-behavioral therapy. Through the follow-up assessment this psychoanalytic orientation was maintained and consolidated. Trainees also became more accepting of cognitive-behavioral treatment and less supportive of experiential therapy. While supervisors' orientations were generally found to be unrelated to changes in trainee orientation during the training period, follow-up data suggested that supervisors had influenced the orientations currently held by former trainees. Changes in orientation were found to be unrelated to trainee background characteristics or level of prior clinical experience. Current findings suggested that trainee perceptions of supervisors' influence were related to supervisor status within the training program. Trainees entered the program with value systems that were similar to those of their supervisors. These values did not change substantially during the course of training. Trainee personality characteristics were more frequent predictors of those value changes which did occur than were supervisor values.

Despite many Clinical Psychology training programmes utilizing reflective practice groups as part of clinical training, there remains little research examining the experiences of such groups from a trainee perspective. However, it remains the preferred method of developing reflective practice skills during training. This research used interviews and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to explore the experiences of attending reflective practice groups as part of doctoral Clinical Psychology training. A purposive sample of eight participants were recruited for a single, semi-structured interview. The interviews were audio-recoded, transcribed and analysed by the researcher. Five superordinate themes were constructed: 'the process: there were so many layers', 'the impact: an ongoing process', 'the facilitator: a presence who was not always present', 'commitment: I hated it, but I still went' and 'getting through it: finding ways to cope'. Nineteen corresponding subordinate themes were constructed from the data. The research findings illustrate the varied and complex experiences of the participants. Whilst the experience was often difficult, participants appeared committed to attending and sought out ways in which to navigate the experience. The results are conceptualised in terms of existing psychological theory and literature. A critique of the research and suggestions for future studies are offered, which include exploring the views of the facilitators of such groups and comparing how groups are utilized within different training institutions. Recommendations are made related to the development of future reflective practice groups, which include recommendations related to the style of facilitation and the frequency and size of the group.