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Research areas and structure

Research environment

This 4-year full-time, highly selective professional doctorate aims to develop the academic, clinical and research skills needed to practice as a professional Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist, and will lead to the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº award of DPsych and professional membership of the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP).

The ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº programme is delivered in collaboration with Anna Freud and The Independent Psychoanalytic Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Association (IPCAPA) at the British Psychotherapy Foundation (bpf), alongside NHS training placement providers. The theoretical orientation of the training represents the thinking of the Independent School within the British Psychoanalytic movement.

As a Professional Doctorate, research is an integral and integrated component of this programme. In year one, you will receive direct teaching on research methodologies and the critical evaluation of research findings. You will carry out an audit (service-related research project) within your clinical placement service and attend a series of lectures on evaluating clinical interventions. From the second year you will undertake a research project on an area relevant to the child psychotherapy profession, fully supported by a supervisor. This programme has been created with an emphasis on the practical research skills that will be needed by a modern practitioner and designed specifically to be completed within four full-time academic years.

Teaching takes various forms according to the year group: you will spend more time in research teaching in your first year, and then less over the following three years. The reason for this is to ensure that you develop the fundamental research skills that will inform both your clinical practice and your work on your empirical research project, which begins in the second year.

During years two to four, you will be expected to be involved in your research project outside these formal teaching sessions. You will be expected to work on your project at Anna Freud, at home or elsewhere. In some cases, it may be necessary to have additional meetings with your supervisor or other professionals involved in the study, however for the large part, independent study will be most common.

Full-time

The programme has clinical, academic, and research components.

You will usually spend four days per week at a clinical placement, usually an NHS CAMHS service. We aim for you to work in the same service for the duration of your training. Here you will see, under supervision, a range of boys and girls of different ages, both in intensive and non-intensive treatment. You are also required to undertake generic, state of mind and psychotherapy assessments and to gain experience of work with parents and families. You also need to obtain experience in practicing other psychotherapeutic techniques, such as short term psychotherapy, brief work, mother-infant work, family work, group work and interagency and consultation work. You will often work alongside other members of the multi-disciplinary team.

Alongside this, you will have teaching days where you attend clinical and theoretical seminars, practice groups and workshops. The teaching aims to capture key issues in developing child psychotherapy practice in CAMHS, incorporating the ideas of service supervisors on crucial learning areas, ACP expectations, your views on your learning needs and interests, and the time-honoured programme of theory that marks us out as an Independent training.

In year one you will receive direct teaching on research methodologies and the critical evaluation of research findings. You will carry out an ‘audit’ within your clinical placement service and attend a series of lectures on evaluating clinical interventions. From the second year, you will undertake a research project on an area relevant to the child psychotherapy profession, fully supported by a supervisor.

In terms of assessment, the programme consists of 11 modules, all of which must be passed in order to gain the award of Doctorate. Four modules are practicum modules that assess your clinical competence each year. You must pass these practicum components in order to progress to the next year. Assessment is via a placement review meeting at the end of each year, where your competence in a range of skills is discussed by the service supervisor and a member of the programme team. The decision is reviewed by the Training Advisory Group before a recommendation is made to the Exam Board.

Progression through the training is not dependent on passing these assessments but they will need to be passed by the end of the training in order for you to gain the qualification of Child Psychotherapist, accredited by the Association of Child Psychotherapists. It may be possible to meet the clinical requirements for accreditation with the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) without completing the academic components of the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº programme: any student not completing the dissertation may gain accreditation by the ACP if the other components of the programme are passed. However, you will not be awarded the Doctorate title.

The theoretical orientation of the training represents the thinking of the Independent School within the British Psychoanalytic movement. A Jungian pathway has been developed for those in Jungian analysis.

Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº buildings can be obtained from . Further information can also be obtained from the ¹û¶³Ó°Ôº Student Support and Wellbeing team.