The Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology is a 3-year research degree and professional training programme in clinical psychology. The course is fully accredited by the Psychological Society of Ireland.
The course runs over three calendar years and includes three interrelated elements:
•2,000 hours of research over 200-250 days
•500 hours academic coursework over 100-150 days
•3,000 hours of supervised clinical practice over 390 days
The central objective of the course is to train postgraduates to a level which will enable them to work safely, competently and ethically as a basic grade clinical psychologist and to provide a foundation for later specialization through continuing professional development. Postgraduates graduating from the course should be able to
•provide assessment and treatment services to a wide range of client groups including children and adults with psychological problems and disabilities
•use their academic knowledge to solve clinical problems and provide consultancy and teaching services to colleagues and clients
•use their research skills to answer questions, raised within the health services, which require an empirically based answer.
Within the Clinical Programme, the psychologist's role is conceptualized as that of a professional scientist-practitioner who works within a shared care model of multidisciplinary health service delivery. The psychologist as a professional is guided by codes of ethics and practice such as those laid down by the Psychological Society of Ireland.
As a scientist, the psychologist brings knowledge of the findings of the science of psychology and the methods used to investigate problems scientifically to bear on clinical practice and health service delivery.
As a practitioner, the psychologist is skilled in specific assessment and intervention methods and is sensitive to the way in which personal psychological strengths and vulnerabilities impinge upon skilled clinical practice.
The importance of contributing a uniquely psychological perspective to multidisciplinary team practice is a central part of the clinical psychologists role.
Comment
The course is a full time doctoral level training programme in clinical psychology. Students complete 6 clinical placements under the supervision of a Senior Clinical Psychologist in child, adult, intellectual disability and specialist clinical settings. They also complete 6 related academic teaching blocks and a doctoral level piece of research.