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This paper aims to explore whether a United Kingdom (UK) clinical psychology training programme (the programme) was effective in producing graduates who are confident in leadership, within the context of the National Health Service and reflecting the British Psychological Society’s views of leadership.

Mixed methods design surveys were administered to prospective-, current- and alumni trainee clinical psychologists on the programme, enquiring about their view of leadership, motivation to lead (MtL) and aspects of the course that are helpful and which need further development. Data collected from 92 individuals were analysed using content and thematic analysis (TA).

From the TA, three themes were identified concerning the meaning of leadership as follows: professional identity, Improving the quality of services (team; organisations and wider context), professional skills. Overall, participants thought leadership was important to the role of a clinical psychologist, with prospective trainees reporting that the desire to develop as leaders influenced their decision to apply to the programme. Moreover, participants felt confident in leadership skills and that the training programme helped develop their leadership skills, with the alumni participants demonstrating a greater MtL. Placements, group study and specific modules were identified as contributing to the development of their leadership skills, but participants felt more teaching on leadership is needed. Recommendations have been suggested to improve the development of leadership skills on the programme.

The research was undertaken on a small cohort of trainees based in the UK.

Participants were motivated to become clinical leaders but this motivation needed to be nurtured and developed particularly through structured placement and teaching experience.

This service evaluation is the only audit of the leadership of the programme and the findings will contribute to the existing body of reviews in this area.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the stressors involved in pre-qualification clinical psychology as reported by a sample of the UK trainee clinical psychologists. The main coping strategies reported by the trainees are also explored.

One-to-one interviews were conducted with 15 trainee clinical psychologists using qualitative research methods. Themes were established using the main principles of thematic analysis.

Three themes were identified that described the pressures involved in applying to the course, the support networks available to trainees, and the commonalities in their personal history, experiences and self-reported personality characteristics.

It is important to investigate the sources of stress and coping strategies in trainees to help them cope more effectively. The findings of the study are discussed within the context of clinical psychology training.

This study profiled the work activities, including caseloads, of psychologists in clinical training (n=51; hereafter referred to as “trainees”) in the Republic of Ireland (RoI). The purpose of this paper is to highlight the value of trainees by focusing on the effect they had on the waiting times across the services where they were on placement.

This study employed a survey design using the online survey software, Limesurvey, in order to profile the work activities of 51 trainees (response rate=47 per cent) on various placements across the RoI.

Findings suggest that the trainees work contributed in a meaningful way to their host services through their engagement in both direct and indirect clinical work.

The study relied on self-report data, some of which were estimates (e.g. waitlist lengths at placement end). Future research could employ other methods (e.g. work activity diaries) to increase reliability.

By highlighting the valuable contribution made by trainees while on placement, this study supports the continued funding of clinical training programmes in the RoI.

Previous research suggests that service user and carer involvement (SUCI) in clinical psychology training may have an impact. The purpose of this study was to develop a validated questionnaire to enable trainee clinical psychologists to rate this.

A collaborative project was carried out with service users and carers and trainee clinical psychologists. The principles of questionnaire design were followed. The authors developed and validated a trainee self-report questionnaire, based on focus groups and relevant literature indicating potential impacts of involvement on practice. A draft 60-item version was piloted with 15 trainee clinical psychologists. Then, 133 trainees from 22 UK clinical psychology courses completed it (estimated response rate of 13.2%). The sample was representative of UK trainees in gender and ethnicity, but slightly older.

The principal component analysis produced a 36-item questionnaire with four factors: human communication, carer perspectives, empathy and challenging/changing. The questionnaire showed good internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Stakeholder consultation suggested face and content validity and there was some indication of construct validity.

The project has resulted in a usable co-produced questionnaire, which is now available to clinical psychology courses to assess the self-reported impact of SUCI in training, and which may also be used in future research.

Research has identified that workplace bullying is a significant problem within health care, with health-care trainees at particular risk. The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of workplace bullying from the perspectives of trainee clinical psychologists.

A total of 14 trainee clinical psychologists recruited from British universities participated in semi-structured telephone interviews. Qualitative data was analysed using thematic analysis.

The analysis generated four main themes: workplace bullying “activating threat responses”, the process of trainee clinical psychologists “making sense of bullying”, “difficulties navigating power within the system” when experiencing and reporting bullying and “finding safety and support” within and outside of work contexts.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first known study of workplace bullying specifically within clinical psychology. The research has implications for guidance for training institutions and professional bodies associated with trainee mental health professionals.

The involvement of service users within clinical psychology training is written into policy. However, the practice of evaluating involvement from both trainees’ and service users’ viewpoint is minimal. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate recent service user involvement in psychometrics and formulation teaching on a clinical psychology training programme, from both service user and trainee perspectives.

Focus groups were held with service users (n=3) involved in the teaching, as well as trainees (n=3). Additional questionnaire data were captured from trainees (n=11). Service user and trainee data were analysed separately using thematic analysis. Themes generated for trainees were also mapped on to a competency framework for clinical psychologists.

Both parties found the teaching beneficial. Service users enjoyed supporting trainees and engaged positively in their roles. They identified relational aspects and reflections on their own therapy as other benefits. Trainees reported enhanced clinical preparedness, critical and personal reflection. Trainee anxiety was evident. Learning mapped well to competency frameworks.

The samples were small and some data truncated. Findings speak to broader issues and may transfer to other involvement contexts.

A good degree of meaningful involvement can be achieved through such initiatives, to mutual benefit and enhanced learning.

Nature of the exercise and dual-aspect approach to evaluation described here helps to minimise tokenism. The mapping of findings to competency frameworks supports evaluative processes and helps to legitimise involvement initiatives that challenge the boundaries of existing practice.

The training of future mental health professionals offers one avenue of change to improve service user and carer involvement in mental health services. This study looked at experiences of trainees on the University of Surrey's Clinical Psychology Doctorate programme in involving service users and carers on training placements. Twenty trainees completed a self‐report semistructured questionnaire providing qualitative data that were analysed using thematic analysis. A number of benefits of service user and carer involvement in training were identified as well as practical considerations, including factors that might facilitate or limit such involvement on training placements. It is intended that the findings will prove useful to others involved with the training of mental health professionals.

This paper aims to address how one Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) programme contributes to the shaping of attitudes of its trainee clinical psychologists (TCPs) towards cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

A total of 28 TCPs completed an online, mixed-methods questionnaire relating to their attitudes towards CBT, what factors had influenced their attitude and how competent they felt in applying CBT to clinical practice.

The majority of respondents reported a positive attitude towards CBT. There was a statistically significant positive change at an individual level in TCPs’ views of CBT between the point at which they applied for the DClinPsy and the present day. Thematic analysis of qualitative data identified influential factors on the development of TCP attitudes towards CBT. The vast majority of TCPs reported that they felt competent applying CBT in their clinical practice.

Overall, the DClinPsy has a positive effect on TCPs’ attitudes towards CBT. However, the influence of placements has a more mixed effect on attitudes. A small sample size reduced the reliability of these conclusions. Recommendations for further evaluation have been made.

This paper evaluates the effect of a DClinPsy programme on TCPs’ attitudes towards CBT. The value is that it establishes which components of the course have different effects on trainee attitudes.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the interface between the professional and personal, and particularly personal realities reflected in the Equality Act (2010), within a clinical psychology training context.

An innovative action research process involving discussions, seminars and focus groups. The first author was a trainee on the programme and had been an informal carer. The other two authors are programme staff with service user experience. In the cycle presented here, six staff members and 14 trainees attended five 50‐minute reflective group sessions. Data were collected by focus group and analysed using thematic analysis.

Participants voiced continuing uncertainty about the personal‐professional interface alongside increased understanding of ways to enact it. Parenthood, class and mental health were identified as important domains and competition between these emerged as a theme.

The reflective groups and focus group have contributed to a process of change in relation to service user involvement and trainee learning. Transferability of the findings to other programmes is discussed and further research is required.

The authors would advocate for partnerships between trainees, staff and service users as a means of learning, researching and change within mental health training.

The authors are unaware of any other similar work: the unusual collaboration by the authors, the use of action research and the adoption of reflective groups within the process is unique.

National policies suggest that service users and carers should be involved in health care planning and delivery. Initiatives to involve service users and carers within the education of mental health professionals have been reported. However, there has been no initiative to involve such individuals in the selection of clinical psychologists. This study examines the experiences of service users, carers and members of the Doctorate of Clinical Psychology programme in the implementation of a new interview task for the selection of trainee clinical psychologists at the University of Surrey. This new initiative involves service users, carers and staff members working collaboratively to assess candidates in a discussion based task. The study employed two focus groups, one pre‐selection and one post‐selection, and used interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to evaluate participants' expectations and experiences of the task. The findings suggest that there was genuine collaboration between service users, carers and programme team members that was deeply engrained in the programme ethos and was a step forward in normalising and empowering service users and their carers. Interviewers felt that this task helped select a different calibre of applicants who had an awareness of the perspective of service users and carers and were able to communicate effectively. Interviewers viewed applicants who were able to disclose and take ownership of their views favourably. The introduction of a successful new interview task at Surrey has set a marker for future collaboration with service users and carers in selection, which will have implications for other doctorate programmes in clinical psychology and the broader health care training community.