Is 48 too old to retrain as an NHS clinical psychologist?

Fullyhuman · 2022-03-20T21:37:10+00:00

I’ve an unrelated BA. I’d like to work part time until I’m ancient, if allowed to, so my question’s about likelihood of getting accepted on to training/offered jobs rather than it being worth it personally/financially. Does anyone have any insight?

Theredjellybean · 20/03/2022 21:44

You need a degree, then a masters then a PhD. Then you can apply for clinical doctorate post... Usually expected to get some work experience for few yrs after PhD
The clinical doctorate posts are hugely over subscribed and very competitive.
My dd is toying with this vs medicine and has been advised she'd get to be a psychiatric consultant quicker than she'd get to be a clinical psycologist
So sorry I think it's too late

Original poster

Fullyhuman · 20/03/2022 21:45

Thank you

OP posts:

milkysmum · 20/03/2022 21:54

What are your qualifications/ experience in the field now? As the above poster stated it takes many, many years to become a clinical psychologist- and places are highly competitive.

Original poster

Fullyhuman · 20/03/2022 22:03

@milkysmum

What are your qualifications/ experience in the field now? As the above poster stated it takes many, many years to become a clinical psychologist- and places are highly competitive.

None, it’s clearly a non-starter!

OP posts:

milkysmum · 21/03/2022 06:14

What's the reasons you'd thought about training as a clinical psychologist? I'm a mental health nurse and work with psychologists in the community. There are many other jobs you can do related to this field though that would not take you the years training? I'm curious what kind of area you imagined yourself working in, and then you could possibly look at other careers linked to this field.

MargotsGreenBean · 21/03/2022 06:23

Would psychotherapist be a more realistic option?

TheDaydreamBelievers · 21/03/2022 06:23

If you're starting from zero you would need:

4 years undergrad
2-6 years experience as an assistant psychologist, support worker, etc
Usually a research MSc
Then 3 years on the clinical doctorate. About 1 in 15 applicants get a place.

Unfortunately it's a tough career to get into!

Original poster

Fullyhuman · 21/03/2022 06:54

@milkysmum

What's the reasons you'd thought about training as a clinical psychologist? I'm a mental health nurse and work with psychologists in the community. There are many other jobs you can do related to this field though that would not take you the years training? I'm curious what kind of area you imagined yourself working in, and then you could possibly look at other careers linked to this field.

Thank you; I need to look at jobs with similarities. I’d love to hear suggestions if you’ve time.

A friend suggested psychotherapy as a field and listening to, helping people deal with trauma, are things I might, with training, be able to do. I was noodling around looking and the information about how to train is always worded positively with an eye to not being ageist so it can be unclear what paths are actually closed to me now. So I’m very grateful for MN wisdom & candour!

OP posts:

Original poster

Fullyhuman · 21/03/2022 06:55

@MargotsGreenBean

Would psychotherapist be a more realistic option?

That’s what I started looking at initially, and I think it might well be. Thank you.

OP posts:

OutlookStalking · 21/03/2022 07:00

Psychotherapist can be a very expensive field to train in from what I can see. A bit like counselling?

I'd be tempted by occupational therapy or mental health nursing (or evennsocial work with a view to mental health work)

Dobedodo · 21/03/2022 07:04

The poster who said you need a phd is wrong.

You technically only need an undergrad.

However, it’s quite competitive to get into so realistically you need a couple years experience as an assistant psychologist plus a masters. Phd would add nothing though as they are looking for clinical work experience not research.

I know someone who is one and they had a masters and a few years experience. Took them 4 application cycles to get on!

Dobedodo · 21/03/2022 07:06

Mental health nursing is much easier to get into. A lot of nature students. If you wanted once qualified you can train to give a specific therapy like cbt and it becomes more of a therapist desk job role.

LethargeMarg · 21/03/2022 07:19

There are currently a lot of assistant psychologist jobs in my trust being advertised - apparently they are usually very competitive but aren't seeing as many applicants at the moment so there are options at a lower level and you can go to band 5 as an assistant psychologist which is same as a nurse

OutlookStalking · 21/03/2022 07:25

Dobedobe clinical and ed psych both require a 3 year doctorate training course. They do pay you (yay) but that is on top of a psych degree/conversion course.

Ed psych used to have a masters route (teachers often did this in my dim distant past!)

Dobedodo · 21/03/2022 07:45

@OutlookStalking apologise I misunderstood I thought you meant you need a phd to get onto the clinical doctorate

coffeemonster28 · 21/03/2022 08:49

It's not necessarily a non-starter but it's extremely competitive as others have said - have a look here for more of an insight www.clinpsy.org.uk
Also, you are mixing up a couple of very different jobs - clinical psychologist and psychotherapist are actually very different roles, and so it may be worth to start by understanding what outcome job-wise you are hoping for and then start working backwards to figure out how to get there.
Your age would be an asset for psychotherapy training however the issue with clinical psychology is that it is NHS-funded and so by the time when you get to a point where you are in a position to be able to apply; a conversion masters and probably a couple of years experience, you may not be seen as a good "investment" in terms of the money needed to train you. Psychotherapy is a four year masters and is self-funded.
Finally, you speak about wanting to work part-time, there are loads of part-time work options that do not require years and years of training.

Spudina · 21/03/2022 09:02

The phd is almost impossible to get onto. They do an online test once a year. There are fewer spaces in the test than applicants so even being allowed to do the test is not a given.
I have two friends who has just done some kind of counselling degree and are setting themselves up as therapists. One is busy already and has just quit get day job to go full time. There’s definitely a need for it.

TheDaydreamBelievers · 22/03/2022 14:02

As suggested above, even assistant psychologist posts are very competitive - typically a hundred plus applicants .

@spudina not all doctoral dclinpsy courses have an online exam. All courses have at least one interview, but usually two, sometimes plus a stats exam, sometimes plus an online exam. It's typically around 800-1000 applicants, to 80 or so interview places, to 15-30 places on the course.

OP - mental health nurses and occupational therapists now often deliver therapy if that is your interest.

Original poster

Fullyhuman · 22/03/2022 15:37

Thank you

OP posts:

milkysmum · 22/03/2022 18:26

Yes the team I work in for example is family safeguarding. We are a team of mental health practitioners ( mental health nurses/ social workers or OTs with experience in mental health could apply for this post )
We input into children's social care but work specifically with the parents who have identified mental health needs. We offer assessment and psychological interventions. Our clinical lead is a psychologist but as generally is the case now a days many psychological interventions are carried out by other professionals. I trained previously in DBT therapy, and other nurses and social workers in my team have further training in CBT.

LethargeMarg · 22/03/2022 22:47

@TheDaydreamBelievers

As suggested above, even assistant psychologist posts are very competitive - typically a hundred plus applicants .

@spudina not all doctoral dclinpsy courses have an online exam. All courses have at least one interview, but usually two, sometimes plus a stats exam, sometimes plus an online exam. It's typically around 800-1000 applicants, to 80 or so interview places, to 15-30 places on the course.

OP - mental health nurses and occupational therapists now often deliver therapy if that is your interest.

We are not getting anywhere near those numbers currently applying for assistant psych and are actually struggling to recruit in our trust - very unusual but just pointing out it's not always as competitive as it can be

TheDaydreamBelievers · 23/03/2022 05:00

That's interesting @LethargeMarg - in ours it's if anything worse than usual !

WarriorN · 23/03/2022 05:18

I think you'd be surprised at how much occupational therapy would fit the bill.

I'm in awe of OTs ! They're amazing!

CliffsofMohair · 23/03/2022 10:29

@Dobedodo

The poster who said you need a phd is wrong.

You technically only need an undergrad.

However, it’s quite competitive to get into so realistically you need a couple years experience as an assistant psychologist plus a masters. Phd would add nothing though as they are looking for clinical work experience not research.

I know someone who is one and they had a masters and a few years experience. Took them 4 application cycles to get on!

That is correct, however many of the people you’re up against would have a MSc in something clinical related.

Also someone mentioned upthread you need a 4 year undergrad - no so, if you can do a conversion course (1-2 years) as long as it is accredited and confers GBR (GBC? I know it’s changed !)

thecatsatonthematagain · 28/03/2022 10:05

OP have a look on Leeds Clearing House for clinical psychology entry requirements.

I have considered this too but I'm applying for OT instead as I feel it will allow me to work in MH without the slog of the competition just to get near the clinical doctorate.

I have a thread on this board about OT questions and got some really helpful insight form posters.

Just do have to pay to train in OT, so that's the difficulty. Even with a loan for the fees it sounds hard to work alongside training