BPS accredited courses...

[juicychops]

Please help as im confused.
i have completed my BSc honours in Psychology with a good enough score to become a member of the BPS.

It says on there that for further studying they recommend that i do courses that are also BPS accredited to become a proper psychologist in whichever field i choose

so does that mean that if i pick a Masters course that isn't BPS accredited that i cant become a fully qualified clinical psychologist?

i have found a course i would really like to do but its not BPS accredited. i don't want to do this Masters and later find out its a waste of time.

Please help me as im confused as to how this BPS stuff works and what it all means!

Congrats on passing your degree, that's great

To become a clin psych (in uk) you need to do the bps accredited (although now it's technically the HCPC accredited) doctorate in clinical psychology...I'm assuming you know about this? HCPC is the new regulatory body for practitioner psychologists in the uk. BPS is still the professional organisation, but no obligation to be a member and they have no regulatory powers.

A masters can be seen by some as one way of facilitating acceptance onto one of the doctorates (competition is fierce given they are still currently funded by the NHS) but you also certainly need experience as an assistant psychologist/relevant experience. In my experience, a masters was a luxury I couldn't afford.

What do you want to do your masters in? Is it definitely clin psych you want to pursue? There are other, less competitive/long winded careers in psychology (occupational, educational etc) but they cost obviously.

As a recently qualified clin psych, the jobs situation is not great currently. But this could improve with NHS changes under a new government or if clin psych extracts itself somewhat from the NHS as a paymaster...

HTH

Oh, and the masters doesn't need to be bps accredited (not sure any are?) it's the doctorate which does (or a masters in some other field of psychology, not sure about bps accreditation in that case).

Thanks so much Misty for your help.

i did think that you had to do the BPS accredited course to be a clinical psychologist, but i didn't realise it was only the doctorate that had to be accredited, as on the BPS website there is a list of a few MSc courses that are also accredited (although not many which is why i was struggling to find one suitable for myself!)

ok great, that means the one im interested in i may be able to do.

My first choice was to become a forensic psychologist, but as that might be quite difficult to get into as a first choice and is a bit more specialist, i thought i would go the clinical route first as it covers a wider range of subjects - maybe take the forensic route later on if i still want to.

The MSc i am interested in at the moment is Clinical Rehabilitation which covers a lot of neuro and brain stuff.

Can i ask what your study route was to becoming a clinical psych? how long did it take you? im 28 at the moment and would like to be fully qualified by the time im around 35 (i will have to do my masters part time as im a single parent and cant afford to give up my part time job so bit tricky balancing it all)

Thanks again

My route was pretty standard - I did degree in psychology, then 5 years of assistant psychologist type work while trying to get on the course. Got on third attempt and qualified 2011. Then had a baby and haven't actually worked as a cp yet! Starting soon though... I'm 32 now.

If you're tied to a particular area with children then it may be a struggle to get assistant posts and when you come to apply to doctorates you'll be more restricted with which courses...but it is possible

Are you looking into work as an assistant psych? Having 'real life' experience as a more mature student is definitely a positive for most course selection people these days I think. So don't give up!

Thanks Misty i have read that its difficult to get onto a doctorate course and usually takes at least 3 years to get on a course. I wish i was going to be qualified by the time i am 32!

i was originally going to try and get an assistant psych job but as i don't want to work part time until ds is at secondary school (another 3 years yet) my new plan is to find a voluntary work placement for the next year in a clinical setting, and start my masters next September which should take 2 years part time.
so by the time my masters is completed ds will be starting secondary school so can then try and find an assistant job as i should hopefully be in a better position being able to work full time, id have work experience, and hopefully a good score in my masters!

maybe then i can start applying for doctorate courses. Does that all sound like a do-able plan? is there anything else im missing or need to concentrate on?

i work wed-fri around school hours so i am hoping to get a work experience placement for mon-tues (or maybe 2 different places one for each day). i live near a mental health secure unit so i have my fingers crossed for a placement there. there are also a lot of charities around as my fall back option.

Sounds like a great plan :)
Good luck x

thanks Misty - and thanks for your help