Career Options in Psychology AGCAS Scotland Training University of Edinburgh Carole Allan, Vice-President Nov

Aims Context: Psychology in the UK and internationally The role of the British Psychological Society Careers in general Psychology careers Finding out about Psychology careers 2

Educational Context Psychology is the scientific study of human brain and behaviour Second most popular science subject -A level Fourth most popular A level overall 46,000 students were enrolled for a Psychology degree in 2009/2010 Second in popularity to Law

Careers Context 20% of original undergraduate cohort continue into professional psychology practice Degree is set at Doctorate level or equivalent (postgrad qualification+supervised practice to fulfil Stage 2 qualifications) Then eligible to be registered with the HCPC Common core skills-assessment, formulation, intervention, research and evaluation

Careers outwith Psychology Firm grounding in scientific theory, method and its applications Skill set covers scientific method, statistical analysis, report writing, critical thinking and report writing Health and social care, HR, nursing

Psychology Careers

Degree in Psychology Foundation for all practitioner and academic and research careers Need the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership(GBC) completing a qualification accredited by BPS at 2:2 and above, these include: o Society accredited Undergraduate Psychology Honours Degrees o Society accredited Psychology Conversion Course 7

Advice on Building a CV Find out about the area from a practitioner Try and undertake relevant research as an undergraduate in preferred area Do voluntary or paid work as an undergraduate Get a good degree Some relevant experience after graduation Join the British Psychological Society 8

Clinical Psychology 10,000 Generally work in the NHS Work as practitioners with a range of patients Single training route -Doctoral training Undertaken while working in the NHS as a trainee Clinical Psychologist

Counselling Psychology 1400 Work in a wide range of settings including voluntary agencies, NHS, prisons, independent practice 13 Counselling Psychology course in the UK Trainees are self financing 10

Forensic Psychology 900 registered with the HCPC 2000 members of BPS Main employer is National Offender Management Service (NOMS) 11

Forensic Psychology o applying psychological theory to criminal investigation, understanding psychological problems associated with offending behaviour and the treatment of offenders o Forensic Psychologists mainly work in the prison service, although they may also work for the NHS and Social Services 12

Educational Psychology 3,800 Generally employed by local authorities and work in schools, social services, child guidance clinics and some private practice Training-in Scotland postgrad degree at Dundee or Strathclyde 2yrs full time, a combination of academic study work based practice

Educational Psychologists School visits about individual children involving discussion with teachers, parents Consultation about classroom behaviour Seeing children in a youth club type setting for help with social skills training De-escalation training for nursery school staff 14

Health Psychology 400 registered with HCPC 2000 members of BPS Health psychology is the use of psychological principles to promote changes in people’s attitudes, behaviour and thinking about health and illness. 15

Health Psychologists Health psychologists are represented in a number of settings, such as academic health research units, health authorities and university departments 16

Occupational Psychology Approx 4,000 Occupational psychology is the application of psychological knowledge and expertise to identify and resolve organisational, team and individual levels of working. 17

Occupational Psychology Occupational psychologists work in-house for larger organisations, in both the private and public sectors (including government departments. Other are in private practice or work as consultants to businesses 18

Sports and Exercise Psychology Approx 500 Sport psychologists work with sports participants across a range of both team and individual sports and from amateur to elite levels of competition. An exercise psychologist is primarily concerned with the application of psychology to increase exercise participation and with the general public 19

Sports and Exercise Psychology Sport and Exercise psychologists work in a wide range of sport and exercise settings 20

Neuropsychology Neuropsychologists work with people of all ages with neurological problems, which might include traumatic brain injury, stroke, toxic and metabolic disorders, tumours and neuro- degenerative diseases. Neuropsychologists work in a variety of settings including NHS regional neurosciences centres, rehabilitation centres, community services. 21

Neuropsychology Qualifications Required: o GBC o Chartered Status in either Clinical or Education Psychology o Society’s Qualification in Clinical Neuropsychology (QiCN) 22

What is Teaching and Research? o Teaching and research usually go hand in hand at the higher education level, with lecturers at Higher Education Institutions usually undertaking some research as well as teaching. o All university lecturers are expected to help extend their subject by gathering psychological evidence on key research questions, and tell others what they have found by publishing articles Qualifications Required o GBC o PhD in psychology OR o Three years postgraduate experience as a teacher of psychology

Information BPS website for careers info training/careers- resources/careers-resources BPS website for Divisions ie Practitioner Groups networks/divisions/divisions DVD on Clinical Psychology training Psychology Student Employability Guide 24