Plain-language explanation.
Clinical psychology assesses and treats people with mental health difficulties using evidence-based psychological therapies, working in NHS and private settings with individuals, families, and organisations.
Core concepts and standard treatment.
Core clinical psychology covers psychopathology and classification (DSM-5 — APA; ICD-11 — WHO; reliability of diagnosis — Rosenhan; RDoC — Research Domain Criteria — NIMH transdiagnostic; depression — Beck's cognitive triad; anxiety disorders — GAD, panic, phobia, OCD, PTSD; psychosis — schizophrenia spectrum), psychological assessment (clinical interview — MSE; BDI-II, GAD-7, PHQ-9, CORE-OM; risk assessment — C-SSRS; neuropsychological assessment — WAIS-IV, WMS-IV; reliability and validity — construct, criterion), and major therapeutic models (CBT — Beck — automatic thoughts, core beliefs — ABCDE model — Ellis; exposure and response prevention for OCD; behavioural activation for depression; psychodynamic therapy — transference, countertransference, working alliance; humanistic — Rogers — unconditional positive regard, empathy, congruence; systemic family therapy — circular questioning — genogram).
Deeper theory, debates and edge cases.
Advanced clinical psychology covers third-wave CBT (DBT — Linehan — BPD — mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness; ACT — Hayes — psychological flexibility — hexaflex; CFT — Gilbert — threat, drive, soothing systems; MBCT — Segal Williams Teasdale — depression relapse prevention — NICE recommended; schema therapy — Young — early maladaptive schemas), trauma-focused approaches (EMDR — Shapiro — adaptive information processing — NICE PTSD; TF-CBT — Cohen Mannarino child trauma; CPT cognitive processing therapy; NET narrative exposure therapy — humanitarian; complex PTSD — ICD-11 — Cloitre — disturbances in self-organisation), and clinical governance (BPS Division of Clinical Psychology — HCPC Standards; IAPT now NHS Talking Therapies — stepped care — PWP to high intensity; session-by-session outcome monitoring PHQ-9 GAD-7; digital mental health — Ieso, SilverCloud — NICE DTACs).
How it is applied in practice.
At the consultant clinical psychologist (HCPC, BPS Chartered) level, practitioners contribute to Behaviour Research and Therapy; lead IAPT services (stepped care model — recovery rates benchmarking; digital mental health commissioning); contribute to research translation (NIHR ARC; MRC complex intervention framework; implementation science — RE-AIM; PDSA cycles in mental health settings); train DClinPsy trainees (3-year doctoral programme — Leeds, Oxford, UCL; child, adult, learning disability, older adult, neuropsychology placements); and advise on mental health policy (NHS Mental Health Five Year Forward View; IPS — Individual Placement and Support for employment; CMHTs — community mental health teams long-term conditions model).