HS774-8-FY-CO:
Personal and Professional Development 2
2024/25
Health and Social Care (School of)
Colchester Campus
Full Year
Postgraduate: Level 8
Current
Monday 02 September 2024
Friday 29 August 2025
15
04 July 2024
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
CER C89F24 Applied Psychology,
DIP C89F24 Applied Psychology,
MSD C89F24 Applied Psychology,
DOCTC84036 Clinical Psychology (D Clin Psych)
This module runs throughout the second year of training on the DClinPsych and comprises of the following components
Reflective group
Clinical seminars
Diversity topic area
Professional issues topic area
The fortnightly clinical seminars foster reflective practice in relation to trainees experience of training and their clinical practice placements. The regular reflective group likewise aims to further develop trainees reflective practice. The diversity topic focuses on diversity issues relevant to the second year of training and focuses on issues of particular relevance to the 2nd year of training, specifically relevant to learning disability and working with children and families.
The professional issues topic area provides trainees with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of key issues relevant to their professional role and identity.
The second year Personal and Professional Development module aims to broaden the scope of trainees’ reflective practice, leadership skills and personal and professional development of the values, skills and competencies required to fulfil the role of clinical psychologist (trainee). The various components of the module have the following aims:
Reflective group (Year 2)
The reflective practitioner group provides a forum for reflective discussion and dialogue throughout the experience of training. The aims of the group are:
• to integrate learning experience through the training
• to promote self-reflection and personal awareness;
• to promote learning about working with and within groups/teams, including within this group in the here and now;
• to provide a forum for reflection on issues relating to the interface between the experiences of individuals in the year group, the year group as a whole, the course and the wider context.
The intention is that by providing a space for issues and experiences to be voiced and explored, the group will help trainees fulfil their major task of completing and learning from the Programme and becoming effective reflective-scientist practitioners. Enabling trainees to become reflective practitioners is considered an essential part of the training and necessary for effective clinical and research practice. The clinical seminar in the second year is focused around developing systemic skills. The seminar aims to link the systemic teaching with work on placement to ensure a grounding in systemic work.
Clinical seminars (Year 2)
The aim of these seminars is to build on the skills developed during the first year of training by giving trainees a space to continue to reflect on and develop their knowledge and application of differing theoretical models to their clinical experiences. In addition to considering the distinctive contribution of particular therapeutic models, there is an increased focus on how to integrate different approaches in practice. Trainees are encouraged in particular to reflect on working with clients in the context of the systems and families around them. There is a consideration of psychological development through childhood, and of family influences. This is in keeping with the second year of training in which the focus (in teaching and on placement) is on working with children, families, people with learning difficulties – and with more complex systems. The seminars also form part of the systemic teaching which is undergoing accreditation as a first year training in systemic practice from the Association in Family Therapy.
Diversity topic area (Year 2)
This topic area has the following general aims and objectives:
• To equip trainees with an understanding of the clinical, professional and research skills which are applicable to working with people from a diverse range of backgrounds reflecting the demographic characteristics of the population.
• To develop trainees’ understanding of clinical practices which meet wider policy agenda, such as social inclusion.
• To develop trainees’ understanding of the influence of power, cultural differences and practices in ways which empower the client.
A major focus in this second year Diversity topic area is to deepen trainees’ understanding of the impact of diversity-related issues on their practice within increasingly complex settings and with clients with complex presentations and increasingly complex issues relating to diversity. Trainees will enrich their conceptual framework required for understanding and working with diversity and reference will be made to issues relating to supervision and power, trauma and the impact of diversity issues on institutional dynamics and practice.
Professional issues (Year 2)
In the second year, this topic area within the PPD module provides trainees with an opportunity to deepen their understanding of key areas relevant to the development of their professional role and identity as introduced in the course of the first year. The aims of this topic area in the second area include:
- To deepen trainees’ understanding of the changing role of clinical psychologists within an NHS increasingly focused on improved productivity, cost savings and efficiency.
- To assist trainees in reflecting further on their own leadership style and skills and to relate their leadership development to appropriate frameworks (such as the NHS’s Leadership Qualities framework
- To deepen trainees’ understanding of the role of clinical psychologists in teams, as facilitators and as clinical leaders
To provide trainees with an overview of management skills and tools for understanding and facilitating organisational change within a cycle of service improvement
Reflective group (Year 2):
By the end of this module, trainees will be able to:
1. Demonstrate a greater capacity to engage in reflective practice shared in with peers in forums such as the reflective group.
2. Evidence a greater capacity for reflecting on their own practice and identifying issues impacting on their clinical practice.
3. Understand group processes issues and have an increased capacity for formulating group processes.
Clinical seminars (Year 2)
By the end of this module, trainees will be able to:
• Clearly summarise and communicate complex clinical material to an audience and consider how such presentations may need to be tailored to different audiences.
• Formulate clinical material from a systemic perspective and have a basic understanding of systemic work with children and their families and working with people with a learning disability and their families
• Contribute to a process of peer reflection and discussion (e.g. sharing thinking constructively)
• Demonstrate an increased reflective awareness of core clinical competencies (i.e. engagement, assessment, formulation, intervention, evaluation) in relation to working with children, families, learning disabled clients and complex systems.
• Demonstrate critical awareness of professional and ethical issues (e.g. impact of organisations on clients; issues of power; consent; risk; confidentiality) that arise in the context of working with vulnerable clients and complex systems.
• Be proficient at making theory-practice links, and integrating complex information from a broad range of perspectives.
• Tailor communication to diverse audiences (e.g. clients, colleagues, services).
• Reflect on continuing development needs and those of others
• Reflect on and produce material suitable for Clinical Activity Reports (CAR’s), Clinical Process Reports (CPRs) and Clinical Presentations (Orals).
Diversity topic area (Year 2):
By the end of this module, trainees will:
1. Have built on their developing knowledge and understanding of issues of diversity affecting the delivery of clinical psychology to clients, systems relevant to the care of clients and other contextual factors.
2. Be able to reflect on NHS and other relevant policies and legislation related to issues of diversity.
3. Evidence further development in their capacity to reflect on their own background in relation to a diversity and be develop further strategies for identifying and addressing any implications that this might have for their clinical practice.
4. Have increasing competence in working with people who have different needs to the mainstream population.
5. Be capable of working with complex clients and services with unique settings that require advanced understanding of the cultural issues specific to that group, and also have an understanding of how one’s background might limit or advantage that work and take appropriate action.
Personal and Professional Development (Year 2):
By the end of this module, trainees will:
• Have insight into their own leadership style and its implications for their role within organisations such as the NHS
• Be able to draw on leadership models and other relevant frameworks (possibly including access to tools such as the Myers-Briggs Type indicator) to better understand how they may further develop their role as clinical leaders
• Understand organisational change processes and reflect critically on the role of the clinical psychologist within dominant discourses focused on efficiency and cost-savings
• Have a thorough understanding of models of clinical and managerial supervision and be able to begin applying such models to their supervision of others (as appropriate)
• Draw on appropriate frameworks for understanding the role of clinical psychologists within teams and broader service contexts and for influencing / effecting meaningful change within such contexts
The personal and professional development module in the second year of the DClinPsych builds on the personal and professional development module in the first year (HS764) and offer trainees an opportunity to extend and increase their understanding and competencies in relation to their developing identity and role as clinical psychologist, with specific reference to the increasing complexity associated with second year placements, which typically involve more systemic, consultative and indirect working compared to the first year of training.
Overall, Personal and Professional development modules in the first, second and third year are aimed at supporting trainees' development as clinical psychologists who:
* Monitor, audit, evaluate and improve their own practice and that of others (for instance through supervision)
* Manage their continued professional development and fitness to practice.
* Practice with an awareness of the clinical, professional and social context in which they work.
* Practice reflectively, using reflective strategies and processes including supervision and continuing professional development to reflect on and improve their practice and to manage the emotional and physical impact of their work.
* Have a greater understanding of group processes and peer supervision networks through the experience of the reflective group
* Demonstrate the acquisition of leadership related competencies and values of relevance to clinical psychology
HS774 builds on the professional development module (HS764) in the first year of training and enables trainees' reflective practice and development of competencies required to work with increasingly complex client groups and settings. This is accomplished in HS774 through four independent but related topic areas / activities including: Clinical seminars, a reflective group, the diversity topic area and the personal and professional development topic area.
Lectures & self-directed learning
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Personal and Professional Development Portfolio 2 |
27/08/2025 |
100% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Module is either passed or marked as not completed.
Reassessment
Module is either passed or marked as not completed.
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Danny Taggart, email: dtaggart@essex.ac.uk.
External contributors
E: dcpadmin@essex.ac.uk
No
No
No
Available via Moodle
Of 23 hours, 0 (0%) hours available to students:
1.5 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
21.5 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
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