9 November 2001
Document Sample
School of Applied Sciences
Course Guide 2007/2008
Postgraduate Counselling Psychology – Practitioner Doctorate
Practitioner Doctorate Guidelines 2007
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Practitioner Doctorate Guidelines 2007
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PRACTITIONER DOCTORATE IN COUNSELLING PSYCHOLOGY
The Practitioner Doctorate in Counselling Psychology comprises a 3-4 year full time
post-graduate training resulting in the academic award of Doctor of Counselling
Psychology and eligibility for acceptance onto the register of chartered psychologists.
The programme consists of:
a taught component (3 days per week attendance at the University over 3 years)
a practice component (2 days per week on clinical placement over 3 years )
a research component (a doctoral thesis beginning in year 2 with a completion
deadline for the end of year 3 – an additional year’s registration is possible )
a personal development component (one hour per week attendance at a
Personal Development Group and 30 hours of personal therapy over three years)
Programme
Year 1
The first year of the training is common to all students. This year may be studied full-
time (3 days per week at the University and 2 days per week on placement over one
year) or part-time (one day per week at the University and one day per week on
placement over two years).
Year 1
Components Semester 1 Semester 2 Total Credits
Supervised Practice 30
PS4004 Supervised Practice
PS4043 Personal Development Group
Personal 15
Personal Therapy
Development
Tutorial
PS4002 Humanistic Approach & Skills
Theory and Skills 60
Workshops
PS4044 Cognitive-Behavioural Approach &
Skills
15
PS4012 Introduction to Research Methods
Research
PS4045 Research Proposal
15
PS4013 Literature Review
15
Total for year 150
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Practitioner Doctorate Guidelines 2007
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Selection for Doctoral Research
The three research modules in the first year allow students to develop their research
skills gradually and have been designed to allow students to work progressively towards
registration for the doctoral research modules.
Selection criteria have been devised to assess student’s capacity to work at doctoral
level. The initial criterion for acceptance onto the doctoral programme is a pass grade
on all first year modules. In addition the selection of students for the doctorate will take
place on the basis of the quality of their research module submissions during year one
(full time) or years one and two (part time). After passing PS4012 (the introduction to
research module) in semester one, students, in semester 2, are able to register for the
literature review (PS4013). After passing the literature review students are able to
register for the research proposal module (PS4045). Eligibility for registration on the
doctoral award depends on students achieving pass grades on the ‘D’ level outcomes for
modules PS4013 and PS4045 at their first attempt.
In summary the selection criteria for the doctoral programme comprise:
Pass grades on all first year modules
Pass grades at ‘D’ level on PS4013 and PS4045
Students who do not meet these criteria will transfer to the Masters/Post-MSc route.
In order to provide the best supervision experience possible to students within the
University’s resources there will only be a limited number of doctoral places available
each year, it is unlikely that this will accommodate the whole cohort.
Choice of research topic: As this piece of work will result in a doctorate in counselling
psychology the topic must be relevant to the discipline and therefore must be within the
broad aims and philosophy of the training programme.
The Proposal: Please refer to the module guide for PS4045 for details
The first stage of preparing for a piece of research is to write a proposal. This should set
out your ideas in a formal, concise but comprehensive format. There does not need to
be a lot of detail because at this stage you are probably hazy about precisely how the
study will develop. However there has to be a strong research question, backed up with
a short summary of relevant, up-to-date literature, an overview of the proposed
methodological approach and some rationale for that. Details about participants, ethical
implications and procedure should also be included. A suggested structure might be:
Title
Literature Review – merely an indication of the relevant literature in the area of your
study
Research question
Proposed methodological approach and rationale
Proposed method of data analysis
Details of participants and possible procedure
Ethical implications
Relevance to Counselling Psychology
References
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The word limit for the proposal is 3000 words so clearly the information must by
necessity be brief. However it is important to remember that as a doctoral study this is a
high level piece of research and this needs to come across in your proposal. Although
the practitioner doctorate thesis is not as lengthy as a PhD thesis it is still examined at
the same academic level. Have a look at completed theses (both Practitioner
Doctorates and PhDs) to get a feel for the level. Remember that the research must be
novel and it must be practice based.
You may approach members of the team for advice if you wish, particularly the person
that is most likely to be your supervisor. However personal tutors may also be able to
help but remember that they are not the people making the decision on approval.
The proposal must be attached to the RESPROP form for submission. This form must
also be signed prior to submission by a Director of Studies.
In section A7 a clear overview/summary of the proposed research should be provided,
referring the reader to the attached proposal for further detail.
Sections B and E should be completed as fully as possible.
Approval Process
The administration of the thesis will be the remit of the Research Institute in Healthcare
Science (RHIS) to which your RESPROP (your doctoral proposal) will be sent and their
Student Management Board (SMB) will monitor the process throughout.
Please refer to the Research Handbook for more detailed information on the
research components of the masters, post-masters and doctoral pathways.
Research Supervision
The supervision team for the research thesis will consist of one internal counselling
psychology specialist (Director of Studies) and one other supervisor who may be a
member of University academic staff with relevant experience or a workplace supervisor.
Under certain circumstances a further member of the team may be appointed in order to
add specialist expertise from amongst practitioners or staff in other academic institutions.
Students are entitled to a total of 40 hours of supervisors’ time for the total period of
registration. A supervision log will be kept. This is to include all time spent by the
supervisor in relation to the student’s work and does not just refer to face-to–face
sessions.
Year 2
The taught programme in year two is common for MSc/Post-MSc and Doctorate
students. The main difference is that some students will be pursuing Masters level
research and others Doctorate level. This year of the course can only be studied on a
full time basis – 2 days a week attendance at the University in the first semester and one
day in the second semester. Two days per week are spent on placement throughout the
year.
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Year 2
Components Semester 3 Semester 4 Total Credits
Supervised PS5015 Supervised Practice
30
Practice 30 credits
Personal PS5013 Personal Development 2
15
Development 15 credits
PS5003
Specialist Contexts
15
and Skills
15 credits
Theory and Skills PS5002 PS5004
Workshops Themes & Settings Lifespan Approach
15 credits 15 credits
Theory
60
PS5001 PS5010
Therapeutic Issues & Psychodynamic
Ethics Approach
15 credits 15 credits
Doctoral Thesis
Research Not Yet Complete
150 credits
Total for year 120
Progress Report
At the end of the second year all doctoral students will be asked to submit a Progress
Report outlining the progress made on their research to date. This may be followed by
an interview with their personal tutor and research supervisor.
Year 3
The taught programme in year three is also common for Post-MSc and Doctorate
students and is the final year of the taught component of the course. The main
difference is that doctoral students will be continuing with the research component
whereas Post-MSc students will have completed their Masters research at the end of
year two. This year of the course can only be studied on a full time basis – one day a
week attendance at the University and two days on placement.
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Year 3
Components Semester 5 Semester 6 Total Credits
PS5016 Supervised Practice 3
Supervised Practice 45 credits 45
Personal PS5014 Personal Development 3
Development 15 credits 15
PS5017 Professional Issues
30 credits
Theory and Skills
Workshops
45
PS5009 Working with Couples
15 credits
PS5006 Advanced Research
Research 15 credits 15
PS5011 Doctoral Thesis
150 Credits 150
Total 270
Total Credits for Practitioner Doctorate = 540.
Please note the second and third year modules are subject to change.
Progress Report
At the end of the third year all doctoral students who are not submitting their thesis will
be asked to submit a progress report outlining the progress made on their research to
date and indicating the amount of work still to complete and a timescale demonstrating
how this will be achieved. This may be followed by an interview with their personal tutor
and research supervisor.
Students who have completed their research may submit their thesis by the end of
September.
Year 4
Doctoral students are entitled to an additional year of registration in which to complete
their thesis. A fee is charged for this. The final deadline for thesis submission is May of
this year.
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Assessment of Doctoral Thesis in Counselling Psychology
The candidate is required to submit 3 copies of the thesis to the course administrator by
the submission date. On receipt of the thesis internal and external examiners will be
appointed via the normal University procedures and will be finally approved by the
University Research Committee (URC). An independent Chair will be nominated by the
URC. This process can take time especially if the initial examiners are not approved and
new ones may have to be found. The examiners are then sent copies of the thesis in
order to conduct their preliminary assessment.
The doctoral thesis is examined by a two-stage process.
Stage 1: a preliminary assessment. Having read the thesis the examiners will produce a
preliminary report. It is possible at this stage that the examiners may decide in the case
of a poor thesis that the viva is not justified.
Stage 2: the viva voce examination. The internal examiner will arrange a date for the
examination and is responsible for informing the candidate of these arrangements. The
examination will take place in the University and will be presided over by the
independent Chair. The internal and external examiners and the candidate will be
present and the candidate may request that their supervisor also attends as an observer.
The supervisor is not obliged to attend the viva and is not permitted to participate in the
examination. There is no set time limit for viva voce examinations but they can last from
between one to three hours.
Recommendation of the examiners
The examiners are permitted to make one of the following recommendations:
1. That the candidate be awarded a PASS grade for the thesis. The grade recorded
will be a C.
2. That the candidate be awarded a PASS grade subject to minor amendments and
corrections being made to the thesis to the satisfaction of the internal
Examiner(s) and/or external Examiner(s). The examiners shall indicate to the
candidate in writing the nature of the amendments and the date by which they
should be completed. (For the purposes of SITS entries, until the corrections are
approved the grade recorded is E and on successful completion of all corrections
the grade recorded will be D).
3. That the candidate be permitted to re-submit the thesis after substantial revisions
and/or be re-examined as follows:
(i) the thesis must be revised and if deemed satisfactory by the Examiners,
the candidate will be exempt from further examination, oral or otherwise;
(ii) the thesis must be revised and the candidate must undergo a further oral
or alternative examination;
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(iii) the thesis is satisfactory, but the candidate must undergo a further oral or
alternative examination (please specify alternative):
4. That the candidate not be granted a Pass grade and be not permitted to be re-
examined.
In the event of failure of the thesis (for which resubmission is not permitted), an award
assessment board may consider a candidate for an interim award within the programme,
including a Masters award. In this event, candidates must fulfil all the requirements for
the alternate award, including submission of a satisfactory research project/dissertation.
Practitioner Doctorate ‘At Risk’ Procedure
A student is ‘at risk’ if there is evidence that:
(a) they are making insufficient academic progress for their module study;
Or
(b) they lack a commitment to the research project, as demonstrated by repeated
failure to produce agreed interim outcomes, to attend supervisory sessions
and/or to attend a prescribed programme of related studies.
1. As soon as the Director of Studies identifies a student ‘at risk’ for any of the
reasons given above, she/he should immediately (i) notify the Research Institute
in Healthcare Science Student Management Board (RIHS SMB) and (ii) write to
the student detailing the reasons for concern and inviting the student to attend an
emergency session to discuss the situation and to devise an action plan where
appropriate. The emergency session should normally be scheduled within two
working weeks and should be attended by a representative of the RIHS SMB
who has not been associated previously with the project. The student may be
accompanied by a friend or student representative.
2. A summary of the emergency session, including any action plan or revisions to
the research programme, should be agreed by the Director of Studies and the
student, and kept by the Director of Studies as part of the record of supervision.
The RIHS SMB should be notified of the outcome of the emergency session so
that it might instigate any further monitoring procedures it deems necessary.
3. If a student fails to respond to the letter, fails to attend emergency session, or is
unable to address satisfactorily the concerns of the Director of Studies, the
Director of Studies may, with the agreement of other members of the supervisory
team, recommend to the RIHS SMB that the student be withdrawn.
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Academic Regulations
This course adheres to the University’s academic regulations for students undertaking a
Postgraduate degree, commencing after October 2002.
A full version of these regulations for Professional Doctorates can be found at
http://www.wlv.ac.uk/PDF/aca-prof-doc-regs.pdf
These regulations govern your course and will be binding on you. It is, therefore,
important that you read and become familiar with them.
Further Information
The Research Student Handbook available from the Graduate School website
(www.wlv.ac.uk) contains a lot of information useful to practitioner doctorate students as
well as those studying for a PhD. All the relevant forms are available from this website.
Applications to: Course Administrator
Postgraduate Counselling Psychology
University of Wolverhampton
School of Applied Sciences
Millennium City Building
Wulfruna Street
Wolverhampton
WV1 1SB
Tel: 01902 321 321376
Fax: 01902 321380
E-mail: P.J.Lees@wlv.ac.uk
Website: www.wlv.ac.uk/science/psychology
Current fees for the course can be obtained by contacting the course administrator.
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Research Areas within the Counselling Psychology Team
Issues of power within the therapeutic Qualitative outcome research
relationship
The political context of therapy Case Studies
Critical counselling psychology Grounded Theory
The social construction of Counselling Conversational analysis
Psychology Discourse analysis
Hermeneutic research
Microanalysis of therapeutic discourse Narrative Analysis
Therapist’s speech and client’s narrative
Non-literal or figurative discourse in Gender issues
therapy Disability issues
Non-verbal communication and Multi-cultural counselling issues
congruence Primary care specific issues
Storytelling in therapeutic narratives
Counselling Psychologist identities
Issues of spirituality Trainees experiences of
Studying silence supervision
Studying hopefulness Therapist burn-out
When the therapist’s values clash
Fitting therapy to clients needs with the values of the clinical setting
Core Conflictual Relationship Themes
(CCRT) Research a specific therapeutic
Assimilation of Problematic Experiences approach e.g. Process experiential
Long term vs short term therapy psychotherapy, psychodynamic
Gender effects in psychotherapy therapies, narrative therapies,
Factors influencing the therapeutic group therapies
alliance Research a specific client group
e.g. clients with symptoms of
depression, eating disorders panic
attacks, health
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Psychology Staff
Academic Staff
JOHN BERGIN, PhD
Senior Lecturer
Specialisms:
Organisation theory
Critical management studies
Entrepreneurship
Critical psychology. (Room MC134)
ANDY BRIDGES, PhD, C.Psychol, AFBPsS
Associate Dean – School of Applied Sciences
Specialisms:
Cognitive psychology
Human memory
Statistics and research methods, ergonomics.
ANKE BUTTNER, PhD (Room MC118)
Lecturer
Specialisms:
Cognitive psychology especially language and memory
Semantics and pragmatics
Semantic illusions.
JANE CARSTAIRS, PhD (Room MC104)
Senior Lecturer
Specialisms:
Individual differences
Selection and assessment
Career progression of women and minority groups
Psychometrics
Occupational stress.
JOSEPHINE CHEN-WILSON, PhD (Room MC116)
Senior Lecturer
Specialisms:
Language development, development of children’s narratives and literacy
Cross linguistic studies.
RICHARD DARBY, PhD (Room MC136)
Senior Lecturer
Specialisms:
Experimental psychology, learning and memory
Comparative psychology
Learning processes in the elderly
Theory of mind.
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NICOLA DERRER, BA (Hons) MSc,Psych Dip (Room MC118)
Currently researching for PhD
Lecturer
Specialisms:
General work psychology
Job satisfaction
Stress
Teams
Employment involvement
Training.
ROS DYER, BA (Hons) PhD (Room MC107)
Principal Lecturer
Specialisms:
Most areas of occupational psychology, but particularly attitudes to:
work, issues around redundancy, organizational culture, organizational
change, absenteeism.
Other interests include human:animal interactions, value of companion
animals; some aspects of sport psychology – particularly motivation.
LORNA FORTUNE, BA (Hons) D.Psych, C.Psychol (Room MC111)
Senior Lecturer
Specialisms:
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
Counselling Psychology Supervision
Primary Care Mental Health
CHRISTOPHER FULLWOOD, BSc (Hons) PhD (Room MC133)
Lecturer
Specialisms:
Internet Psychology
Media Psychology.
NICOLA HART, BSc (Hons) MA, PsychD, C. Psychol (Room MC109)
Psychology Subject Group Leader
Principal Lecturer, Postgraduate Programmes Manager
Specialisms:
Psychotherapy and morality
Psychotherapy and language
Deconstruction of therapeutic discourse
Power and Psychotherapy
Ethics
Spirituality.
KEVIN HOGAN, PhD
Associate Dean – School of Applied Sciences
Specialisms:
Organisational Analysis
Educational Technology.
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YVETTE LEWIS, BA (Hons), PsychD, C.Psychol (Room MC116)
Course Director, Postgraduate Counselling Psychology
Specialisms:
Counselling psychology
Social constructionism and ‘The Self’
KENNETH MANKTELOW, PhD (Room MC106)
Professor
Specialisms:
Cognitive psychology especially thinking, decision making and reasoning
Cognitive development of thinking and reasoning skills
Culture and cognition
Reasoning and sub-clinical thinking disorders.
NEIL MORRIS, PhD (Room MC133)
Senior Lecturer.
Specialisms:
Psychological well-being
Cognitive ergonomics
Blood sugar and cognition
Mood enhancement
Psycho-aromatherapy.
WENDY NICHOLLS, PhD (Room MC136)
Lecturer
Specialisms:
Experimental social psychology
Health psychology
Online counselling
Internet use, Attachment, Depression.
MOIRA OWENS, PhD (Room MC105)
Principal Lecturer
Specialisms:
Organisational analysis
Qualitative methods of enquiry:
discourse analysis
grounded theory
Health psychology
Social construction of disability
e-Inclusion.
MARTIN SHARP, PhD (Room MC117)
Senior Lecturer
Specialisms:
Behavioural endocrinology; particularly interested in androgen
dynamics in human females as they relate to social defeat, dominance, and fear.
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MARIA THOMPSON, BSc (Hons), MSc, Post MSc Dip. C.Psychol
(Room MC117)
Currently researching for DPsych
Lecturer/Placement Co-ordinator
Specialisms:
Older adults
Positive psychology
Service development
Psychology of religion
Counselling psychology.
CAROLINE WESSON, PhD (Room MC111)
Lecturer
Specialisms:
Social Psychology
Communication of confidence
Eyewitness confidence.
Psychology Demonstrators / Teaching Assistants:
Sarah Davis - BSc (Hons) Psychology, PG Certificate (Room MC139)
Currently studying MSc in Occupational Psychology
David Ormerod - BSc (Hons) Psychology (Room MC139)
Currently studying for a PG Certificate In Learning and Teaching
In Higher Education and researching for a PhD
Debbie Stevens-Gill - BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Work Psychology
and Business (with level A and B intermediate psychometric testing)
Currently studying as an Occupational psychologist in Training
and pursuing Chartered status with the British Psychological Society.(Room MC139)
Psychology Technical Staff:
Ian Jukes - BSc (Hons) MSc Counselling Psychology (Room MC129)
Alex O’Rourke - Senior Psychology Technician (Room MC129)
Philip Oates - BA (Hons) Media & Communication Studies and Popular Music.
(Room MC129)
Louise Walker BSc (Hons) Multimedia Systems (Room MC129)
Psychology Administrative staff:
Chris Webster (Divisional Secretary) (Room MC103)
Pat Lees (Postgraduate Secretary) (Room MC103)
Carol Ombisi (Marketing Secretary) (Room MC103)
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