About the Department of Psychology
Since the Department of Psychology was founded in 1950, it has carried on a distinguished programme of research, teaching and clinical practice, with a long-standing link with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. In 2004, the psychology sections of Guy’s, King’s and St Thomas’ School of Medicine merged with the Department, creating one of the world’s largest groupings of clinical and health psychologists. Today, Psychology is one of the largest departments in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN).
The Department offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. These include our Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (the UK’s oldest training programme which helped to establish the scientist/practitioner model that is now almost universal in the field), our MSc in Health Psychology, and BSc programmes (BSc Psychology, BSc Neuroscience with Psychology, and Intercalated BSc in Psychology). In addition, we are internationally renowned for our wide range of clinical training programmes for mental health professionals including diplomas and certificates in CBT Psychosis, Family & Early Intervention, high intensity Adult IAPT training, CYP IAPT (Children & Young People) training and IAPT for Long Term Conditions/Medically Unexplained Symptoms. These courses are made possible by the expertise of the staff within the department and elsewhere within the IoPPN and our close ties with our NHS partners, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and King’s College London NHS Foundation Trust. Many members of academic staff are qualified Clinical and Health Psychologists providing expert psychological services to our NHS partners are part of their work.
The Department’s research interests span a wide range of mental health disorders and physical health problems, including anxiety disorders, trauma, somatoform disorders, pain, psychosis, depression, antisocial personality, disorders in childhood and adolescence, emotion and personality, and neurodegeneration. In physical health, we work at the interface between physical health and mental health and wellbeing, focusing on the development and evaluation of new psychological treatments and on understanding the mechanisms that maintain psychological distress. Much of our past work has informed UK national treatment guidelines in mental and physical health. The breadth of research expertise has broadened considerably with the recruitment of ‘basic’ cognitive and social psychologists whose interests intersect with and extend our existing profile in translational and applied research.