We are internationally renowned for our wide range of clinical training programmes for mental health professionals. These courses are made possible by the expertise of the staff within the department and elsewhere within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (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 Hospital 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.
Child & Young People’s (CYP) Mental Health (MH) Trainings
CYP-MH courses are funded by NHS England (formerly Health Education England) with the aims of expanding the workforce to build capacity and fill gaps in provision. The courses run are delivered to current Managers, Supervisors and newly recruited practitioners in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Voluntary and Third Sector services. For more information on these courses, please visit King's CYP Mental Health recruitment or our online prospectus.
The Children and Young Peoples (CYP) Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT).
This Postgraduate Diploma, also known as CYP-MH Recruit to Train, provides specialist post-qualification training for recruited professionals with some experience. Practitioners will gain a critical understanding of the CYP-MH model of service change, outcome monitoring, and fundamentals of evidence-based psychological therapies to treat common mental health problems in childhood and adolescence (anxiety, depression, and conduct problems). At KCL we offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Systemic Family Practice, and Parent Training.
This programme is aimed at supporting individuals in their role as Site Supervisors of trainees registered on our other workforce development programmes delivered in collaboration with KCL. The KCL Supervisors programme will help to extend the Supervisor’s knowledge and understanding of evidence-based practice and supervision models within CAMHS, community and school settings. There are pathways for supervisors of high intensity trainees and practitioners (CBT, SFP and PT modalities) and for supervisors of low intensity trainees and practitioners. The low intensity pathway represents a departure from discipline-based supervision to supporting the development of competencies in supervisors to enable the delivery of a range of models in their services aligned to the evidence base for low intensity interventions.
This programme, a Department of Health initiative, aims to train a community-based, low intensity workforce to support Children and Young People and their families: Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners. Graduates will complement the work of existing practitioners by building better links with communities and offering rapid access to brief treatment interventions for children and young people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties, as part of a stepped care model of service delivery.
The Educational Mental Health Practitioner (EMHP) is a professional role and an exciting opportunity to deliver evidence-based early interventions for children and young people and parents/carers in educational settings. It is a full time, year-long employment training programme on completion of which, trainees will qualify as an EMHP, one of the key roles in Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs). This programme is part of the national Children and Young People’s Mental Health (CYP-MH) transformation programme, a shared initiative between the Department for Education and Health Education England that supports the government’s priority to increase access of mental health and well-being support for children and young people.
This course is for CYP-MH and Wellbeing leaders and mangers across health, social care, and education within in the NHS, schools, others statutory, voluntary and third sectors. The focus of the course is to provide leaders and managers with an effective learning environment and toolkit by which to deliver their service change and transformations objectives. The course will benefit anyone in a leadership role implementing change in CYPMH and Wellbeing provision including:
- Senior school staff involved in the EMHP and Mental Health Teams in schools;
- Clinical Leads in NHS CAMHS implementing CYP IAPT and/or the CWP programme;
- Commissioners and Social Care leads who are driving service transformation;
- Managers and Senior Clinicians in CYPMH & Wellbeing charities and third sector organisations
This two-year programme is specifically being commissioned by NHS England (NHSE) with a view to developing the careers and employability of those trained on Children and Young People’s Mental Health CYP-MH (previously CYP-IAPT) Low Intensity Trainings. The main aims of the programme are to enable students to extend their clinical skillset and widen the scope of presentations that they are trained to work with. During year one, students will develop knowledge and skills in working with various advanced anxiety presentations as well as evidence-based low intensity interventions for neurodivergent children and young people including Autistic Spectrum Conditions and Learning Disabilities, and their families. In year two, students will also develop their skills in supervising in-training and newly qualified low intensity practitioners.
Other Clinical Training Programmes for Mental Health Professionals
- The three-year, full-time Doctorate in Clinical Psychology is based within the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience. Trainees spend three days a week on supervised clinical practice placements and two days a week are dedicated to teaching, study and research. The aims and philosophy of our programme are to benefit service users, carers and wider society by training clinical psychologists who: are skilled in evidence-based psychological assessment and intervention; produce applied research of the highest quality and impact; progress to become leaders within the NHS, clinical academia and beyond.
- Our Cognitive Behavioural Therapies (CBT) course provides practical, intensive and detailed training to equip you with the necessary skills to become an independent CBT practitioner in accordance with the BABCP guidelines. You will work in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services and train in evidence-based CBT for adults with depression and anxiety disorders. You will also develop critical knowledge of the theoretical and research literature relating to CBT. Through lectures and workshops, you will learn from internationally known figures involved in developing and evaluating cutting-edge cognitive behavioural treatments. Our multi-disciplinary teaching team are all actively involved in CBT practice and research developments in the Institute and in the various clinical units of the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
- Our Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Psychosis (CBTp) course equips students with a critical understanding of psychological models of psychosis and the skills to deliver high quality and creative cognitive behavioural interventions. The course has been developed with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and designed in accordance with the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence Schizophrenia Guideline psychological therapy recommendations (NICE, 2003, 2014). The purpose of the courses is to improve the delivery of cognitive behavioural interventions for people with psychosis. CBTp is a complex therapeutic intervention and requires of independent practitioners an advanced theoretical understanding of cognitive models of psychosis and specialist post-qualification skills in relationship building, assessment, formulation and intervention. Our course trains students in each of these requirements, enabling them to develop competence then mastery in therapy delivery, and to provide consultancy, training and supervision to others.
IAPT For Long-Term Conditions (LTC) and Persistent Physical Symptoms (PPS) Training of High Intensity Therapists (HiTS)
Our course adheres to the IAPT National Curriculum and UCL Competencies for delivering cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) interventions to people with long-term conditions and/or persistent physical symptoms. You will attend a ten day course with sessions typically delivered one to two days per month during the period of September to April.
Key benefits
- Teaching from experts who participated in designing the IAPT curriculum for LTC/PPS
- Access to the latest evidence-based manuals for treating specific LTC/PPS
- A teaching team which consists of clinical-academics and clinicians who have pioneered integrated care pathways in England.
Course essentials
The aim of the course is to deliver both theoretical knowledge of factors that trigger and sustain depression and anxiety in the context of LTCs whilst also offering practical knowledge to improve assessment, formulation, and intervention delivery skills.
All teaching takes place on Guy’s Campus, London Bridge, King’s College London. Specifically, teaching takes place within the Health Psychology Section which is part of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience and is perfectly positioned to offer the lasted knowledge on delivering integrated health care.
Entry requirements
All entrants to the training must have:
- Passed an IAPT accredited postgraduate training in CBT (or another Postgraduate CBT programme or Clinical Psychology Doctorate accredited at Level 2 by BABCP) OR
- Be accredited by British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) as a CBT therapist
Selection process
Therapists are identified by their services for attendance on the training programme. Typically, the course team at King’s College London will contact services in August advising them of the number of places available to them. Services then nominate their selected therapists. Therapists are asked to complete a brief application form to confirm they meet the entry requirements.
Teaching structure
Teaching consists of ten workshop days that are typically delivered face-to-face at Guy’s Campus, London Bridge, King’s College London. Workshops run from 09.30 – 16.30 and typically occur once or twice per month over the period of Sep/Oct until Mar/April.
The content of the course is summarised below:
Teaching block one:
- Transdiagnostic knowledge & skills required for working across all LTC/PPS groups
- Knowledge of evidence-based transdiagnostic theoretical frameworks that account for patients’ cognitive interpretation of the aetiology, signs, symptoms, consequences and management of depression/anxiety/distress alongside LTCs/PPS.
- Developing transdiagnostic assessment, formulation, and treatment planning skills for working with depression/anxiety/distress in the context of LTC/PPS.
- Adapting CBT protocols to manage depression/anxiety/distress in the context of LTCs/PPS.
- Including partners in assessment and treatment.
- Motivational interviewing.
Teaching block two:
Knowledge and skills required for working with specific LTC groups, including:
- Diabetes
- Coronary Heart Disease
- Cancer
- COPD
- Pain
Teaching block three:
Knowledge and skills required for working with specific PPS groups, including:
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Using transdiagnostic approaches to working with PPS.
Teaching blocks two and three are led by LTC/PPS clinical- academic experts. Workshops will focus on: i) Improving LTC/PPS specific core knowledge, ii) assessment and formulation, and iii) CBT intervention techniques.
Assessment
This course does not have any academic credits linked to it; instead it is viewed as a continuing professional development course.
On completion of the course, therapists will receive a certificate of attendance. Therapists will also be asked to submit a logbook documenting that they have:
- Completed at least two assessment and therapy cases (and a total of at least 10 sessions of therapy), where CBT has been delivered in the context of a long term physical health condition or persistent and distressing physical symptoms (preferably with one case of each).
- Evidence of reflection and learning from the training being applied to these cases.
- Evidence of live supervision of this practice by an appropriately qualified supervisor, and sign off of competence by this supervisor.
Logbooks will be reviewed by the course lead and formative feedback provided alongside providing a certificate of implementation.
Fees and funding
This is a commissioned course funded by NHS England. No fees apply to services nominating their therapists.
Contact
For more information about this course, please email IAPTLTC