Service users’ experiences of participation in clinical psychology training

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore mental health service users’ experiences of involvement in a clinical psychology course. Design/methodology/approach Five participants were recruited from a service user and carer group aligned to a university professional clinical psychology course. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and data were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Findings Four superordinate themes, group processes, advocating, transforming and power, were drawn from the data, with ten subthemes emerging capturing experiences on the personal, professional and group levels. Research limitations/implications The study is not generalisable and has a small number of participants. However, many of the themes have resonance with existing literature. Practical implications Service user initiatives need to consider the personal and contextual issues that service users may have experienced prior to their involvement. The needs of service user initiatives may change over time. Such initiatives must evolve in conjunction with the personal and political journeys of participants. Originality/value Few studies have explored the experiences of mental health service users in clinical psychology training using a robust methodology. The current study suggests that eliciting these experiences highlights factors that facilitate involvement as well as the barriers.

Service user and carer representatives’ experiences of the personal effects of involvement in clinical psychology training

“…As with previous research (Campbell and Wilson, 2017), further challenges centred around power were identified by SUs. Participants initially perceived professional staff to have more “expert power” (French and Raven, 1959), particularly at selection where there is increased responsibility.…”

“…Challenges include finding the educational setting daunting (Holttum et al , 2011), power struggles between SUs and academics (Lea et al , 2019) and feeling powerless and thus invalidated due to restricted access to students and limited decision-making capacity (Campbell and Wilson, 2017). Reported benefits include feeling valued and heard (Lea et al , 2019), increased confidence and assertiveness (Holttum et al , 2011); developing a powerful sense of self by positively shaping future psychologists and making a difference to mental health services and therefore other SUs (Campbell and Wilson, 2017).…”

Embedding lived experience expertise across the mental health tertiary education sector: An integrative review in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand

“…These education‐based roles were predominantly concentrated amongst a small selection of healthcare consumer‐centred disciplines including mental health nursing (Happell, Platania‐Phung, et al, 2019; Maplethorpe et al, 2014), general medical science (Poreddi, Gandhi, Thimmaiah, & BM, 2016), clinical psychology (Campbell & Wilson, 2017) and occupational therapy (Logan et al, 2018). This theme included evidence and perspectives on outcomes and strategies relating to increasing EBE involvement in teaching and training; and research assessing the implementation and outcomes of the variety of teaching roles.…”

Interventions to Reduce Internalized Stigma in individuals with Mental Illness: A Systematic Review

“…Another interesting issue is that the two interventions that followed an individual format did not obtain significant results on internalized stigma (Morrison et al, 2016; Wood et al, 2018). A study on the opinions of users of mental health services who participated in a course in clinical psychology found that they perceived positively having a space to talk and feel respected, as well as providing learning opportunities, as this provided different opinions and points of view (Campbell & Wilson, 2017). In this regard, it has been found that peer education reduced internalized stigma in older people with depression (Conner, McKinnon, Ward, Reynolds, & Brown, 2015).…”