Psychoanalytic theory isn't some kind of precious heirloom that gets passed down through the generations without ever being altered. Freud was flat-out wrong about many things (and sometimes unpleasantly so - he wrote things that are deeply misogynistic). Psychoanalytic/dynamic therapy as we know it...

Sorvio, I doubt not having done a clinical psychology module at BSc level is going to put you at any kind of disadvantage. The important thing at this stage is that your course is accredited by the BPS and that you get a good mark. I think Spatch's point was that students who sign up for clin psych ...

The idea that reason is a white/Western quality that white societies have a moral and political duty to impart is the bedrock of colonial thought. France explicitly defined its colonial enterprise as "the civilising mission". The same thinking lay behind mandatory residential schooling for First Nat...

I said that your idea of therapy as a.) inherently western and b.) of such huge importance to civilisation is reminiscent of the White Man's Burden. Even if this isn't your area of academic research, as a historian of the twentieth century you will surely know the phrase and that it refers to (neo)c...

2.) Wild alternative career plan 472: set up a therapeutic riding centre. Before the pandemic I was taking a small group of my teenage students (young people with significant trauma histories or difficulties with anxiety) to riding lessons. The difference in them was astonishing. There is a girl wh...

I’m certainly not an experienced practitioner. That said, I’m not wholly lacking in “relevant experience”; I’ve volunteered at a crisis line / drop in center for the past three years. Again, not exactly extensive experience, but my pontificating is not based on nothing whatsoever. As you know, almo...

Rather than asking yourself, "Which careers in mental health are less competitive than clinical psychology?" I'd try asking, "Which careers in mental health mesh with my abilities and skills?" Mental health nursing is a rewarding role, and much less competitive than clinical psychology, but I've wor...

Are you me? I feel like you are me on a slightly different timeline (let's be honest I WISH I was writing a book right now). Congratulations on your house buying, and be careful what you wish for. :P Towards the end I felt as if I were wading through half-set concrete. I'm so glad the proofs are of...

Miriam, can I ask – and I hope I’m not simplifying your position here – given your skepticism about the centrality of rational thought to the “therapeutic endeavor”, are you also skeptical about the whole intellectual and therapeutic project of CBT? And of IAPT more generally? Is this why your left...

Aufbau83, you have written elsewhere that you work in a very different field and haven't yet gained any practical experience working with people who are experiencing psychological distress. What you're saying here isn't grounded in any evidence; it's a theory that you've made up while completely det...

I'd be cautious of a counselling course delivered via distance learning. These are experiential courses and I don't see how it would be possible to develop the necessary skills without having the opportunity to practice in class with support from the tutor, and then undertaking a supervised placemen...

1.) My mortgage application has been APPROVED! :D I'm ecstatic. It's going to be so lovely to have a house of my own. I'm trying not to get too carried away in case the surveyor finds asbestos or that it's built on a swanp or something, but I think I'll have Indian takeaway to celebrate. 2.) First t...

1.) I'm really enjoying all the extra time lockdown is giving me for cello practice. Time I would have spent on trains and buses is now spent on learning folk tunes. I want to play in a ceilidh band once I get over my shyness at performing in public. 2.) My cats continue to be hilarious company. Las...

I agree that prestige doesn't matter. My own advice would be to make sure the course is well-organised (check with current students if possible - you can usually find them online!). I chose a blended learning conversion MSc just because it was local to me and ended up dropping out before I even star...

With regard to not wanting to agree with things that aren't true or real, it's worth remembering that there are many shades of real. In the CAMHS ward I worked in as a support worker I was threatened by a very frightened young man who was accusing me of casting spells on him. He also kept making Har...