Areas of work for clinical psychologists

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Clinical psychologists work with a wide variety of people with a wider range of presenting issues. Here is a (by no means exhaustive) list to give some examples...

Population

Child and Family (CAMHS)
- Paediatric/physical health
- Child Development/early years
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS)
- Looked After Children
- Inpatient
- Young Offenders
- Drug and Alcohol
- Early intervention in psychosis
- Parenting (including Sure Start, Incredible Years groups, Solihull approach, etc)
- Children with Learning Disability/Autism
- Family Relationships

Adult
- Inpatient
- Community Mental Health Teams
- Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment
- Assertive Outreach
- Psychiatric Intensive Care Units
- Specialist Eating Disorders teams
- Drug and Alcohol
- Early Intervention in Psychosis
- specialist psychotherapy services/teams

Older Adult
- Inpatient
- Dementia assessment
- Community Mental Health

Learning Disability
- identifying LD/psychometric assessment
- challenging behaviour
- capacity
- sexual relationships
- dementia assessments

Health
- Sexual health
- Health promotion
- Serious/terminal illness (eg cancer/surgery/burns/diabetes/renal/cardiac)
- Disfigurement/plastic surgery
- Chronic pain
- Treatment adherence
- Obesity
- Health promotion

Forensic/Legal
- prison/secure unit
- court expert (eg in compensation cases, or family law such as care proceedings)

Primary Care
- (supervising those providing) guided self help and other early or low intensity interventions
- providing high intensity interventions

Neuropsychology
- acquired brain injury
- stroke/vascular disorders
- neurodegenerative disorders (eg Alzheimers)
- epilepsy
- brain tumours
- multiple sclerosis
- infectios/inflamatory disorders (eg AIDS dementia, CJD, herpes)


Presenting Problems

Depression
Anxiety
- generalised
- OCD
- phobias
- social phobia
- panic
- agoraphobia
Behaviour Problems
Self-harm/thoughts, plans or actions towards suicide
Psychosis
ADHD
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Eating Disorders
Trauma/PTSD
Experience of abuse/neglect
Experience of domestic violence/coercive control
Tourette's syndrome/tics
Dementia
'Personality Disorder'/Complex trauma
Attachment difficulties
Relationship Problems
Bereavement
Stress
Adjusting to life events (eg bereavement)
Drug/Alcohol/Substance use
Head Injury
Developmental delay/difficulties

Additional roles

Supervision
Consultation
Training
Management
Strategic planning
Service development
Evaluation/Audit
Research

Employing organisations

NHS (majority of clinical psychologists)
Universities and academic institutions
Charities and voluntary organisations (including hospices)
Private psychology/therapy/healthcare/education/placement providers
Self-employment in private practice
Government departments

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Content checked by qualified Clinical Psychologist on 15/07/22
Last modified by Miriam on 15/07/22