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Celebrating Devon Partnership NHS Trust’s first Clinical Associate Psychologists

Posted by Devon Partnership Trust in #ProudofDPT, Mental health, News on 13th February, 2024

Clinical Associate Psychologists (CAPs)Congratulations to our first cohort of Clinical Associate Psychologists (CAPs) who recently celebrated their graduation from Exeter University.

The innovative new role aims to bridge the gap between assistant and clinical psychologists to provide high quality, evidence-based psychological support within the community.

Not only are CAPs crucial in bridging that gap, but they also have a vital role in widening access to psychologically informed care to those with complex needs.

The 12 trailblazers spent 18 months completing their Masters level apprenticeship while working in our adult community mental health teams.

Their hard work and success were celebrated at a graduation ceremony on 15 December where they were awarded a Master of Science in Clinical Associate in Psychology (Mental Health in Adults).

Dean Moreton, one of the graduates, said: “At 49 I didn’t expect to be on an apprenticeship but it offered me a really good insight into my role. Apprenticeships are a really good way of learning while you work, which I think is a really good way of getting the experience and the learning at the same time.

“The most rewarding part of the role is supporting people, seeing their journey and working with other teams is a really enriching process.”

Matt Gidman, former Practice Lead for Dean Moreton, added: “I have had the pleasure of working with CAPs since they were introduced in our organisation.

“I have been pleasantly surprised at the level of training and psychologically informed practice that they bring to teams, making a psychologically informed service much more accessible. Their work helps reduce the unattainable expectation that the service and clients have on both the key workers and clinical psychologists.

“Furthermore, they allow clients to be seen in a timelier manner and have an idiosyncratic approach to treatment that can be tailored to either group or individual treatment pathways.”

Jo Horne, Apprenticeship Development Manager said: “A huge well done to our first cohort of Clinical Associate Psychologists for graduating.

“We have two more cohorts currently doing their CAP apprenticeship, working with different teams and I’m sure we will have more in the future. If you would like to find out more about the apprenticeship which is now being offered by Plymouth University, please get in touch with the Apprenticeship Team.”

You can find out more about the CAP apprenticeship in these videos from Dean and Amethyst:

Dean - Trainee Clinical Associate Psychologist - Apprenticeships with the NHS (youtube.com)

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