Trainees' reflections on developing personal and professional skills through managing risk

The development of competency in personal and professional skills and values is likely to increase in importance as Clinical Psychologists in-training take on leadership and consultancy roles and work with greater complexity on qualification. However, the literature on how this competency develops and what helps and hinders this within Clinical Psychology training programmes is very limited. An understanding of the experience of Clinical Psychologists’ in-training development of this competency is important to inform teaching and supervisory practice and to promote development of self awareness, professional effectiveness and resilience. Given the lack of literature and the exploratory nature of the research question, a qualitative approach was undertaken which explored Clinical Psychologists’ in-training lived experience of developing personal and professional skills (PPD) through managing risk. A focus on such situations was chosen because managing risk is experienced by many trainees as taking them to the limits of their competence and to often demand interprofessional working. The research explored how the experience of managing such risks and complexity enhanced or diminished PPD learning. A systematic review of the extant literature was conducted and semi-structured qualitative interviews were pursued with ten Clinical Psychologists’ in-training across the UK, from a range of doctoral training programmes. An interpretative phenomenological approach was employed to analyse participants’ accounts. Four themes which interlinked to form a learning cycle: ‘event perception’, ‘managing the professional self’, ‘reflective practice’ and ‘identity’. The emergent themes were interpreted with reference to the literature on PPD in broader populations of health professionals. The findings have a range of implications for training programmes, supervisors, trainees, and for the British Psychological Society/The Committee of Training in Clinical Psychology accreditation criteria which is currently being revised. Implications of the findings for risk management in clinical practice and recommendations for future research are also presented.