Dr Simon Draycott, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
Dr Simon Draycott has been leading on a new CATALYST programme for aspiring psychologists aimed particularly at those from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Here, he shares his thoughts:
“It has been widely known and accepted for many years that training courses in clinical psychology have struggled to reach a point where their intake is representative of the populations which the NHS serves. As the British Psychological Society (BPS) itself recognises:
We know that there is a longstanding lack of diversity in clinical psychology, and that there are barriers to access for people from marginalised backgrounds. Many have highlighted concerns about whiteness, marginalisation and racism in clinical psychology, and we recognise the need to address this as a systemic and structural issue.
Visit the British Psychological Society website.
This is not purely a problem of attracting applications from BAME or disadvantaged backgrounds. Evidence from the Clearing House for Postgraduate Courses in Clinical Psychology shows that applications from White British applicants are twice as like to be successful as those from BAME backgrounds. Instead, social disadvantage operates at every step along the training pathway to exclude applicants from BAME and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Solutions therefore have to be similarly broad spectrum in order to have an impact. For instance, building up work experience to make a successful application for training has become increasingly weighted towards voluntary work experience, thus excluding those who cannot afford to work for free."
"One part of the solution is the CATALYST programme at the Trust. This is funded by Health Education England (HEE) to provide a “first step on the ladder” post for those who would be disadvantaged if they had to seek voluntary experience. The aim is to prepare future psychological professionals for a substantive position as an Assistant Psychologist, Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner or similar.
The CATALYST Programme in 2021-22 was funded for 8 Part-time, fixed term Band 4 Assistant Psychologist posts, aimed at upcoming psychology graduates, with flexible Full-Time Equivalents (FTE), location and duration of placements offered in order to meet the needs of candidates, for instance those with caring responsibilities. Advertisement was targeted at universities in our local area, with the intent of recruiting upcoming graduates who were representative of our local populations."
"We were guided by research and expertise from the University of Lancaster in how to try “de-bias” our selection process, including shifting towards competency-based interviews and a selection centre approach, and successfully recruited to all 8 posts. Our new CATALYST Assistant Psychologists have come from a wide range of backgrounds and will be in posts which are funded through to the end of the financial year. "
"Our next step is to try to find ways of putting this programme on a secure financial footing within the Trust, to continue to provide a steppingstone towards the psychological professions for future generations."