“I am a clinician, but I’m also a service user…” Navigating doctoral training as a trainee clinical psychologist (TCP) with lived mental health experience (LMHE)

What is it about?

This study aimed to explore how UK-based trainee clinical psychologists with self-reported lived experience of a mental health problem and/or experience of being a mental health carer navigate doctoral training. This involved conducting interviews with 12 current trainee clinical psychologists in the UK. A method called constructivist grounded theory resulted in an end model which is visually depicted by an hourglass. In essence, the end model represents information in the TCPs external world being received and internalised which shapes identity development and subsequently filters outwards to shape social interactions and relationships which bidirectionally influence identity and the broader system.

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