Course Structure and Experience

Clinical Training Programme:

  • Four years of full-time training.

  • Comprehensive curriculum providing a rigorous training which includes clinical seminars, psychoanalytic theory, assessment, parent work, race and diversity, professional issues and research seminars, clinical supervision and individual tutorials.

  • The research components taught by our partner, Birmingham City University and BTPP tutors.

  • Integrated Doctorate with individual thesis support and supervision.

  • Four year clinical placement in NHS or third sector Child & Adolescent Mental Health settings.

  • Personal analysis 3 to 4 times a week (partly funded).

Clinical Placement:

  • Trainees will gain hands-on experience in multi-disciplinary teams and be exposed to a wide range of clinical experiences, including opportunities to work in diverse clinical settings across the 0 to 25 years age range.

  • Trainees are placed in a four year full-time salaried clinical post within Child and Adolescent Services in NHS or third sector, at a Band 6 NHS pay scale *.  Being embedded in a Child and Adolescent Mental Health setting, it enables trainees to access direct experience in working in multi-disciplinary teams, while learning and developing the unique psychoanalytic psychotherapy skills and techniques.

  • The clinical placement is a key component to the training in enabling the application of psychoanalytical skills learned through the seminars at BTPP, service and individual supervisions to the clinical settings in which the trainees work.

    Eligibility and Application Process

  • All candidates who wish to apply for the Clinical Doctorate in Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy must have completed an MA/PG Dip in the Perinatal, Child, Adolescent, and Family Work: A Psychoanalytic Observational Approach (M7) course with any of the accredited training schools. This course will have included two years of infant observation and young child observation which lay the foundation for further developing skills in clinical work with infants, children, young people, and their families. Whilst there is a minimum number of observations indicated as a requirement to apply for the training, our experience is that the stronger candidates have completed substanitially more than the minimum required observations.

  • Alternative paths for those without an undergraduate degree: the Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy training is a graduate entry profession, however people who do not have an undergraduate degree but are interested in following this path, can do so by completing the Masters level of the Perinatal, Child, Adolescent, and Family Work: A Psychoanalytic Observational Approach (M7).

Professional Registration

  • The standards of training and practice of Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists (CAPTs) are regulated by the ACP. Trainees must become a Trainee Member of the ACP.

For more details on the training programme, application process, or any other queries, please contact us at info@btpp.co.uk and we will be happy to discuss further