Aspiring clinical psychologists – the hopes and concerns of undergraduate psychology students about their future

Abstract

The number of psychology students at UK universities is at an all-time high (Higher Education Statistics Agency, 2022) and over half of psychology students who are interested in a career in mental health are specifically interested in becoming clinical psychologists (National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health, 2019) and from our experience (as a student, educator, and career consultant), aspiring to this career can result in high levels of anxiety. To explore the experiences of aspiring clinical psychologists, we conducted semi-structured interviews with thirteen undergraduate psychology students who hope to become clinical psychologists. From our thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), we identified three themes: ‘Information: what, when, who?’, ‘The rocky road to clinical psychology training’ and ‘Choosing clinical psychology and its cost’. The study led to the development of an undergraduate ‘Clinical Psychology Club’ to support the career choices of aspiring undergraduate clinical psychologists.