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Clinical Psychologists need to be able to work with clients across the lifespan, and hence trainees need to have worked with a range of clients whose difficulties are representative of problems across all stages of development. Competence in this area reflects the ability to apply transferable skills to people across the lifespan: Clinical Psychologists should have knowledge of psychological and social models of development across the lifespan and the implications of these models for the types of problems presented and hence the most appropriate ways to work with them. This knowledge should also include an awareness of:
- the systems which engage with people at different stages in their lifespan
- key transitions, as well as vulnerabilities and resilience factors at different stages of the lifespan
- power differentials and historical discrimination against people of certain age groups (e.g. the fact that children themselves often don't ask or give informed consent for therapeutic interventions, or ageism).
Applying this knowledge, Clinical Psychologists should demonstrate:
| An ability to make appropriate adjustments to engage with people of different ages and at different stages of development (e.g. recognising and working with differences in age with older or younger clients or adapting strategies to match to the developmental stage of a client) |
| An ability to adapt written and verbal communication (e.g. to older clients who may have cognitive or sensory impairments or to children at different developmental stages) |
| An ability to adjust assessments of people of different ages and at different stages of development (e.g. ensuring that psychometric assessment tools are matched to children's age or taking into account the ways that depression and dementia present in older age) |
| An ability to focus risk assessment to different populations (e.g. awareness of child protection policies or being aware of the risk of accidental harm in the context of dementia) |
| An ability to bear in mind lifespan issues when deriving a formulation with people of different ages and at different stages of development (e.g. older people may be more likely to experience isolation or physical health problems, and understanding the significance of a child's behaviour requires consideration of their developmental stage) |
| An ability to adjust direct and indirect interventions with people of different ages and at different stages of development (e.g. adjusting the way CBT is delivered in work with younger children and including their carers in any such interventions) |
This
section summarises definitions of core competences developed by the child and
older adult special interest groups - for more detail follow the links:
Older adult: http://www.bps.org.uk/downloadfile.cfm?file_uuid=CAA50A5A-1143-DFD0-7EA2-C58082D2D184&ext=pdf
Children: http://www.bps.org.uk/downloadfile.cfm?file_uuid=CA992E67-1143-DFD0-7E5C-380A04430E9D&ext=pdf