Clinical Practice Reports Marking Guidelines
Guidelines for the Submission of the Clinical Practice Report(CPR)
1. General guidelines
1.1CPR requirements
Four written Clinical Practice Reports (CPR) must be presented during your training. The clinical practice work chosen should be selected to demonstrate the candidate’s competence to put a piece of clinical work they have undertaken explicitly within a research, theoretical and professional context. Practically, CPR material could come from the same placement but across the board it should cover a wide range of types of problems and clinical procedures/interventions. The portfolio of the submitted CPRs should reflect the breadth of experience relevant for a clinical psychologist and in addition to individual clinical practice works/client work should involve work with groups or families or experience of teaching, supervision or consultancy. Evidence of knowledge of more than one psychological model is required either within one or across all the submitted CPRs (whatever is appropriate). Some examples of suitable clinical activity are: individual and group work with clients (see also section 2.1 and 2.4.); working with families; indirect work with a client’s carers; teaching programmes to clients, staff or carers; service development and consultancy (see also section 2.2.); psychometric assessment (see also section 2.3.). The CPR should also cover a range of areas of supervised experience across the life span: adult psychological problems; child and adolescent psychological problems; work with people with learning disabilities (adults and children); work with older adults. Trainees should also consider that work that did not go according to plan is suitable for submission as CPR. Care should then be taken to address any issues in the critical reflection section under 1.4.
It is not normally appropriate to include in the CPRany material that has been submitted for another examination.
1.2.Content of CPRs
The submitted CPR should enable the assessor to have a clear idea of the identified problem and the rationale for the approach. Assessors will be looking for a systematic approach to the problem, which integrates theory with practice and addresses the issue of outcome. Assessors attach particular importance to the application of psychological knowledge in the formulation of the problem and the candidate’s demonstrated ability to evaluate clinical work critically and reflectively and to learn from it.
1.3.Structure of CPRs
The CPR should be structured using the framework below. Variations to this structure outlined below are acceptable but candidates should present their work in a coherent way that addresses all points outlined in (1) to (8).
If the CPR is describing complex clinical practice work (either an individual case or multi-disciplinary/multi-agency working; multiple complex presenting problems; and complex systemic issues), then trainees need to set their clinical work in the context of the overall problem/intervention, whilst reporting in detail on their own work/approach. Trainees are recommended to discuss complex clinical practice work for CPRs with their supervisor and clinical tutor at placement review.
The structure of the CPR should include the following;
- Contents Page
- Introduction
- Referral/request
- Setting the service and patient context
- Culture and diversity issues
- Initial hypothesis and preliminary plan/s
This section should set the context for the work for the markers. The initial referral/request should be included in the appendix. A brief description of the service setting is required. Outline the cultural/diversity factors that need to be taken into account during the work. Briefly summarise your early hypotheses and the rationale for your approach.
- Literature Review
- Theoretical evidence
- Research/experimental evidence
- Models for intervention
- Evidence Base
This section should include a systematic and thorough review of the relevant literature and national policies underpinning the work. If there is a large body of literature, filter this down into the most relevant articles to your work. If there is a dearth of literature, extend the search to include articles that might inform the work. If the focus of the CPR is not a single case study, e.g. extended assessment or consultancy, you should include the relevant literature that informs your approach to the work.
- Assessment of the Problem/s
- Methodology
- Findings
- Results of pre-intervention measures
- Risk
This section should be a systematic account of the assessment of the problem and should include a description of how you gathered the information, e.g. clinical interview, standardized assessment tools, review of records, discussions with family/colleagues/referrers. The relevant informationgathered during the assessmentshouldbe presented succinctly and systematically to enable the markers to make sense of complexity. Potential risk issues should be clearly identified. If the CPR is an extended assessment, this section should be extended to include more detail relevant to the specific assessment.
- Preliminary Formulation and Goals
- Written formulation
- Goals
A clear and concise written preliminary formulation should be included along with any accompanying figures and tables to enable the markers to understand your initial clinical impression. The formulation should provide an understanding of the problem, based on the information gathered during the assessment. No new information should be revealed in the formulation section. With group work, this can be individual formulations of all members or a general summary of the formulation of the whole group’s difficulties. In consultancy work, provide a formulation of the relevant systemic issues that might underpin the problems. The formulation may be identified as single model or integrative but it should follow logically from previous sections in the report. Clearly identify the client’s specific and measurable goals for the work.
- Intervention
- Methodology
- Risk Management
- Reformulation
- Alternative formulation (optional)
The intervention should flow logically from the previous section/s. Clearly identify your role and the roles of others involved in the work. If the intervention is unfinished, clearly state the reasons for this. A positive approach to risk management and monitoring should be included. Provide a reformulation based on the original formulation model for reasons of comparison and in order to inform the evaluation. If you used a single therapeutic model to inform the intervention, you are encouraged to provide an additional alternative formulation informed by a pertinent model. You should include any additional relevant literature in this section or in section (3).
- Evaluation and Outcome
- Results of post intervention measures
- Clinical evaluation of the work
- Further recommendations
Evaluate the work systematically and display the relevant post intervention measures. Clearly identify which aspects of the goals have been achieved, what aspects of the work were less successful and provide recommendations as to how this might inform future work.
- Discussion
- Strengths and weaknesses of the work
- Critical review of section (3) and the work
- Conclusion
This section should bring the CPR to a satisfactory close by way of a critical analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the reviewed literature and the work and any reflections as to what you might have done differently. The report should end with a concluding paragraph synthesizing all the main issues and arguments within the report to bring it to a close.
1.4.Word count
Whilst it is recognised that reports prepared for placement purposes may be lengthy, the Programme requires that trainees gain the experience of succinctly summarising clinical work. The submitted CPRs may vary in length. However individual reports should be no more than 5000 words in length (any submissions over this limit will be returned for shortening within 48 hours before marking). The CPR should be able to be read without constant reference to the appendices. A draft copy should be prepared for the supervisor in good time, as they will need to sign the front sheet to confirm that the description of the clinical work is a true description of the work you have undertaken.
1.5.Preparation of CPRs
These should be typed with double line spacing, paginated and follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition (American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual (6th Edition). Washington, DC: APA.)As the Reports are marked anonymously, only one copy of the title page should include the candidate’s name. Please ensure that any identifiable information is completely removed from the report and appendices. It is also advised that you ensure that the CPR has been thoroughly checked prior to submission in order to ensure that there are no typos or spelling mistakes, as this could affect your grade.