By Dr Melody Smith, Clinical Psychologist
For aspiring clinical psychologists, choosing where to apply is often not just about location. It is also about fit. What kind of teaching helps you learn best? What sort of values matter to you? And what kind of psychologist do you hope to become through training?
The Salomons Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, based at Canterbury Christ Church University, has a distinctive identity. Across its public materials and trainee feedback, it presents itself as a course committed to developing clinical psychologists who are critical, reflective, anti-discriminatory, and grounded in scientist-practitioner values. Rather than centring one dominant model, the programme emphasises breadth, context, and thinking psychologically across the lifespan.
The BPS Alternative Handbook suggests that many trainees experience Salomons as reflective, thought provoking, engaging, and forward thinking. At the same time, it is also described as demanding, intense, and at times less organised. That combination gives a useful early picture: this appears to be a course with a strong reflective culture and a broad training philosophy, but one that asks a great deal of its trainees too.
Course structure and ethos
Salomons is a three-year, full-time clinical psychology training course integrating academic learning, clinical placements, research, and assessment throughout training. The programme describes the clinical psychologist as a critical, reflective, anti-discriminatory scientist-practitioner, and this seems to be more than a line in their prospectus. Reflection, professional identity, diversity, and social context appear woven through the teaching structure rather than added on at the edges.
Particularly notable for this course is the emphasis on multiple therapeutic models. Trainees are taught across lifespan developmental, cognitive, behavioural, psychodynamic, systemic, community, critical psychology, neuropsychology, and diversity-focused frameworks. For applicants who do not want to train in an environment that feels overly narrowed to one model, this may be a meaningful strength. There is also an optional systemic pathway accredited by the Association for Family Therapy, allowing trainees to achieve Foundation level recognition in systemic practice.
The course is also explicit about anti-racist and anti-discriminatory values. It places high priority on preparing trainees to work in multicultural communities and offers “Thinking About Race” reflective groups, running across all three years. These spaces are intended to support anti-racist learning and reflection in a more direct and structured way than many courses describe publicly.
What training looks like in practice
A typical week at Salomons usually involves placements at the start of the week, with teaching and academic study later in the week. In the first and second year, trainees have around one study day a fortnight, increasing to around one day a week in the third year. Teaching blocks are also used at the start of placements, temporarily changing the usual weekly rhythm.
The placement structure is clear and developmental. In the first year, trainees work with adults across primary, secondary, and tertiary services, focusing on individual foundation competencies. In the second year, trainees spend six months in children and families and six months in disability-related services, with more attention to systems, carers, and family work. In the final year, trainees work with older adults and within a specialist area, consolidating advanced competencies and building experience in teams, organisations, and community psychology.
This staged structure may particularly appeal to applicants who like the idea of training that broadens out over time.
Placements and geography
Placements are one of the most frequently praised aspects of the course in the Alternative Handbook. Trainees commonly highlight placements, the trainee cohort, teaching, reflective practice, and clinical supervision as favourite parts of their overall experience.
Salomons offers placements across Kent, East Sussex, and South East London, covering both urban and rural areas, community services, and highly specialist national settings. That breadth is a real asset, especially for applicants wanting exposure to diverse services and populations. Placement allocation takes account of trainees’ backgrounds, needs, and interests where possible.
However, geography is also one of the practical realities applicants need to think carefully about. The course strongly recommends living within the region, and travel can be significant. Many placements require community travel as well as commuting to base locations. A full driving licence and access to a car are generally essential, subject to reasonable adjustments for disability. This will be a manageable reality for some applicants and a major consideration for others.
Teaching, support, and trainee culture
The teaching model is described as interactive and experiential, drawing on large and small group work, problem-based learning, team working, and didactic teaching. Teaching is closely linked to placements so that academic, clinical, and research learning can inform one another. Experts by experience and carers are involved across teaching, assessment, selection, programme management, and research, which feels consistent with the course’s broader ethos.
Support also seems to be a visible part of the structure. Reflective Practitioner Groups run approximately fortnightly and are facilitated by experienced external group facilitators. There is also a buddy system, annual review meetings, and strong emphasis on personal and professional development throughout training.
This fits closely with the language trainees use in the Alternative Handbook. “Reflective” was the most common word used to describe the course, followed by “thought provoking”, “demanding”, “challenging”, and “engaging”. That mix feels important. Salomons does not sound like an easy course, but it does sound like one where reflective development is taken very seriously.
Research and assessment
Research appears well integrated. Trainees complete a quality improvement project in the first year and begin their major research project early in training, continuing it through the second and third years. Research teaching includes quantitative and qualitative methods, ethics, evaluation, dissemination, and service user and carer involvement. The programme also encourages publication and professional presentation, with a significant proportion of trainee dissertations reportedly reaching peer-reviewed journals.
Assessment is continuous rather than exam-based, which may be a draw for some applicants. The course does not use unseen exams. Instead, trainees complete a range of practice-based and applied assessments, including evaluations of clinical competence, professional practice reports, a quality improvement project, a community engagement project, and a major research project.
BPS Alternative Handbook insights
The Alternative Handbook paints an encouraging but not uncritical picture. Most trainees report being likely or very likely to recommend the course, which matters. At the same time, work-life balance appears as the most commonly mentioned area for improvement, alongside study days and flexibility. Equality and diversity also emerged as a notable area where trainees felt improvement could be made.
This is important to hold in mind. Salomons presents itself as inclusive, anti-racist, and diversity-aware, and much of the course structure supports that claim. Yet trainee feedback reminds us that values statements and lived experience are not always identical. That does not make the course unusual, but it does make it worth reflecting on carefully.
Who might this course suit?
Salomons may suit applicants who are drawn to reflective practice, broad therapeutic training, and thinking critically about psychology in context. It may feel especially appealing if you value systemic and community thinking, want something different to a predominantly CBT-led training, and are interested in how wider social structures shape distress and care.
It may be less suited to applicants who know that heavy travel demands would be particularly difficult for them. The course sounds rich, developmental, and values-led, but also full, demanding, and fast-moving.
Selecting DClinPsy courses is not, perhaps, about finding the “perfect” course. It is more about finding the environment that best supports your growth. Salomons seems to offer a broad, reflective, and thoughtful training experience for aspiring psychologists who want to develop not just skills, but a deeper professional stance too.
References
British Psychological Society. (2025). The Alternative Handbook 2025/2026: Salomons – Canterbury Christ Church University. BPS.
Canterbury Christ Church University. (2026). Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy). Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology.
Canterbury Christ Church University. (2026). About the Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology. Canterbury Christ Church University.
Canterbury Christ Church University. (2026). Person Specification: Trainee Clinical Psychologist, Canterbury Christ Church University (Salomons) Doctoral Training Programme. Canterbury Christ Church University.
Canterbury Christ Church University. (2026). Job Description: Trainee Clinical Psychologist. Canterbury Christ Church University.
Leeds Clearing House for Clinical Psychology Courses. (2025). Salomons – CCCU: Overview. Clearing House.
Leeds Clearing House for Clinical Psychology Courses. (2025). Salomons – CCCU: Entry Requirements. Clearing House.
Leeds Clearing House for Clinical Psychology Courses. (2026). Salomons – CCCU: Selection Procedure. Clearing House.
Leeds Clearing House for Clinical Psychology Courses. (2025). Salomons – CCCU: About the Programme. Clearing House.
Leeds Clearing House for Clinical Psychology Courses. (2025). Salomons – CCCU: Training with Us. Clearing House.
Information is correct at the time of writing (2026). Applicants are encouraged to check course websites and the Clearing House for the most up-to-date details.
