Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy

Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy is a one-year integrated programme that bridges two domains which are often taught separately: the rigorous, assessment-based world of clinical psychology and the craft of psychotherapy itself. It addresses a problem that early-career clinicians repeatedly describe — the gap between what they learned at university about psychopathology and the moment when they find themselves alone in a room with a patient who does not fit any textbook category.

The programme does not take sides in the long-running debate between evidence-based structured treatments and open-ended dynamic work. Instead it treats these traditions as complementary instruments. A clinician trained only in protocols misses the relational texture that drives engagement and drop-out; a clinician trained only in depth work may overlook validated interventions that save years of suffering. The IPAS position — developed over years of teaching and supervision — is that a modern clinical psychologist should be fluent in both.

The syllabus opens with three months of rigorous psychopathology grounded in ICD-11 and DSM-5-TR, with particular attention to mood disorders, anxiety spectrum, trauma-related conditions, personality organisation and psychotic phenomena. We pay careful attention to cultural presentation: the same underlying difficulty can look very different in Azerbaijan, in Germany, or in the United States. Assessment methods include the semi-structured clinical interview, the mental state examination, and the appropriate use of standardised instruments such as the PHQ-9, GAD-7, PCL-5 and PID-5-BF.

From month four onwards the programme pivots to treatment. Short-term structured work (cognitive-behavioural therapy for anxiety and depression, prolonged exposure for PTSD) is taught alongside long-term psychodynamic therapy, and participants are asked to formulate a single case from both perspectives. This exercise reliably produces one of the most valuable learning experiences of the year: students see concretely where the two traditions converge and where they offer genuinely different leverage on the same clinical problem.

Supervision groups meet weekly throughout the year. Each group of six to eight participants is led by a senior clinician who has been appointed by the Council. Cases are presented in rotation, with written formulations circulated in advance. The supervisor offers both protocol-level and formulation-level commentary, and the group is encouraged to debate respectfully. A written final case study, approximately six thousand words, integrating assessment, formulation and treatment course, is submitted in month eleven and forms the principal basis for certification.

Graduates receive the IPAS Certificate in Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, signed by the President of the Council. The certificate is widely recognised by regulatory bodies that accept post-qualification clinical training, and it is verifiable at intpas.com.