Maddison White from Kent and Medway Partnership Trust was one of the first apprentices to join our cohort in January 2022.
Maddison joined Kent’s first cohort of Level 7 Clinical Associate Psychologist (CAP) apprentices in January 2022. The Clinical Associate Psychologist role is a fairly new one and is designed to help address the staffing needs of mental health teams across the country and increase access to psychologically informed mental health services.
We caught up with Maddison about her experience and why she decided to undertake an apprenticeship at this level;
“I have always wanted to complete a Masters course but I was worried that I would not be able to cope financially if I decided to complete a Masters on it’s own. By completing a higher apprenticeship it enabled me to develop my passion for learning about clinical psychology alongside being paid by the NHS to grow into the role, offering jo security.
For me personally the apprenticeship fit in well with my work-life balance. I am always seeking to learn new things especially in regards to mental health and wellbeing. By being able to apply the knowledge and skills I have learnt at university to my job really helps consolidate the learning process – I am much more of a visual/practical learner so it suits me perfectly!
I feel this is a valuable role for the NHS and can really help bridge the gap between people accessing psychological therapies.
This master’s level apprenticeship has allowed me to develop my clinical skills under the guidance of some very talented clinical psychologists (and forensic psychologists at work). It has provided me with the opportunity to learn about different CAP roles and how each role can be tailored to an individual. As some wise woman said: “Life is what you make it. Always has been, always will be.”
Maddison works for the Kent and Medway Partnership Trust in a Forensic Low Secure Service and has found that the small cohort and face-to-face teaching has provided some fantastic networking opportunities across the different services within the Trust. Maddison is hoping to continue her role and loves the fact this new role presents opportunities to develop and chose how to ‘mould’ the role to her strengths.
If you’re an employer interested in supporting the next cohort of Clinical Associate Psychologist apprentices, please contact us recruitapprentices@kent.ac.uk.