ABSTRACT
In the UK, the profession of clinical psychology has evolved within the British NHS (National Health Service). This chapter takes the example of a teaching unit in the third year of the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK. In thinking about what enables a currently counter-cultural teaching unit to survive and thrive, three factors come particularly to mind. The first is the consistently positive evaluation by students. Second, in revising its accreditation standards for programmes, the British Psychological Society's Committee on Training in Clinical Psychology, while still responding to the current focus on 'model-specific' therapy skills, has managed to withstand the pressure to squeeze out the more critical elements. Third, the support for critical approaches within the university, school, programme leadership and team, has been enormously helpful. Feedback from clinical placement supervisors is also generally that they value Salomons' trainees' critical thinking, values-based practice and willingness to engage in debates and tolerate uncertainty.
