Assistant clinical psychologist to health psychologist
An assistant clinical psychologist already meets 36% of what the health psychologist role asks for. The move turns on 51 required skills not yet in the profile.
77.6/ 100
1 How much of what a health psychologist is expected to do is already part of an assistant clinical psychologist’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the health psychologist role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A health psychologist role treats 31 of its required skills as things an assistant clinical psychologist already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- accept own accountability
- adhere to organisational guidelines
- analyse psychological aspects of illness
- apply context specific clinical competences
- assess healthcare users' risk for harm
- clinical reports
What stands in the way is 51 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 32 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A health psychologist role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of an assistant clinical psychologist background worth leading with.
- already held analyse psychological aspects of illness assisting and caring
- already held evaluate psychological health measures information skills
- already held provide health psychological analysis communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held provide health psychological concepts management skills
- already held provide health psychological diagnosis information skills
- already held provide health psychological treatment advice communication, collaboration and creativity
All 32 carried skills, including the 31 the health psychologist role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 62 missing skills fall into 11 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn encourage healthy behaviours required
- still to learn provide health counselling required
- still to learn advise on healthcare users' informed consent required
- still to learn advise on mental health required
- still to learn help healthcare users develop social perceptiveness required
- still to learn promote psycho-social education required
- still to learn support patients to understand their conditions required
- still to learn work in multidisciplinary health teams required
- still to learn advise policy makers in healthcare required
- still to learn develop a collaborative therapeutic relationship required
- still to learn educate on the prevention of illness required
- still to learn inform policy makers on health-related challenges required
- still to learn interact with healthcare users required
- still to learn listen actively required
- still to learn provide health education required
- still to learn work in a multicultural environment in health care required
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
- still to learn apply health psychological measures required
- still to learn contribute to continuity of health care required
- still to learn employ cognitive behaviour treatment techniques required
- still to learn ensure safety of healthcare users required
- still to learn perform therapy sessions required
- still to learn respond to healthcare users' extreme emotions required
- still to learn deal with emergency care situations required
- still to learn follow clinical guidelines required
- still to learn promote inclusion required
- optional, not held apply a holistic approach in care optional
- optional, not held work on the effects of abuse optional
- still to learn analyse processes influencing health care delivery required
- still to learn provide psychological health assessment strategies required
- still to learn manage health promotion activities required
- still to learn use techniques to increase patients' motivation required
- still to learn apply organisational techniques required
- still to learn respond to changing situations in health care required
- optional, not held apply caseload management optional
- optional, not held provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health optional
- still to learn conditions for professional practice of health psychology required
- still to learn psychological measures in working with other health care professionals required
- still to learn emergency psychology required
- still to learn psychological healthcare services required
- still to learn psychological counselling methods required
- still to learn psychological treatment measures required
- optional, not held experimental psychology optional
- optional, not held psychosomatics optional
- still to learn analyse health damaging behaviours required
- still to learn analyse large-scale data in healthcare required
- still to learn use clinical assessment techniques required
- still to learn manage healthcare users' data required
- still to learn test for behavioural patterns required
- still to learn test for emotional patterns required
- optional, not held diagnose mental disorders optional
- still to learn psychopathology required
- still to learn counselling methods required
- still to learn crisis intervention required
- still to learn neurology required
- optional, not held sexual disorders optional
5 further areas in the appendix
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a health psychologist role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 analyse health damaging behaviours practise this
- 02 analyse processes influencing health care delivery practise this
- 03 apply health psychological measures practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 32 skills that carry over
- already held accept own accountability skill
- already held adhere to organisational guidelines skill
- already held analyse psychological aspects of illness skill
- already held apply context specific clinical competences skill
- already held assess healthcare users' risk for harm skill
- already held clinical reports knowledge
- already held comply with legislation related to health care skill
- already held comply with quality standards related to healthcare practice skill
- already held conduct psychological assessement skill
- already held consultation knowledge
- already held counsel clients skill
- already held empathise with the healthcare user skill
- already held evaluate psychological health measures skill
- already held evaluation of psychological performance knowledge
- already held first aid knowledge
- already held formulate a case conceptualisation model for therapy skill
- already held health psychology knowledge
- already held interpret psychological tests skill
- already held prescribe psychotherapeutic treatment skill
- already held provide health psychological advice skill
- already held provide health psychological analysis skill
- already held provide health psychological concepts skill
- already held provide health psychological diagnosis skill
- already held provide health psychological treatment advice skill
- already held psychiatry knowledge
- already held psychological concepts knowledge
- already held psychological diagnostics knowledge
- already held psychological interventions knowledge
- already held psychology knowledge
- already held therapy in health care knowledge
- already held work with patterns of psychological behaviour skill
- already held diagnose psychiatric symptoms skill
The 5 learning areas not shown above
- still to learn health care occupation-specific ethics required
- still to learn research design required
- still to learn psychopharmacology required
- still to learn use e-health and mobile health technologies required
- optional, not held occupational health optional
11 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held apply a holistic approach in care optional
- optional, not held apply caseload management optional
- optional, not held diagnose mental disorders optional
- optional, not held experimental psychology optional
- optional, not held occupational health optional
- optional, not held provide treatment strategies for challenges to human health optional
- optional, not held psychosomatics optional
- optional, not held sexual disorders optional
- optional, not held work on the effects of abuse optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages for health-related research optional
- optional, not held use foreign languages in patient care optional
20 held skills the health psychologist role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role apply clinical psychological treatment skill
- not needed by the target role apply psychological intervention strategies skill
- not needed by the target role assess the patient's therapeutic needs skill
- not needed by the target role assist psychologist skill
- not needed by the target role carry out neuropsychological testing skill
- not needed by the target role clinical psychological treatment knowledge
- not needed by the target role cognitive psychology knowledge
- not needed by the target role conduct psychological research skill
- not needed by the target role decide upon a psychotherapeutic approach skill
- not needed by the target role developmental psychology knowledge
- not needed by the target role diagnosis of mental health issues knowledge
- not needed by the target role evaluate clinical psychological measures skill
- not needed by the target role human psychological development knowledge
- not needed by the target role identify mental health issues skill
- not needed by the target role paediatric psychology knowledge
- not needed by the target role provide clinical psychological assessment skill
- not needed by the target role provide clinical psychological counselling skill
- not needed by the target role provide clinical psychological expert opinions skill
- not needed by the target role provide clinical psychological support in crisis situations skill
- not needed by the target role provide first aid skill
17 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- still to learn conditions for professional practice of health psychology required
- still to learn psychological measures in working with other health care professionals required
- still to learn emergency psychology required
- still to learn psychological healthcare services required
- still to learn psychopathology required
- still to learn psychopharmacology required
- still to learn counselling methods required
- still to learn crisis intervention required
- still to learn health care occupation-specific ethics required
- still to learn neurology required
- still to learn psychological counselling methods required
- still to learn psychological treatment measures required
- still to learn research design required
- optional, not held experimental psychology optional
- optional, not held occupational health optional
- optional, not held psychosomatics optional
- optional, not held sexual disorders optional
Other moves recorded from assistant clinical psychologist
Common questions about this move
Can an assistant clinical psychologist become a health psychologist?
Yes, and it is a career change move. An assistant clinical psychologist already covers 36% of what a health psychologist is expected to do: 32 skills carry over, 31 of which the health psychologist role treats as required.
What skills does an assistant clinical psychologist need to become a health psychologist?
51 required skills are missing, plus 11 optional ones. They fall into 11 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by communication, collaboration and creativity. The single most important is analyse health damaging behaviours.
How hard is the move from assistant clinical psychologist to health psychologist?
Its learning distance is 77.6 out of 100, which is the career change band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.