DCP Faculty for Children, Young People, and their Families

Resources

Articles

• What's in a name? Findings and issues from the CYPF Faculty survey on diagnosis
  This article is a report presenting results, themes, reflections and implications of a Faculty survey on diagnosis written by Ro Rossiter and Rebecca Arena. This article appeared in the March 2021 edition of Clinical Psychology Forum
• Co-Production With Young People: A Quick Reference Guide
  Co-production involves including those using services in planning, decision-making, delivery and evaluation, and recognises the skills, knowledge and experiences that young people and families can bring to the table in the development of services.
• From Shallow Roots to Developing Fruits: Working Together to Help Cared For Children and Young People Thrive and Grow
  The following recommendations for mental health practitioners were developed by young people affiliated with the Care Leavers Association through a podcast they developed for the British Psychological Society's Faculty for Children, Young People and Families Annual Conference on 18th November 2024.

Care Leaver Voices - A Podcast by the Care leavers' Association

Tips for working with children, young people and their families

• Seeing a Clinical Psychologist

Understanding Formulation for Young People - Service User Leaflet

• Download the leaflet 'Understanding Formulation for Young People'

Useful links

• American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Association of Child and Adolescent Mental Health 
• Association for Infant Mental Health 
• CAMHS Evidence-Based Practice Unit
• CORC
• Department of Health
• HCPC
• MindEd
• National Children's Bureau
• Royal College of Occupational Therapists
• Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
• Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health
• Sure Start
• Time to change
• Young Minds

Leaflets

• Babies and pre-school children: Psychological services in Early Years mental health and emotional wellbeing settings 
• Children and young people in schools and colleges: Guidelines for good quality psychological wellbeing and mental health services 
• Children and young people with physical health needs: How psychological services contribute to the care pathway 
• Children, young people and families experiencing psychological difficulties: Delivering psychological services in inpatient settings 
• Clinical and applied psychologists in child and adolescent mental health services: Recommendations about numbers, gradings and leadership 
• Community Psychology approaches with children, young people and families: Working with whole communities 
• Delivering psychological services for children and young people involved with the criminal justice system, those at risk of involvement, and their families
• Delivering psychological services for children and young people with neurodevelopmental difficulties and their families 
• Delivering psychological services for children, young people with learning disabilities and their families 
• Delivering psychological services in specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) 
• Psychological services for children, young people and families with complex social care needs including looked after children

Call for papers

We're putting out a call for papers for the next edition of our flagship journal, which will be titled: 'What good looks like for children who may be neurodivergent'.

The deadline for submissions is Friday 30 May 2025.

Find out more about how to submit a paper for consideration.

Research Awards

We are inviting applications for one of three awards for research that has demonstrated innovation, impact, and benefit for the psychological wellbeing of children, young people, families, and/or children's services (e.g., mental and physical health services, education settings, local authority services, etc.). The winner of each award will receive £200 in vouchers and winners will be announced at the Faculty conference in November 2024.

Undergraduate/Masters Dissertation Award

This award recognises outstanding contributions to psychological knowledge relating to children, young people and families, arising from the completion of a dissertation during a BPS-accredited undergraduate or Masters degree in psychology. Applicants for this award do not have to be members of the BPS.

Clinical Psychology Trainee Thesis Award

This award recognises outstanding contributions to psychological knowledge relating to children, young people and families, arising from research completed as part of a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. Applicants for this award do not have to be members of the BPS.

Clinical Psychologist Research Award

This award recognises outstanding contributions to psychological theory and practice relating to children, young people and families. The research may take the form of an audit, evaluation, service development, multimethod knowledge generation, review, or clinical trial, for example. The application will be assessed for the impact the research has had on young people, families and services, innovation for research and practice, and the resulting benefits to individuals and/or systems.

Applicants for this award need to be members of the DCP and/or the Faculty for Children, Young People and Families.

Past winners

• Kate Cudmore - Clinical Psychology Trainee Thesis Award 2024 
  "You need to know the boy's soul, what makes them tick": Residential support workers' perceptions of their role in a therapeutic setting

Committee

Chair: Rachel Bradley

Past Chair: Helen Griffiths

Publication and Communication Officer: Bethanne Willingham

Committee Members:

• Deborah Thorp
• Debbra Mortlock
• Sarah Parry
• Irena Komendova
• Elisa Marcellino
• Helen O'Connor
• Sarah Cresswell 

Pre-Qual Representative: Bliss Warland-Edge

Forum for Inpatient Child and Adolescent Psychology Services (FICAPS) representative: Jacob Clark

Learning Disability Network representative: Bethanne Willingham

Paediatric Psychology Network UK (PPN-UK) representative: Yvonne Vance

Clinical Psychologists in Education representative: Helen O'Connor

Wales representative: Bethan Phillips

Join

Apply to join the faculty (students, affiliates, e-subscribers)

Apply to join the faculty (graduate, chartered, and in-training members)

Membership of the Faculty for Children, Young People, and their Families is only open to members of the British Psychological Society.

There are three grades of faculty membership:

• Full membership

  For psychologists who are Full Members of the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP) and who work in or have an interest or expertise in the field of children and young people.

• Affiliate membership

  For psychologists who are General (Pre-Training) and In-Training members of the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP). Affiliate members may take part in discussions but may not vote.

• Associate membership

  For General members of the Division of Clinical Psychology (DCP) and non-Division members. Associate members may take part in discussions but may not vote.

If you are not already a member, you can join the faculty at the same time as applying for membership of the society.

Apply to join the society

Benefits of belonging

The Faculty supports members to deliver high quality psychologically informed services for children, young people and their families through our regular newsletters, CPD events, conference, publications on specific topics and the Child and Family Clinical Psychology Review. 

To receive newsletters Faculty members need to opt into receiving email communication and provide a working email address. These preferences can be updated by logging into the member portal.

For any queries, please contact Member Network Services . 

The Faculty also has a number of sub-groups relating to specialist areas with the field of Children, Young People and their Families. Membership of the sub-groups is free for Faculty members.

More information about the sub-groups can be found on the 'About' tab.

To join a faculty sub-group please contact Member Network Services stating which sub-group you would like to join.

Join the Faculty Committee

The work of the Faculty is largely achieved through the dedication of unpaid volunteers who have joined the main Faculty committee or support the running of the different sub-groups.

Our volunteers come from a wide range of different backgrounds, whether they be practitioners or academics, full members or in-training members, and together form an open and inclusive community.

The experience of being part of this can be very rewarding personally and professionally and we are always pleased to hear from members who would like to become involved.

If you would like to find out more please contact Member Network Services.