MSc Psychological Therapies Practice and Research (Systemic Therapy) – Information for Placement Supervisors
This page is for prospective and existing placement supervisors, as well as managers and services who are supporting students on our MSc Psychological Therapies Practice and Research (Systemic Therapy) programme.
Placement supervisors
Placement supervisors provide a clinical learning environment for students, typically for a minimum of 3.5 hours per week.
Ideally, this will be a ‘training clinic’, which may involve two or more students who may be at different levels of their systemic studies. These clinics can be joined by other staff members or students from other disciplines who are looking to build their systemic experience.
If families do not attend a session, students will use this time for learning activities such as skills practice or video review.
Placement supervisors need to have:
- Been qualified for a minimum of three years
- Completed, or be in the process of completing, a systemic supervision course (preferable, but not essential)
Support for placement supervisors
The MSc Psychological Therapies Practice and Research (Systemic Therapy) programme offers the following support for our placement supervisors:
- Two days of supervisor-specific CPD training per year
- Termly support meetings (please contact us to find out upcoming dates)
- Several free spaces on other CPD days offered by our systemic training portfolio at the University of Exeter (on a first-come, first-served basis)
At the end of the academic year, placement supervisors need to collaborate with their student(s) in writing a placement report. This report is based on the Systemic Competency Scale (SCS).
Important information for our students’ managers and services
Our training model is built on real-world clinical experience in the NHS, social care or other family therapy settings. This approach strengthens students’ professional development and the wider public sector workforce.
We are hugely grateful to all our partner organisations for making these placements possible. Most placements last one year, though some students stay in the same setting for the full two-year programme.
Honorary contracts
Wherever we can, we place students in family therapy clinics within the organisations they already work for. This avoids the need for an honorary contract and the associated checks.
For students joining an external organisation, an honorary contract is required.
Honorary contracts can take time to process, so early placement arrangements are important. We greatly appreciate organisations helping to progress these contracts quickly, so students can begin collecting their required clinical hours.
As part of their training, students must:
- Write about the client families they work with
- Submit video recordings of clinical sessions
- Discuss cases in tutorials
- Allow the University to communicate with placement providers about their progress
Student placement agreement
To support this, a data sharing agreement between the placement organisation and the University of Exeter is essential. Many of the South West NHS trusts we work with already have service level agreements (SLAs) that cover these requirements. For organisations without an SLA, we use a placement agreement focused on the individual student.
To avoid delays, it is extremely helpful if organisations can identify a manager or appropriate signatory who can review and sign this document promptly.
View a copy of the student placement agreement.
Contact us
If you have any questions regarding the above, you can reach our team at admin-systemicstudies@exeter.ac.uk.