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Masters level

The KUF MSc programme has been designed for people who are working in the field of personality disorder, who are already in, or who are aiming for leadership or management roles, or who aspire to a more specialist role in the delivery of services. Some applicants may have moved sideways into a personality disorder service from a management role in another field and have limited knowledge of the field; for others, the programme will offer a formal qualification in an area in which they are already perceived to be very experienced.

They may have a formal training in a core profession, or have developed knowledge through practice in, say, housing services, the prison service or the voluntary sector.  Some applicants may be “experts by experience”, having developed roles as service user trainers, researchers or leaders within voluntary organisations. The MSc has been developed to be of relevance to psychologists, nurses, occupational therapists and psychiatrists, as well as staff in social care, housing, probation and prison services, and for counsellors, psychotherapists or creative therapists whose work brings them into contact with personality disordered clients. The programme does not offer a basic training, and would not be suitable for graduates without field experience.

Masters Orgchart

The following section provides four anonymised ‘pen portraits’ that illustrate the diverse professional and educational biographies of students interested in accessing the Masters’ Programme:

Mary

Mary is 35 years old and has been a qualified nurse in Learning Disability for over ten years. She has worked in specialist forensic services in the last five years and two years ago she began working in one of the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder Units (DSPD) in a high secure hospital. In her previous education she completed a Higher Education Diploma, several specialist nursing courses and a Post Graduate Diploma in Learning Disability studies. Due to the demands of her role as a Team Leader in the DSPD service and her lack of specialist knowledge she has more recently completed a further undergraduate programme on working with Personality Disorder. When she made the choice to study this programme she was unable to find a suitable Masters level programme that would enable her to study the topic of personality disorder from a clinical, organisational and educational perspective. She is particularly attracted to the MSc because it is designed in a way that she believes will enable her to apply her learning in the unique context of the DSPD service. In her role as Team leader she is involved in staff supervision, delivering therapy groups and contributing to formal educational programmes on the topic of personality disorder and its impacts on staff teams. She is particularly interested in staff support and supervision and hopes to explore these issues in her dissertation.

Adam

Adam is 40 years old and currently works as an Occupational Therapist in a community based Specialist Personality Disorder Service. He has been qualified for ten years and has completed a Bachelor’s degree to obtain his OT qualification. In his current role he provides consultancy and training inputs to multiagency services related to working with, and understanding the challenges of personality disorder. He offers supervision to a range of mental health professionals and a staff team working with homelessness. Adam has recently had an article published that describes his experiences of setting up a care pathway service to divert people from criminal justice into health services. Adam has always been an anti-stigma champion for those with a diagnosis of personality disorder and is currently setting up a service user and carer support group. He is particularly attracted to the diverse nature of the MSc modules and how they fit with the key areas of his work. He acknowledges that although he has developed skills and knowledge on the job, he has not studied the topic of personality disorder in any depth. He is particularly interested in consulting to voluntary sector organisations and wishes to focus on the challenges of this work in his dissertation.

Shania

Shania is 30 and works in a youth offending team as part of a new service focused on supporting young men with personality difficulties. She manages and supervises a small group of staff with a range of offender management roles. She completed a HE Diploma in Community Development about eight years ago and has since attended several short in-service courses related to the challenges of personality disorder provided by her local authority. She wishes to specialise in the field of personality disorder and is involved in developing a new Team with responsibility for supporting young men with histories of childhood abuse. Shania likes the pragmatic focus of the MSc and believes that the key modules will help her develop several elements of her current role and prepare her for a service leadership post in the future. She wishes to focus her dissertation on exploring the relationship between childhood trauma and offending, and is particular keen to extend her knowledge of evidenced based therapeutic interventions and how they can meet the needs of people with personality difficulties. As Shania has not undertaken an undergraduate degree she has contacted the Programme Team to apply using Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) whereby she can evidence her experience and knowledge gained through working in the field to access the Programme.

Naomi

Naomi currently works at her local University as a Service User Consultant, where she delivers teaching programmes to multi professional groups. She is also involved in several small research projects focused on service users and carers. Naomi was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder about ten years ago and spent two years in a therapeutic community service where she received support and therapy that helped her develop understanding of how her personal experiences as a child had negatively impacted on her ability to deal with adult relationships. When Naomi left the unit she was invited to come to a local hospital and talk about her experience and her own journey to recovery. This was the starting point that inspired her to become a trainer/educationalist. Naomi had previously completed a Diploma in Media studies before leaving University early because of her personal difficulties at the time. Since then she has completed a Post Graduate Certificate in the Education of Adults and an undergraduate degree module on evidenced based practice. She is particularly interested in the MSc as her teaching and research roles continue to expand and develop. Naomi currently provides training to other service user consultants and is particularly interested in the relationship between personal narratives and the experience of recovery; she hopes to use her dissertation to explore this issue in some depth.

Extra information

All applicants would be expected to have clinical or practice experience working with people with personality disorders. They may be working in a designated personality disorder service in the NHS, CJS or social care system, or in a service which is not a designated personality disorder service but which has high levels of personality disorder clients (e.g. crisis teams, prison health, supported housing).

Applicants are required to have, as a minimum, a good undergraduate degree or equivalent. The Institute of Mental Health does accept applications using Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) for people with non-traditional educational backgrounds. Our APEL procedure is based on the principle that the learning gained through experiential learning opportunities can count towards meeting the admission criteria to access the MSc Programme validated by the Open University Validation Service.  The APEL process involves applicants completing an APEL application and portfolio of evidence.  The portfolio should include evidence of previous learning that may be considered will include evidence of experiential learning in a relevant setting. APEL requirements will be determined on a case-by-case basis, with the aim of facilitating access while ensuring a quality learning experience and a realistic chance of completing the Programme. Further information on the APEL process is included below:

Guidance on APEL:

It is proposed that APEL procedures are in place to enable potential students who do not meet the normal admission criteria but who can demonstrate the specific or experiential learning at the relevant level to access our programmes. The evidence submitted for the APEL claim must be equivalent to the admission criteria as identified for the MSc. APEL procedures will not be available for students to seek exemption from modules on the MSc programme.

Process:

The process consists of three stages:

  1. Student submits an application (APEL1 Form) and portfolio of evidence
  2. Assessment of the application and evidence
  3. Feedback to the student

Guidance on the submission of portfolios to support APEL claims:

The aim of the portfolio is to provide examples of your achievements and ongoing professional development through experience. You might also refer to external sources of ideas/inspiration/reflection or specific current issues related to your work area. It is not necessary to make reference to formal texts unless this supports part of your evidence.

The portfolio of evidence to support your APEL claim must contain the following information:

  • Personal information
  • General education
  • Professional education
  • Employment
  • Continuing professional development which is ongoing and consistent

Additional evidence as appendices:

You may also wish to submit additional forms of evidence as an appendix. These may include:

  • Certificates
  • Un/published papers,
  • conference/peer presentations
  • Reports,
  • Testimonials or references

The purpose of the evidence is to authenticate and illustrate your claim as a whole, it need not be extensive, and does not need to be mapped to each individual learning outcome of the module or programme applied for.

Support with your application

You will be provided with support from the Programme Team to complete your application for an APEL claim.  The Programme leader will appoint an experienced member of the Programme team to provide you with guidance on the nature of the portfolio, its structure, content and submission requirements.

Assessment of the Portfolio:

The portfolio should demonstrate how your experience to date has prepared you to undertake the module or award applied for. The evidence must also demonstrate that you meet the required level of academic study in order to access the programme.  The portfolio will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Evidence demonstrates appropriate level of academic ability to meet the required admission criteria

2. Evidence demonstrates the appropriate level of practice requirements to meet the admission criteria

3. Evidence is sufficiently current e.g. includes evidence produced within the last 5 years.

4. Evidence is authenticated as the applicant’s own.

Feedback to the applicant

Following the assessment of the portfolio, a designated member of the programme team will have the responsibility to provide you with feedback on the outcome of the assessment. As part of this, options to enable you to access the programme will be explored including registering to complete other accredited modules relevant to the programmes of study

Application ‘Top Tips’

  • Ensure you have responded to all the entry criteria within your application to ensure you to meet the criteria for shortlisting
  • Ensure the application is completed in full including identification of two references and management support
  • There is an opportunity to provide additional information to support your application and provide evidence of why you are a suitable applicant and how you could make best use of the programme – please feel free to continue on a separate sheet
  • Think about which elements of the programme would best support you in developing the field of personality disorder
  • Those applications wishing to apply for APEL should make contact with the IMH team prior to submitting their application to ensure they have the right evidence available

 

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