Clinical Psychology

Specialisation of: Psychology
Degree: Master of Science in Psychology
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 1 year
Start date: September and February
Language of instruction: English
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Clinical psychology is about the assessment and treatment of mental disorders. The Clinical Psychology specialisation of the professional Master’s Programme in Psychology is a one-year programme that focuses both on in-depth study of theory and on the acquisition of professional and research skills.

The information about this programme is available in the following languages:

Scientist-practitioner model

The distinctive feature of the programme at Leiden is that the teaching is not restricted to the functioning of psychological processes. Within a scientist-practitioner model these insights are always translated into diagnostic and intervention issues. In this way you not only develop your knowledge of psychology as a science, you also learn to apply this knowledge in order to understand psychological problems and to develop effective interventions for dealing with these problems.

Aim of the programme

The aim of this specialisation is to acquire in-depth knowledge of factors that are causally involved in the occurrence, development and treatment of common mental disorders, such as anxiety and mood disorders, somatisation and personality problems and disorders. The programme also focuses on the development of your skills required to work in multidisciplinary teams, independently analyse problems, evaluate clinical programmes and report on clinical issues orally and in writing.

Assessment and intervention

On the basis of a scientist-practitioner model, you learn to apply basic assessment and intervention skills in the treatment of common mental disorders. During internships you conduct diagnostic assessments and clinical interventions under the close supervision of members of the staff with clinical experience.

Research Skills

Training is provided in all pertinent research skills, including reviewing the relevant literature, applying theoretical knowledge to analyse practical problems, developing hypotheses and writing research proposals, designing and carrying out empirical studies, designing and evaluating the effectiveness of interventions, conducting advanced statistical analyses, and presenting results and recommendations.

Pre-master Psychology

MSc in Psychology offers a pre-master’s programme (in Dutch).

What our alumni say

Kurdistan Aziz, MSc

“The experiences in my master’s taught me to develop trust in myself and my own insights in my profession.”

“I work at i-psy, an intercultural psychiatric institution. Consulting a psychologist is generally a greater step for immigrants to a foreign country than for the native population. Here, we make it just that bit easier for everyone by treating them in their own language. Transferring therapeutic interventions to a different culture means that I have to have a good command of my subject: it’s really important to have a good grounding in your specialist area.

During my study in Leiden I was taught a solid foundation in my profession. In the practical courses, I learned to combine this with my own insights in relation to clients. During the program, I regularly came up against a number of my own obstacles, and learned to deal with those. This experience taught me to develop trust in myself and my own insights in my profession. Considerable attention was focused on this during my Master’s programme.”