Agents of change: A vision for psychology through the lens of tomorrow’s leaders

In recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the need for strong and innovative leadership in Clinical Psychology, as well as a focus on developing leadership skills among trainee clinical psychologists. The publication of the Clinical Psychology Leadership Development Framework (Skinner et al., 2010) was a significant driver to speed this process and one that professional courses heavily drew upon to revise the way training conceptualised the development of leadership competences across the career lifespan. The framework situated leadership as a critical component in clinical psychology training, and courses worked hard to equip students with the necessary skills and knowledge for effective leadership, British Psychological Society (2019), Standards for the accreditation of Doctoral programmes in clinical psychology. This paradigm shift, together with significant socioeconomic, political, cultural, technological, and health related events over the last decade, has contributed to an awakening of the younger generations, who already come into training with significant experience and an acute sense of their unique position within the NHS and wider societal structures. These clinicians, trained in research methods, critical thinking, compassionate ideas, able to formulate distress invoking wider determinants of mental health, knowledgeable in working within the lifespan, across disorders and modalities, with transferable core and specialist competences, and lived experiences of working within under-resourced systems, have their own perspectives as to the next steps Clinical Psychology leaders need to take to continue to move the profession forward.

We welcomed the invitation by the editors of this special issue to contribute to this debate as we think it is imperative that younger voices, perhaps more creative, less constrained by existing structures, or even filled with naïve enthusiasm for improbable goals, are heard loud and clear. What follows is a series of reflections from trainees on areas that the profession needs to pay attention to, where they see a role for future leaders, or a gap in their own training. Ultimately, our goal in this discussion paper is to contribute to the debate of what will be required and expected of successful leaders in clinical psychology, how they hope training courses and NHS leaders can support them develop the necessary skills and competences to step into the challenge, and to provide a roadmap for those who aspire to these roles. Our aim is to encourage the upcoming generation of clinical psychology leaders to have a positive impact on mental health care by emphasizing the key areas of concern, successful leader traits, and areas requiring attention, and to prompt training programs and NHS colleagues to broaden their perspectives on the potential for influential leadership in the field.