Thomas Schröder
Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences
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Biography
Dr Thomas Schröder is the Nottingham Director of the Trent Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, organised by the Institute of Work, Health & Organisations in collaboration with Lincoln University's Department of Psychology and three local NHS Trusts. He has established and developed this three-year full-time programme since 2005. It is approved by the Health Professions Council (HPC) and accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) and leads to a professional qualification in Clinical Psychology (Doctor of Clinical Psychology - DClinPsy).
Before taking up a full-time post with the University in 2011, Dr Schröder was seconded from Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Trust, where he worked for 25 years as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Head of the Psychotherapy Specialty. He is a Registered Clinical and Counselling Psychologist (HPC), Chartered Psychologist (BPS), Registered Psychologist Specialising in Psychotherapy - Senior Practitioner (BPS) and has previously been registered as a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist (UKCP). Before coming to Derby he worked for the NHS in Birmingham and Rugby and for the National Marriage Guidance Council in Bristol. Dr Schröder is now an Honorary Consultant Clinical Psychologist with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust.
Clinically, Dr Schröder treats complex and enduring mental health problems, working with individuals, couples and groups. He is currently associated with the Centre for Trauma, Resilience and Growth in Nottingham. His research interests include the professional development of therapists, difficulties in psychotherapeutic practice, and self-conscious emotions in psychological therapy and supervision. He is a past president of the UK chapter of the Society for Psychotherapy Research, a Trustee of the Compassionate Mind Foundation and a Senior Fellow of the Institute of Mental Health.
Expertise Summary
Clinical Practice
Over the past 35 years Dr Schröder has developed his specialist clinical expertise by practising in a variety of settings - including the NHS, Social Services, the third sector, Higher Education and independent practice - building on his training in a range of models acquired in a number of different centres, such as client-centred therapy (University of Hamburg), behavioural and cognitive treatments (University of Birmingham), psycho-analytic therapy (Tavistock Clinic, London) and evidence based integrative approaches (University of Warwick). In the NHS he has been leading the psychology team within a large multi-disciplinary therapy service, spanning a range of treatment modalities (individual, group, couple, family) and delivering supervision, training and consultation to specialist practitioners and to the wider health community. Clinical leadership has been an important element in establishing a professional doctorate that is closely integrated with health and social care services, and in maintaining the confidence of stakeholders and commissioners.
Professional Training and Development
Dr Schröder has been consulting to healthcare professionals and supervising psychologists, psychotherapists and counsellors for over 30 years. He has been involved in designing and delivering training for voluntary agencies (Marriage Guidance, Westminster Pastoral Foundation), been joint organiser of a comprehensive multi-disciplinary training for psychotherapists in the NHS (South Trent Training), established an in-service Masters programme delivered by the NHS in collaboration with the local university, and designed a professional doctorate as a framework for the professional development of qualified specialist practitioners. He is active in providing Continuing Professional Development to clinicians in the UK and has been invited to teach workshops in Austria, Germany, Italy and Portugal.
Service Evaluation and Audit
Practice-based evidence complements the information gathered in clinical trials. In his NHS practice, Dr Schröder has developed skills and knowledge in tailoring outcome measures to therapy services and in designing evaluation packages that can be integrated into routine clinical practice.
Research Summary
Dr Schröder's main research involvement is in the International Study of the Development of Psychotherapists (ISPDP); he is currently one of two UK members on the study's steering committee. The… read more
Recent Publications
ORLINSKY DE, SCHOFIELD MJ, SCHRODER T and KAZANTZIS N, 2011. Utilization of personal therapy by psychotherapists: A practice-friendly review and a new study. Journal Of Clinical Psychology. 67(8), 828-42 MACE, C., ROWLAND, N., EVANS, C., SCHRODER, T. and HALSTEAD, J., 2009. Psychotherapy professionals in the UK: Expansion and experiment European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling. 11(2), 131-140 ORLINSKY, DE, RØNNESTAD, MH, AMBÜHL, H, WILLUTZKI, U, DAVIS, J, GERIN, P, SCHRÖDER, T, WISEMAN, H, DAVIS, M, BOTERMANS, J-F, DAZORD, A and CIERPKA, M, 2005. How Psychotherapists Develop: A Study Of Therapeutic Work And Professional Growth 1st ed.. Washington, D.C..
Current Research
Dr Schröder's main research involvement is in the International Study of the Development of Psychotherapists (ISPDP); he is currently one of two UK members on the study's steering committee. The ISPDP - a collaborative project that is not dependent on external funding - is by far the largest study of therapist development, having surveyed over 10,000 therapists in more than 30 countries so far. Targeted data collection is ongoing and there are a number of parallel projects using the existing data base. Dr Schröder's current focus is on therapists' boundary maintenance and on difficulties in therapeutic practice. He has presented aspects of his research at 25+ international conferences.
He is currently supervising doctoral projects on disclosure in clinical supervision, compassion in healthcare workers, and Compassion Focused Therapy from the client's and the therapist's perspective.