Clinical Psychologist CV example

Your CV needs to reflect more than just your training – it should demonstrate your ability to deliver results in sensitive, high-stakes environments. From formatting each section to how you describe complex casework or outcomes, this guide breaks down the entire process of how to write a CV.

Whether you’re early in your career or stepping into a new specialism, this walkthrough will help you craft a CV that communicates both compassion and competence.

As a Clinical Psychologist, your work is rooted in structure – and your CV should be too. Recruiters and healthcare employers want to see your experience, qualifications, and training laid out in a way that’s easy to navigate and professionally presented. Avoidable mistakes are only going to encourage busy recruiters to move onto the next applicant, so follow these CV tips.

Here’s the layout to follow:

• Name and contact details – Ensure your name and personal details are easily visible at the top. A photo is optional and depends on the role.
• Profile – Craft a short introduction that showcases your professional background and key accomplishments.
• Core skills – Provide a quick overview of your top skills that show why you’re a great fit.
• Work experience – Outline your career progression in reverse order, emphasising your contributions and successes.
• Education – Provide details on your academic background, including certifications or specialised training.
• Additional info – You can add hobbies or activities here that reflect your enthusiasm for the industry.
  

Make sure your sections are clearly labelled and logically ordered. Use bullet points to break up large bodies of text and ensure readability. Stick to a simple, legible font and avoid clutter – white space is your friend. Keep your CV length to two pages or fewer, and ensure each detail earns its place. Coherent CV formatting signals organisation and an understanding of what employers value in healthcare settings.

This opening paragraph is your opportunity to provide a clear overview of your clinical expertise, client focus, and therapeutic approach. It should convey where you’ve trained and worked, and the positive impact you’ve made through your interventions.

Keep the CV profile grounded and professional – you’re not trying to sell, just to communicate the value and benefit you bring to any employer or service team. Make recruiters understand what makes you the ideal hire.

Include the following:

• Where you worked – State the type of organisations or services you’ve worked in (e.g. NHS, private practice, CAMHS, forensic services).
• Your top qualifications – Mention your doctorate and any additional accredited training or registrations.
• Essential skills – Briefly describe your clinical methods, diagnostic skills, and client engagement techniques.
• Client groups – Specify whether you’ve worked with children, adults, older adults, or specialist groups.
• Value delivered – Mention how your interventions have improved client outcomes, supported MDTs, or contributed to service development.
  

This section provides a concise overview of your clinical and technical capabilities – the specific, evidence-based skills that are central to your role. Employers want to see clear reference to psychological assessments, therapeutic modalities, treatment planning, safeguarding awareness, and inter-agency collaboration.

Focus on tangible, hard CV skills – the things a job spec might list directly. Tailor them to your target role. Avoid vague language like “passionate about helping people” and centre your core competencies instead.

Your clinical work is your strongest evidence – this section should demonstrate the range, depth, and effectiveness of your professional experience. That includes not just where you worked, but how you delivered care, supported recovery, collaborated with teams, and contributed to service improvement.

List roles from most recent to oldest. Each entry should begin with a short paragraph summarising the setting, the team, and your clinical role. Then use bullet points to outline key responsibilities and achievements. Where relevant, include placements from your doctorate, especially if you’ve got relatively little professional work experience.

• Outline – Introduce the clinical setting, client group, and nature of your role – for example, “Working within a multidisciplinary CAMHS team, providing one-to-one therapy to young people.”
• Responsibilities – Use action words like “delivered” and “formulated.” For example: “delivered CBT to clients with anxiety disorders” or “formulated care plans as part of MDT meetings.” Mention assessment tools and therapy models.
• Achievements – Highlight contributions such as successful discharge rates, positive outcome measures, innovations in service delivery, or positive feedback from clients or supervisors.

In psychology, education and professional training form the backbone of your career. You’ll need to clearly present your academic history, including undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, in reverse chronological order.

State your doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the top, followed by your undergraduate degree and any relevant certificates or CPD. If you completed placements, research, or dissertations relevant to your current career path, summarise those briefly too.