Clinical and Forensic Placement A2
Overview
Clinical Placement A2 is a short duration placement with a focus on assessing and managing psychiatric symptoms. It builds directly upon the clinical experienced obtained in PSY80102 Clinical and Forensic Placement A1 and PSY80074 Adult Psychopathology. The focus of the placement is on the assessment and management of more complex and severe presentations. This placement experience is closely tied to the knowledge and skills developed in the subjects PSY80074 Adult Psychopathology and PSY880078 Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Research.
The placement is conducted at an appropriate external mental health setting. Supervisors of this external placement will be experienced clinicians who are (i) Clinical Associates of the university, (ii) registered as supervisors with the Psychologists Registration Board, and (iii) eligible for membership of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists. If an appropriately credentialed supervisor is not available on site at an otherwise suitable placement location, an internal academic clinician of the university will auspice the supervision relationship.
Requisites
01-June-2025
02-November-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Develop sophisticated skills in history taking, conducting a mental status examination, and arriving at a case formulation in the forensic context
- Students will have refined skills in administration and interpretation of a range of psychological assessments and writing comprehensive psychological reports for the courts
- Students will acquire expert knowledge about typical courses and prognoses of childhood disorders, and to be confident in independently developing appropriate treatment and management plans for children and their families
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placement Placement | 20.00 | 2 weeks | 40 |
| Face to Face Contact (Phasing out) Other | 5.00 | 2 weeks | 10 |
| Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out) Independent Learning | 50.00 | 2 weeks | 100 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Examination | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3 |
| Journal | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3 |
| Placement activities logbook | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3 |
| Pre-placement contract | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3 |
| Report | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3 |
| Report 1 | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3 |
| Report 2 | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3 |
Content
The minimum requirements for Clinical and Forensic Placement A2 are defined in terms of total placement days (13 = 104 hours) and also face to face client contact hours (40). Total placement hours include client contact hours, group contact hours, supervision hours, plus workshop attendance, time spent reading relevant background literature, writing up client case notes, report writing, assessing individuals for inclusion in group programs, developing group programs and evaluating their effectiveness, administrative duties, and professional development activities. Timetabled elements of Clinical and Forensic Placement A2 are attendance at fortnightly group supervision sessions and monthly professional development seminars. Further detail about these timetabled sessions is provided in the first week of semester at a formal orientation session.
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.