Clinical Placement B1
Overview
Placements are designed to provide supervised professional training in the practice of clinical psychology within specific clinical settings. It is intended that students will be given opportunities to practice their skills while being supervised in a supportive and constructively critical environment. As the practice of clinical psychology is diverse, placements may be undertaken in a variety of clinical or community mental health agencies, in forensic and in hospital settings that involve clinical interventions and assessments. Placements are arranged in accordance each student’s skill, experience level, and professional interests. Students will be expected to consult with a range of clients with clinically significant problems including individuals, families, groups, and organizations. Students should also gain an understanding of how a clinical psychologist operates as a member of a multidisciplinary team.
Students have an external agency supervisor and an internal university supervisor. The university supervisor will be a member of the Clinical College and coordinate the placement, collaborating with the student and external supervisor to ensure that placement requirements are fulfilled and to resolve any issues or difficulties that may arise. The external placement supervisor monitors the student’s day to day activities, providing regular supervision meetings, feedback and support. The external supervisor should be a registered psychologist with expertise in clinical psychology and who is eligible for membership of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists. If the agency setting cannot provide a supervisor who is eligible for membership of the Clinical College, a Psychology staff member or an Associate of the Swinburne Centre for Psychological Services who is a Member of the College of Clinical Psychologists will provide supplementary supervision in conjunction with a member of staff from the external agency.
Requisites
27-October-2024
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Sophisticated skills in history taking, conducting a mental status examination, and arriving at a case formulation
- Independently design and execute a plan for administration and interpretation of a range of psychological assessments and writing comprehensive psychological reports
- Advanced knowledge of typical courses and prognoses of disorders, and to be confident in developing appropriate treatment and management plans
- High level skills that demonstrate advanced capabilities of intervention strategies, which may include case management, individual therapy, family therapy and/or group interventions, and will be capable of evaluating those intervention
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placement Placement | 22.22 | 9 weeks | 200 |
| TOTAL | 200 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placement activities logbook | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Pre-placement contract | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Report 1 | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3,4 |
| Report 2 | Individual | 0% | 1,2,3,4 |
Hurdle
As the minimum requirements of assessment to pass a unit and meet all ULOs to a minimum standard, an undergraduate student must have achieved:
Content
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
All activities are conducted off-campus, at external agencies. Training involves practical experience under the supervision of an external agency supervisor. Students undertake this practical placement at an external agency, so attendance requirements are negotiated with the agency. The minimum length of a placement is 200 hours
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.