The portfolio includes placement practice competencies to be completed before seeing clients and by the mid- and end-of-placement reviews.

A. Assessments to be completed before seeing clients on placement: 

• A1. Placement Agreement. You will complete a Placement Agreement, co-signed by your supervisor and the placement coordinator, and submit it to Moodle by Wednesday 6th November, 5 pm AEST.   
• A2. Ethics Test. You will complete the ethics test, available in Moodle, on Wednesday 6th November 2024 between 1 - 2 pm.  The ethics test will include the identification of an ethical dilemma, possible actions with negatives and positives of each action, choice of action, and why this was chosen above other options. You must pass each section to pass the test. If you do not pass this test, feedback and an opportunity to resubmit will be provided. 
• A3. Case Note Competency.  You will be required to demonstrate case note competency before commencing client appointments.  You will attend training on record keeping, watch a role-played intake and then write up the case notes in Cliniko.  You will be provided feedback and an opportunity to resubmit if you do not pass this competency on the first submission. 

B. Competencies to be demonstrated on placement: 

• B1. Cognitive Assessment Competency.  You will demonstrate administration skills, scoring and interpretation of a Cognitive Assessment (WAIS-IV or WISC-V). One of our Clinical Psychologists/Board-Approved Supervisors must sign off on your competencies for the assessment. You will have one opportunity to resit and resubmit, each part of this assessment to demonstrate competency.  
• B2. Psychologist Competencies Assessed at Mid and End-of-Placement Reviews. By the End-of-Placement Review, you will demonstrate Level 2 competence in nine core competencies representing critical capabilities and attributes for effective psychological practice. Competencies 1 - 8 are specified by AHPRA and Competency 9 is a requirement of the Master of Clinical Psychology Course. Level 2 competence represents the competency expected before a supervisee can progress to their external placement for Clinical Practice 3. Your Mid-Placement Review and End-of-Placement Review must be signed by yourself, your Primary Supervisor, and the Placement Coordinator. If you have not met all competencies by your End-of-Placement Review you may be provided with a further opportunity to meet these competencies. However, this is up to the discretion of the Unit Coordinator in consultation with the Head of Course. It can be useful to discuss competencies with your Primary Supervisor before your Mid-Placement and End-of-Placement Reviews, to identify any areas where you are not demonstrating the expected level of competency and develop a Support Plan to address areas where you are 'not on track' before your End-of-Placement Review. 
• B3. Log of Clinical Practice (Logbook). You will submit a log of practice hours signed by your Primary Supervisor detailing the total number of direct client activity hours, individual supervision hours, group supervision hours, and associated placement activities. You will also submit completed supervision forms, corresponding to the hours included in your log. If a logbook is incorrect or incomplete, you will have one opportunity to resubmit with the correct and complete details provided. 

A1. You will submit your completed Placement Agreement to Moodle, signed by you, your supervisor and the placement coordinator.

A2. You will pass each section of the online Ethics Test in Moodle.  You will be given a case study, from which you will a) identify the ethical dilemma,  b) list the possible actions with negatives and positives of each action, and c) choose an action and provide a rationale.

A3.  You will submit your Professional Verification of Competency form, with the case notes competency signed by a supervisor who has checked your case notes. To meet competency, your case notes will demonstrate a succinct and professionally written summary of an intake session, using the relevant Cliniko template. 

B1. You will submit your Professional Verification of Competency form, with the correct administration, scoring and interpretation of a Cognitive Assessment (WISC-V or WAIS-IV) signed off by a supervisor. 

B2. You will pass each of the following competencies by your End-of-Placement Review:

1. Knowledge of the Discipline. You will demonstrate independent use of multiple, evidence-based knowledge sources to inform your practice.
2. Ethical, Legal, and Professional Matters. With minimal supervision, you will demonstrate appropriate awareness and action to respond ethically to issues and client risk. You will also demonstrate timely and adequate record-keeping. 
3. Psychological Assessment and Measurement. With minimal supervision, you will demonstrate accurate scoring, and interpretation of a complex assessment (typically addressing the question of ADHD or Autism) and complete a brief and structured report including a comprehensive needs assessment. With your supervisor’s guidance, you will demonstrate skill in providing a differential diagnosis, integrated opinions, and recommendations consistent with the assessment results.
4. Intervention Strategies. With minimal supervision, you will demonstrate an appropriate balance between purposeful therapeutic tasks and maintaining rapport. You will demonstrate respect, collaboration and flexibility in choosing interventions that fit clients' needs. Your interventions will be purposeful and systemic with minimal supervisor guidance.
5. Research and Evaluation: You will consistently demonstrate appropriate methods to assess the effectiveness of interventions, including actively seeking client feedback. 
6. Communication and Interpersonal Skills. You will demonstrate clear and respectful communication with clients, carers and other health professionals, in written and verbal form. You will identify when to adapt your communication to the situation and do so with minimal supervision.
7. Working with People from Diverse Groups. With minimal supervision, you will demonstrate self-awareness, self-reflection, and self-directed learning to modify how you work with people from diverse groups.
8. Practice Across the Lifespan. With minimal supervision, you will demonstrate competency in working with children, adolescents, and adults to complete complex interventions and assessments.
9. Response to Supervision. You will actively reflect on your strengths and growth areas in supervision, and demonstrate accurate self-assessment of your competencies. You will also demonstrate effective skills in seeking and listening to supervisors' feedback on your practice.

B3. Log of Clinical Practice (Logbook). You will submit a log of practice hours signed by your Primary Supervisor detailing the total number of direct client activity hours, individual supervision hours, group supervision hours, and associated placement activities. You will also submit completed supervision forms from individual and group supervision. All supervision entries in your logbook must have a corresponding supervision form signed by you and the supervisor who provided the supervision. All client hours logged must be consistent with bookings in the Cliniko diary.  

You are to write a weekly reflective journal of no more than one page on average (250 - 300 words). Each reflection should demonstrate the nexus of learning between placement activities, supervision, lectures, and professional reading. The reflections should be used to reflect on experiences and conversations that have stimulated your thinking about your practice and development as a psychologist. 

Submit each reflection to Moodle by Monday at 9 am (commencing in Week 2) for the week before, with the last submission in Exam Week. 

You must pass each of the 12 journal submissions to pass the Reflective Journal (Pass/Fail). Each journal submission must demonstrate self-reflection on your practice as a psychologist, including reflections on what you are learning about your practice through the placement experience, your emerging strengths, and areas for development. Journal submissions should include reflection on the tasks and process of working with clients and other stakeholders. If any journal submission lacks sufficient reflection on your practice, the Unit Coordinator may require you to resubmit to demonstrate self-reflection before the journal submission is passed.

You will present at a case presentation in class, during group supervision. You will have 30 minutes for your presentation, including presenting your case study (~10 minutes),  group discussion and case formulation (~15 minutes) and presenting your case formulation, prepared earlier (~5 minutes). The case can be any client you have seen in the Psychology Wellness Centre. The presentation should include relevant referral information, details of presenting concerns, your comprehensive needs assessment, completing a formulation with the group and discussing differential diagnosis (where applicable), explaining your formulation (prepared before the group formulation activity), and your plan for assessment or intervention. 

Presentations will take place between Weeks 6 to 11.   Before class on the day you present, you will upload (to Moodle) a summary of your presentation and your formulation addressing each assessment criteria (excluding the group discussion component).   

To achieve a Pass, your case presentation will provide sufficient information to inform the group discussion and formulation, and your case formulation will be consistent with the case information presented.  You will not be graded on the content of the group discussion but on your skills in facilitating the completion of a case formulation with the group. 

1. Case Presentation. Your presentation will include: 

• Relevant referral information (including client initials or pseudonym)
• Gender, age, referral source, and the reason for referral
• Completed Comprehensive Needs Assessment with sufficient information to complete a case formulation

2. Group Discussion.  You will facilitate the completion of a case formulation with the group, including a discussion of differential diagnosis (where relevant). 

3. Presentation of Your Case Formulation. Your case formulation will be consistent with the case information presented. You will also provide a summary of the assessment or intervention to date (as relevant). 

Over the Master of Clinical Psychology, Advanced Entry Course you will demonstrate competency in writing assessment and intervention reports. For this placement, the case report covers the core skill of writing a professional assessment report. You will submit a report, based on one of the clients you have seen at the Psychology Wellness Centre. You will de-identify the report by removing any identifying information (but retaining age).

The case report will be no more than 2000 words and follow the described format as required by AHPRA  (SCAC-76). 

The case report will based on an assessment you have completed during your placement at the Wellness Centre.  

You will include the cover sheet (using the template available in Moodle)  signed by your supervisor to indicate that they acknowledge that the report has been de-identified and meets the placement privacy requirements. and the APHRA form (SCAC-76) completed by you and your principal supervisor. 

Case Report (Pass/Fail). To pass this assessment, the student and their supervisor must confirm that all the sections, identified on the APHRA form (SCAC-76) have been completed and to the professional standard required for a provisional psychologist on placement. 

Sections include Background, Assessment, Analysis and Diagnosis, Recommendation, Evaluation and Reflection and Reference List. 

This task is a 20-minute presentation of a 10-minute recording of you conducting a counselling session with a classmate role-playing your client. In the recording, you should demonstrate the appropriate use of a range of micro counselling skills. You also need to present a critique of your video (preferably using PowerPoint).

Both files (the counselling video and the critique) need to be uploaded to Moodle before your presentation in class. You will have 20 minutes for your presentation which includes your 10-minute video and 10 minutes for your evaluation. The presentation will be followed by some group discussion to identify areas of strengths and development. 

The video will be uploaded to Moodle using Echo 360. You also require a copy on a memory stick to play in class. These should be loaded onto the teaching room computer before class begins.

To pass this assessment, the student must demonstrate the following:

1. The Role Play. 

• Appropriate micro-counselling skills to work with a therapy client 

2. The Presentation.

• Accurate identification of  your strengths in the role play and insight into what did not go well in the role-play
• What you could do to improve the role play or develop your micro-counselling skills
• Quality presentation skills, including timekeeping and audience engagement in the presentation

You are not expected to conduct a perfect session but to demonstrate competence using micro counselling skills and the ability to accurately critique your own performance.