As part of the Master of Professional Psychology course, you are required to complete a psychology practicum. This psychology practicum will be completed across two units, this unit (PSYC20056 Research and Professional Practice 1), and the partner unit (PSYC29002 Professional Practice 2). The psychology practicum must be 300 hours of psychological practice comprising at least 90 hours of simulated direct client contact, client-related activities, and individual and group supervision. The practicum portfolio assessment for this unit comprises the main elements of the first component of your psychology practicum.

You will be required to maintain your practicum portfolio in a OneDrive folder that is accessible to your individual supervisor and the Head of Course. This folder must include all your recorded simulated practice (roleplays), and required, completed documentation, such as roleplay records, supervision records, logbook, and your practicum review (once completed). Only the material inside your OneDrive practicum portfolio can be counted towards completion of your psychology practicum and therefore towards completion of your practicum hours.

You will review your progress towards and obtain feedback about your competency development with your individual supervisor throughout the term, including in a collaborative mid-term review. At the end of the term, you will conduct a practicum review using the practicum review document provided. The practicum review document must indicate that you have achieved sufficient competencies to pass the first component of the practicum. The review must also include a log of the materials comprising your practicum portfolio contained within OneDrive and include the OneDrive link. The practicum review must be signed by yourself and your individual supervisor before being uploaded to Moodle.

To pass this assessment item you will be required to maintain the OneDrive practicum portfolio throughout the term for review at your individual supervision sessions and by the Head of Course. Only the material inside your OneDrive practicum portfolio can be counted towards completion of your psychology practicum, and this material must match the information in the supervision records, logbook, and practicum review document submitted through Moodle.

The criteria are set out in the practicum review document and cover the competency areas which define the critical capabilities and attributes deemed necessary to ensure that graduates are equipped to practice psychology safely and effectively subsequent to graduation. It is expected that across the entire Master of Professional Psychology course, students will demonstrate incremental development across these competency areas. In addition to these core competencies, the student and individual supervisor are asked to reflect on the student’s response to supervision and course-wide learnings.

Your practicum review will be assessed according to the following criteria. More detail will be provided in the psychology practicum handbook and the practicum review document.

Professional, Legal, and Ethical Duties

• Written and verbal communication
• Psychological documentation
• Relationship-building
• Ethical disclosures and considerations
• Evidence-based practice
• Reflectivity
• Adherence to professional standards

Psychological Assessment

• Observation and history-taking skills
• Formulation
• Practice across the lifespan
• Diagnosis and differential diagnosis
• Cultural competency Risk assessment
• Professional reasoning

Psychological Intervention

• Micro-counselling skills
• Goal-setting skills
• Intervention techniques
• Intervention and session planning
• Integration of key models and guidelines
• Safe practice
• Practice across the lifespan
• Cultural competency
• Risk assessment

Practicum Components

• Progress within individual and group supervision
• Giving and receiving feedback
• Reflectivity and reflective practice
• Competent simulated practice
• Completion of required hours of psychological practice as prescribed by APAC and PsyBA

You will be required to engage in reflective practice in relation to your learning and consider how it relates to components of your practice framework. You will be required to write one (1) reflection (800 to 1,000 words in length) using a reflective framework, such as the Gibbs model. This assignment should include clear and critical consideration of each stage of reflective practice, and tie your reflections to practice framework.

Please use the below criteria as a guide. More detailed assessment information and the marking rubric will be available on the Unit Moodle page in the Assessment tile.

Assessment criteria will be based upon demonstration of the following:

• Clear consideration of each stage of reflective practice
• Tied reflection to components of practice framework
• Critical reflection, including reflexivity 
• High quality academic writing
• Adherence to APA standards

You will be required to facilitate one (1) 75-minute presentation in class to your fellow group supervision members on a topic of applied psychological practice.

A list of topics and suggested resources will be provided in class in week 1. If you would like to present on a different topic of your choosing, you will need to arrange this with the Unit Coordinator prior to week 3.

Possible topics may include the following:

• Working with couples or families
• Program development and evaluation
• LGBTIQ+ inclusive practice
• Working with sensory-impaired clients
• Skills-training with clients (e.g., communication, assertiveness)

You are encouraged to deliver your presentation in a way that is appropriate for the content, and the key learnings that you would like to impart to your fellow group members. This may take the form of a powerpoint slide deck, interactive activities, viewing video material, facilitating class discussions, or any other relevant modality or activity. You may also ask your colleagues to engage in pre-reading or other preparatory activities for your presentation however, this must be advised to the Unit Coordinator via email by the Monday of the week prior to your presentation so it can be reviewed and the information included on the Moodle site.

Please upload your presentation materials and/or planned session structure to the Moodle site by 11:59pm of the Wednesday in the week that you are facilitating.

Please use the below criteria as a guide. More detailed assessment information and the marking rubric will be available on the Unit Moodle page in the Assessment tile.

Assessment criteria will be based on the following:

• Quality of the content provided
• Usefulness for target audience
• Clarity of content
• Evidence of critical thinking and synthesis of information
• Timing and pacing
• Appropriate referencing

You will be required to write one (1) self-based case study. You will draw upon information from psychometric tools and other measures to inform a 5P formulation for a client based on your own life history and personal experiences. Your case report will follow PsyBA conventions and include background, assessment, analysis and diagnosis (formulation), and evaluation and reflection sections. You are not required to provide a diagnosis or treatment recommendations.

Please note that you will not be required to disclose personal information to complete this assessment task. Any information disclosed will be kept confidential, as per CQUniversity, PsyBA, and APAC guidelines and in line with the APS code of ethics.

More information about how to complete this assessment will be provided in class in week one.

Please use the below criteria as a guide. More detailed assessment information and the marking rubric will be available on the Unit Moodle page in the Assessment tile.

Assessment criteria will be based upon demonstration of the following:

• All required elements are included
• Information is comprehensive and clearly described
• Demonstrated critical reflection, including reflexivity
• Clear connection between reflections and future practice
• Professional writing style, within word limit
• Adherence to APA formatting and referencing conventions

Inter-professional Education (IPE) involves the collaboration between different health professions to learn about, from, and with, other disciplines, to enhance treatment and improve health outcomes for patient/client care. The IPE process will involve collaboration across the disciplines of Psychology, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Pathology, to provide assessment and intervention recommendations for a mutual simulated patient/client.

You will work collaboratively as part of a multi-disciplinary team through a dedicated Moodle site to develop:

1. An assessment plan for your client, and

2. An intervention plan for your client

After each multi-disciplinary team meeting, you will also write a 250-word reflection using the provided checklist for team meeting observations as a guide. You will submit one (1) reflection for the assessment plan meeting and one (1) reflection for the intervention plan meeting; two (2) reflections in total.

In both reflections, you will critically reflect on your observations within the multi-disciplinary team meeting, and consider how you might adjust your future practice, based on your experience and learnings.

To achieve a Pass you need to achieve a minimum of 28 marks out of a total of 40 marks. You will submit your IPE group's assessment plan and intervention plan to Moodle, along with a reflection for each.

Assessment Plan (10 marks)

• All relevant sections of plan are completed
• Presenting problems clearly outlined
• Client/Family goals are clearly outlined
• Assessment goals and plan are clearly outlined
• Assessment plan links to family and care team goals

Intervention Plan (10 marks)

• All relevant sections of the plan completed
• Presenting problems clearly outlined
• Client/Family goals are clearly outlined
• Intervention goals and plan are clearly outlined
• Intervention plan links to family and care team goals

Reflections - 250 words x 2 (10 marks each)

• Meeting observations are succinctly described
• Demonstrated critical reflection, including reflexivity
• Clear connection between reflections and future practice
• Professional writing style, within word limit
• Adherence to APA formatting and referencing conventions