PSYC21004 - Advanced Clinical Intervention

General Information

Unit Synopsis

This unit is intended to provide clinical training in the implementation of culturally-responsive, evidence-based, clinical psychology interventions to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse populations, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Specifically, this unit will focus on developing competencies in working with complex presentations with a strong emphasis on the skill of case conceptualisation and treatment planning.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Prerequisite: PSYC20058  and PSYC20059 for CG17 Master of Clinical Psychology students. The CM49 Master of Clinical Psychology (Advanced Entry) students do not require these prerequisites.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 3 - 2024

Term 1 - 2025 Profile
Rockhampton

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Written Assessment 25%
2. Direct observation of procedural skills (DOPs) 25%
3. Group Work 25%
4. Presentation 25%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 66.67% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 54.55% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Student feedback to supervisors on internal placement
Feedback
Students report that having a unit dedicated to learning Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) allowed them to develop sufficient competency in using ACT to effectively use this intervention on placement.
Recommendation
Consider retaining a significant portion of ACT in PSYC20059, the unit that will replace PSYC21004. Students in the first year of CG17 Master of Clinical Psychology will take the unit PSYC20059 instead of this unit.
Action Taken
Some ACT content was retained in the first-year unit, PSYC20059.
Source: Clinical Psychology teaching team.
Feedback
This unit should extend students' clinical intervention skills in preparation for the registrar program leading to a Psychology Board of Australia Area of Practice Endorsement in Clinical Psychology.
Recommendation
This unit will focus on skill acquisition for a variety of models of intervention, thereby extending students' ability beyond the CBT and ACT models taught in the first year of study in clinical psychology.
Action Taken
PSYC20059 included a variety of intervention models to extend student skills in their first year of study.
Source: Clinical Psychology teaching team.
Feedback
The unit name does not reflect the advanced level of the content that will be taught in this unit in the second (final) year of study in clinical psychology.
Recommendation
Rename this unit to become 'Advanced Clinical Interventions' to reflect the advanced level of the content and the unit being taught in the second (final) year of study in clinical psychology.
Action Taken
This unit was renamed Advanced Clinical interventions to reflect the advanced level of contents in the second year of the Master of Clinical Psychology course.
Source: SUTE unit comments, verbal feedback from students
Feedback
The lecturer's feedback on skills practice in class was useful
Recommendation
Continue to provide real-time feedback on skills practice in class.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE unit comments
Feedback
More case studies and practice examples will assist students in preparing for assessments
Recommendation
More case studies and practice examples will be provided in class
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE unit comments, verbal feedback from students
Feedback
More detailed marking criteria for assessments would be helpful
Recommendation
Provide more detailed marking criteria for assessments.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE unit comments
Feedback
Between-class practice, while useful, could be shorter in duration
Recommendation
Decrease the duration of required between-class skills practice.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE unit comments
Feedback
Request that the participant feedback not be included in the marking criteria for in-class presentations and DOPs activities.
Recommendation
While seeking participant feedback will continue to be included in the marking criteria, the participant ratings will not be part of the marking criteria.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE unit comments
Feedback
Too many assessments
Recommendation
Assessments are to be reduced from four to three, so students have more time to focus on skill acquisition and have time for class discussions about interventions.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Explain and demonstrate the appropriate selection and implementation of evidence-based interventions for complex case presentations.
  2. Adjust therapeutic interventions, based on evolving case formulations, for complex presentations, using processes that are responsive to the cultural context.
  3. Apply evidence-based interventions in working with adults with complex case presentations.

The Learning Outcomes for this unit are consistent with the 2019 Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) Accreditation Standards, in particular, Section 4.2.3 regarding application of advanced psychological knowledge to culturally responsive interventions in the area of clinical psychology.

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Written Assessment • •
2 - Direct observation of procedural skills (DOPs) •
3 - Group Work •
4 - Presentation • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3
1 - Knowledge • • •
2 - Communication • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • •
4 - Research • •
5 - Self-management •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • • •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8