PSYC21007 - Clinical Practice 1

General Information

Unit Synopsis

Clinical Practice 1 is the first in a series of clinical practice units. This unit is designed to provide you with advanced practice skills required for the professional competencies in clinical psychology specified by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) and to prepare you for the Registrar Program to gain an Area of Practice Endorsement in clinical psychology with the Psychology Board of Australia. By the completion of Clinical Practice 1, it is expected that you will achieve competencies including the application of knowledge to practice; awareness of ethical decision making; competency in cognitive-learning assessments and evidence-based interventions with a narrow range of clients at low severity levels; respectful and timely communication; and capacity to critically self-reflect on your practice.

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

Co-requisites: PSYC20058 and PSYC21001

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 1 - 2025

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

This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see assessment details from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.

This is a pass/fail (non-graded) unit. To pass the unit, you must pass all of the individual assessment tasks shown in the table above.

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 1 - 2024 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 20.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 45.45% 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
Feedback
One student commented that they would like a lecture on report writing
Recommendation
Refer students to the lecture on report writing in PSYC21001 - Assessment 1, which is a co-requisite for PSYC21007.
Action Taken
Report writing is covered in the corequisite unit PSYC21001 - Assessment 1. Example reports are also provided as part of this unit.
Source: Student Feedback - Email and in-class Feedback
Feedback
Some assessments required clarification and adjustments, in particular, assessment of supervision and placement activity hours, when SONIA (Work Integrated Learning system) stopped working.
Recommendation
Simplify the process for recording hours and record of supervision, and have one consistent process across the term.
Action Taken
SONIA is no longer used in this unit and the process for logging practice hours and supervision is now completed on separate forms that auto-calculate hours.
Source: In-Class Feedback.
Feedback
There was insufficient time for discussion and learning in group supervision.
Recommendation
Move group supervision back to a teaching (rather than clinic) day, so that students have more time to discuss their clinical work in group supervision.
Action Taken
Group supervision was moved back to a teaching day (not a clinical practice day) to allow more time for discussion of clinical work.
Source: In-Class Feedback
Feedback
The relevance of the research assignment did not fit with the practice-based focus of this unit.
Recommendation
Remove the research assignment from this unit.
Action Taken
The research assignment was removed from this unit.
Source: In-Class Feedback Email
Feedback
Several students reported having issues with light sensitivity (i.e., experiencing headaches and fatigue) due to the fluorescent lighting in the booked room.
Recommendation
Book teaching and group supervision spaces with natural light and/or replace the existing lighting with alternatives that do not adversely affect students with light sensitivity.
Action Taken
The lights in the room have been adjusted. Lamps have also been provided.
Source: SUTE feedback
Feedback
Some students requested increased video demonstrations for administration of psychological assessments.
Recommendation
Integrate more examples of assessment administration skills in real time/video.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE feedback
Feedback
Some students requested increased support for interpretation of psychological assessments, and although the manuals are useful, there is some ambiguity and reliance on clinical judgement.
Recommendation
Allow more time to discuss assessment findings and also offer additional support in the clinic for 'drop in' administrative scoring/interpretation sessions.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE feedback
Feedback
Some students requested increased supervision for the administration of psychological assessments and more opportunities to receive feedback on their in-session skills.
Recommendation
Consider supervising more subtests from psychological assessments and staggered clinic appointment times to allow for increased supervision in the clinic and increased opportunities for feedback regarding practice.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: SUTE feedback
Feedback
Some students requested a greater integration between this unit and other units within the course so that psychological assessments are taught prior to their administration in the clinic.
Recommendation
Continue with regular MCP and MPP course-level meetings to review timing of assessment delivery and streamline co-teaching across course units.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.