Introduction to Assessment and Diagnosis (PSYC90011)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 6.25On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
Contact information
Summer Term
Principal Coordinator: A/Prof Brett Deacon
brett.deacon@unimelb.edu.au
Overview
Availability | Summer Term |
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Fees | Look up fees |
Psychologists need to be able to provide patients with the most appropriate treatment to address the presenting issues and problems that have brought them to treatment. To do this, psychologists must be able to: assess the patient’s current situation and symptoms; understand how their history has influenced their current situation; and understand the patient’s living circumstances, their own unique range of strengths and weaknesses, supports that are available, and other relevant factors. On the basis of this information, psychologists arrive at an individualised ‘case formulation’ which will then guide the clinician to the most appropriate treatment options.
This subject covers a range of fundamental issues in psychological interviewing and testing in professional settings that enable a clinician to develop case formulations. Specifically, students will be introduced to the principles and practice of diagnostic decision making, symptom assessment and monitoring, the logic of clinical inference-making, and the integration of material derived from the patient history with the mental state examination and other sources to arrive at a case formulation.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this subject, students should be able to:
Knowledge
- Demonstrate knowledge of primary techniques in the assessment of adult psychopathology applicable to a broad range of clinical psychological problems.
Skills
- Conduct professional interviews and assessments (including formal diagnostic assessments), to formulate a conceptualisation of the presenting issues.
- Interpret and communicate assessment findings in oral and written formats, including formal psychological reports, using culturally appropriate language.
Application of Knowledge and Skills
- Integrate, interpret and synthesise clinical psychological assessment data with the knowledge of psychopathology and personality to inform case formulation, diagnosis and prognosis to a broad range of psychological problems varying in complexity.
- Critically integrate patient history with mental state examination and information derived from multiple sources (e.g. informants and standardized assessment).
Generic skills
- Advanced information interpretation skills
- Advanced analytic, integration and problem solving skills
Last updated: 8 November 2024