Clinical Placement 1 (PSYC90012)

This subject supports students to develop competencies of generally registered psychologists in a clinical psychology area of practice competency, via clinical practice within the University of Melbourne Psychology Clinic. In this process, students translate and integrate academic coursework into clinical practice.   

Students are required to complete at least 100 hours of direct client contact and an additional 200 hours of indirect client related activity in the University of Melbourne Psychology Clinic. Students will have the opportunity to observe a range of clinical presentations, conduct psychological assessments and deliver psychological interventions, under supervision with adult, child and family patients. They will gain experience in history taking, conducting mental state examinations, arriving at case formulations and making treatment plans. Under supervision, students will be given the opportunity to develop competence in the provision of psychological treatments to individuals and (where possible) groups. In addition, the subject aims to give the student experience of professional psychology practice, including case presentation, report writing and record keeping, managing a clinical caseload, and liaising with other professional practitioners.

Over the placement, students are required to complete at least 15 hours of psychological assessments as part of their direct client contact. The remainder of the required direct client contact hours will consist of intervention-focused work. Students are required to participate in regular weekly group and individual supervision sessions. Supervisors for the Clinic placement will be registered as both psychologists (with Clinical Psychology endorsement) and supervisors with the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA). Students undertaking this subject must be provisionally registered with the PBA and meet other local and service-level regulatory requirements. Students are also required to attend 4.5 hours of training in the administration and scoring of neurocognitive tests. They will also attend skills-based workshops aiming to enhance assessment and treatment skills. Finally, they will be required to complete an online training module that provides training in awareness of the risks associated with the clinical placement environment and ways to manage or control for these risks.

Intended learning outcomes

Generic skills

• A capacity to work collaboratively
• An ability to confront and manage unfamiliar problems
• A capacity to value different cultures
• A high regard for human rights, ethics and equity.