Course specification for PSY5145

Staffing

Examiner:
Moderator: Graeme Senior

Requisites

Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in the following Program: PDPP or be undertaking the course as professional development

Rationale

There are competencies that students are required to have mastered adequately when commencing supervised practice. This course will allow students to integrate previously learned skills and knowledge regarding intervention strategies, treatment planning, interviewing skills, and the challenges of working with difficult clients.

Synopsis

This course focuses on discipline knowledge and therapeutic competencies required of students before commencing supervised practice in clinical settings. Students will learn and practice different forms of structured clinical interviewing. Building on these, students will learn how to develop an appropriate treatment plan for each case. This course will be offered via compulsory workshops on-campus, and via readings, and assignments.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate competencies as identified in the APS (Australian Psychological Society) Competencies for Psychologists (1996). They should be able to:

demonstrate knowledge of major principles and significant empirical facts concerning psychological intervention;
display familiarity with major methods of psychological intervention;
demonstrate an ability to use appropriate problem-solving skills in effective interviewing;
display familiarity with the effectiveness of an intervention;
display knowledge of methods of evaluation of the effectiveness of intervention;
Demonstrate an ability to frame, measure, and solve problems in the context of clinical practice.

Topics

	Description	Weighting(%)
1.	The Clinical Interview: Diagnostic interviewing. Structured and semi-structured diagnostic interviews with adults, children and adolescents, and the elderly.	25.00
2.	Therapeutic perspectives and techniques.	25.00
3.	Treatment Planning. Case management: Case records; Confidentiality; Intake and treatment planning; Treatment implementation.	25.00
4.	Working with difficult clients.	25.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from USQ's Online Bookshop (unless otherwise stated). (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/bookweb/subject.cgi?year=2013&sem=01&subject1=PSY5145)

Please contact us for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://bookshop.usq.edu.au/contact/)

American Psychiatric Association 2000, Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 4th edn, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC.
(text revision.)
Berghuis, DJ & Jongsma, AE 2008, The severe and persistent mental illness treatment planner, 2nd edn, Wiley, Brisbane.
Page, A. & Stritzke, W 2006, Clinical psychology for trainees: Foundations of science-informed practice, Cambridge University Press, Melbourne.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.

Allen, J & Francis, R 2001, DSM-IV-TR Case studies: a clinical guide to differential diagnosis, APA, Washington, DC.
Barlow, DH (Ed) 2001, Clinical handbook of psychological disorders: a step-by-step treatment manual, The Guilford Press, New York.
First, MB et al 2002, DSM-IV-TR Handbook of differential diagnosis, APA, Washington, DC.
Johnstone, L., & Dallos, R 2006, Formulation in psychology and psychotherapy: Making sense of people's problems, Routledge, London.
Meyer, RG & Deitsch, SE 1996, The clinician's handbook: Integrated diagnostics, assessment, and intervention in adult and adolescent psychopathology, Allyn & Bacon, Boston.
Morrison, J 2007, The first interview, 3rd edn, The Guilford Press, New York.

Student workload requirements

Activity	Hours
Assessments	68.00
Private Study	75.00
Workshops	32.00

Assessment details

Description	Marks out of	Wtg (%)	Due Date	Notes
HOME TEST SHORT ANSWER	50	50	26 Feb 2013	(see note 1)
TREATMENT PLAN	25	25	26 Feb 2013	(see note 2)
VIDEOTAPE OF INTERVIEW	25	25	26 Feb 2013	(see note 3)

NOTES

Due date is to be advised by Examiner.
Due date is to be advised by Examiner
A videotaped interview session must be submitted over the course of the semester, in which the student must demonstrate his or her ability to conduct a structured and semi-structured clinical interview. Due date is to be advised by Examiner

Important assessment information

Attendance requirements:
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in the four day-long workshops held on-campus, where the skills components of this course will be taught. During these workshops, students will engage in the practice of techniques for a variety of situations. It is the students' responsibility to study all assigned material. If circumstances prevent a student from attending any portion of a workshop, the student must contact the examiner IN ADVANCE, if at all possible. The student must also contact the examiner in order to arrange an alternative activity. This could be a written assignment based on the material covered in the missed workshop. Attendance at and participation in the workshops and/or completion of one or more alternative activities at a standard judged to be appropriate by the examiner is required.
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To complete each of the assessment items satisfactorily, students must obtain at least 50% of the marks available for each item.
Penalties for late submission of required work:
If students submit assignments after the due date without prior approval then a penalty of 5% of the total marks gained by the student for the assignment may apply for each working day late.
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
To be assured of a pass in this course, students must submit each assessment item, and achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
To be assured of a pass in this course, students must submit each assessment item, and achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
Examination information:
There is no examination in this course
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
As there are no formal examinations in this course, there will be no deferred or supplementary examinations.
University Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene University policies and practices. These policies can be found at http://policy.usq.edu.au/portal/custom/search/category/usq_document_policy_type/Student.1.html.

Assessment notes

There will be one test worth 50% of the available marks for the course. This take-home test will evaluate students' knowledge of therapeutic perspectives and techniques as well as issues in working with difficult clients. Students must submit a videotaped structured clinical interview with volunteer clients. All videotaped sessions will be reviewed by the examiner and feedback and suggestions on how to further develop the students' interview skills will be offered. Successful completion of this assessment item requires the examiner's judgment that a minimum level of competency has been achieved. Note that this may require the completion of more than one videotaped interview, if the examiner deems that this is necessary in order to achieve/demonstrate competency.
The due date for an assignment is the date by which a student must despatch an assignment to the USQ. The onus is on the student to provide proof of the despatch date, if requested by the examiner; STUDENTS MUST RETAIN A DATED RECEIPT FROM THE POST OFFICE WHEN POSTING ASSIGNMENTS.
Students must retain a copy of each item submitted for assessment. This must be despatched to the USQ within 24 hours of receipt of a request to do so.
In accordance with the University Policy, the examiner may grant an extension of the due date of an assignment in extenuating circumstances. STUDENTS MUST CONTACT THE EXAMINER DIRECTLY, IN ADVANCE, IN ORDER TO OBTAIN AN EXTENSION.
The Faculty of Sciences will NOT accept submission of assignments by facsimile.
APA style is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use APA style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. The APA style to be used is defined by the USQ Library's referencing guide. http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/referencing/default.htm

Other requirements

Students will require regular access to e-mail and internet access to UConnect for this course.

PSY5145 Intervention Strategies

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