Course Title: Foundations of Practice 2

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Foundations of Practice 2

Credit Points: 12.00

Terms

Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

BESC1462

Bundoora Campus

Postgraduate

150H Health Sciences

Face-to-Face

 Sem 1 2007,
Sem 1 2008,
Sem 1 2009,
Sem 1 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 1 2012,
Sem 1 2013

BESC1462

Bundoora Campus

Postgraduate

173H School of Health and Biomed

Face-to-Face

 Sem 1 2019,
Sem 1 2020,
Sem 1 2021,
Sem 1 2023,
Sem 1 2024

BESC1474

Bundoora Campus

Research

150H Health Sciences

Face-to-Face

 Sem 1 2007,
Sem 1 2008,
Sem 1 2010,
Sem 1 2011,
Sem 1 2012

Course Coordinator: Dr Peter Saunders

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925

Course Coordinator Email: peter.saunders3@rmit.edu.au


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None


Course Description

Foundations of Psychological Practice 2 is an introductory level course taken in conjunction with Foundations of Psychological Practice 1. This course is designed to provide foundational theoretical and practical knowledge and skills to support entry into supervised therapeutic practice in the clinic setting. This course will continue to build on the knowledge and skills gained in undergraduate psychology and is focused on following areas of practice: Development of understanding and skills in cognitive behavioural therapies as applied to working with children and adults. Various topics such as CBT formulation, management of depression and anxiety, will be discussed with a focus on practical skills. 


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

This course contributes to the following Program Learning Outcomes for MC002 Master of Clinical Psychology: 

  • PLO 1:  Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the theories, models and scientific underpinning of professional psychological practice and its application across behavioural and organisational systems.
  • PLO 3:  Design, analyse, synthesise and communicate information from a wide variety of psychological assessments and techniques appropriate to the developmental stage, cognitive level and cultural background of the client, and appropriate to the purpose of the assessment.


On successful completion of this course you should be able to: 

  1. Demonstrate an understanding  of the theoretical underpinnings of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and   how it is applied to the treatment of psychopathology.
  2. Demonstrate the ability to implement Cognitive Behaviour Therapy techniques to a range of clinical presentations.  
  3. Demonstrate an understanding  of clinical diagnosis and formulation across the lifespan.
  4. Undertake effective communication to potential clients as it relates to their clinical condition and treatment modalities.
  5. Critically evaluate the empirical research literature pertaining to clinical interventions used in the treatment of high prevalence child and adult psychological disorders  and interpret and justify the implementation of empirically validated treatment interventions for high prevalence psychological disorders.
  6. Evaluate, in the context of day-to-day clinical practice, the effectiveness of interventions used in the treatment of high prevalence adult psychological disorder


Overview of Learning Activities

Learning activities include a mixture of seminars, tutorials and skill development activities. The lectures will build on knowledge gained in undergraduate psychology and provide a solid theoretical and practice driven basis to help to achieve professional practice skills. The skill development activities will support entry into Professional Psychological practice. You are expected to read widely in the area of academic literature related to this course.

You are encouraged to be proactive and self-directed in your learning, asking questions of your lecturer and/or peers and seeking out information as required, especially from the numerous sources available through the RMIT library, and through links and material specific to this course that is available through myRMIT Studies Course.


Overview of Learning Resources

RMIT will provide you with resources and tools for learning in this course through myRMIT Studies Course.

There are services available to support your learning through the University Library. The Library provides guides on academic referencing and subject specialist help as well as a range of study support services. For further information, please visit the Library page on the RMIT University website and the myRMIT student portal.


Overview of Assessment

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task 1: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) Demonstration Video  
Weighting 50%
This assessment task supports  CLOs 1, 2, 3 & 4

Assessment Task 2: Clinical Assessment and Intervention Report  
Weighting 50%
This assessment task supports  CLOs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6

If you have a long-term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.