Overview

External Placements PSY80104 Clinical and Forensic Placement B1 and (PSY80105 Clinical and Forensic Placement B2) are undertaken in external field settings and can only commence after placements A1 and A2 are successfully completed. This first major external placement in the program requires a greater degree of independence/autonomy from the trainee, and in this sense is a developmental step from the closely monitored activities of the two initial placements at the Swinburne Psychology Clinic, Clinical and Forensic Placement A1 and the brief Clinical and Forensic Placement A2 at a mental health setting.

Trainees will typically be under the direct daily supervision of an on-site psychologist who is eligible for membership of the APS College of Clinical Psychologists, and the internal university placement coordinator will act as an additional supervisor to provide support for the placement experience.

Clinical and Forensic Placement B1 can occur at a variety of settings, depending upon the trainee's experience, skill and interests and depending on the availability of appropriate supervision on-site and a useful training role in the organisation.

Teaching Periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
26-February-2024
26-May-2024
Last self-enrolment date
10-March-2024
Census date
31-March-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
12-April-2024
Results released date
02-July-2024
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
29-July-2024
27-October-2024
Last self-enrolment date
11-August-2024
Census date
31-August-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
13-September-2024
Results released date
03-December-2024

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Acquire sophisticated skills in history taking, conducting a mental status examination, and arriving at a case formulation in adult forensic settings
  • Demonstrate skills in administration and interpretation of a range of psychological assessments relevant to adult forensic settings
  • Acquire expert knowledge about typical courses of disorders and the factors impacting criminal behaviour, and to be confident in independently developing appropriate treatment and management plans within criminal justice and forensic mental health services
  • Develop expertise in a variety of intervention strategies used in the forensic context and will be capable of evaluating those intervention

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Placement
Placement
43.75 12 weeks 525
TOTAL525

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
JournalIndividual 0% 1,2,3,4 
Placement activities logbookIndividual 0% 1,2,3,4 
Pre-placement contractIndividual 0% 1,2,3,4 
ReportIndividual 0% 1,2,3,4 
Report 1Individual 0% 1,2,3,4 
Report 2Individual 0% 1,2,3,4 
JournalIndividual 0% 1,2,3,4 
Placement activities logbookIndividual 0% 1,2,3,4 
Pre-placement contractIndividual 0% 1,2,3,4 
ReportIndividual 0% 1,2,3,4 
Report 1Individual 0% 1,2,3,4 
Report 2Individual 0% 1,2,3,4 

Content

  • The placements are measured in both total days (64 days = 512 total hours per placement) and in hours of direct client contact (205)
  • Placement hours include client contact hours, group contact hours, supervision hours, plus workshop attendance, time spent reading relevant background literature, writing up client case notes, report writing, assessing individuals for inclusion in group programs, developing group programs and evaluating their effectiveness, administrative duties, and professional development activities

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.