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    Overview

    A supervised internship of no less than 1500 hours at one or more placements approved by the Director of Clinical Psychology Training.

    PSYC 601 is the final, full-year, full-time paper on the pathway to qualification and registration as a clinical psychologist in New Zealand. During the paper, students work under the supervision of a clinical psychologist within a health or justice setting. Learning is individualised according to the needs of the internship settings and the patients students are assessing and treating.

    About this paper

    Paper title Clinical Psychology Internship
    Subject Psychology
    EFTS 1
    Points 144 points
    Teaching period 1st Non standard period (8 January 2024 - 20 December 2024) (On campus)
    Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) $10,207.00
    International Tuition Fees Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website.
    Prerequisite
    MAOR 102 and PSYC 501
    Limited to
    PGDipClPs
    Eligibility
    Students must have registered with the New Zealand Psychologists Board as an intern psychologist.
    Contact

    martin.sellbom@otago.ac.nz

    psy.clinicaladmin@otago.ac.nz

    Teaching staff

    Co-ordinator: Professor Martin Sellbom

    Administrator: Kally Barton

    Paper Structure
    This paper incorporates the practicum component of the second and final year of the Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Psychology (PGDipClPs). Students engage in supervised practice (four days per week) in a range of health- and justice-related settings. They also attend weekly seminars in the Department of Psychology on ethical and practical issues in clinical psychology.
    Textbooks
    Textbooks are not required for this paper.
    Graduate Attributes Emphasised
    Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Research, Teamwork.
    View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.
    Learning Outcomes

    The aim is to prepare and equip interns for the final clinical examination using a combination of both formal seminars and problem-based learning, anticipating and responding to issues and topics identified by those enrolled in the paper. Examiners are to determine whether candidates are able to practise clinical psychology safely and independently. To meet this criterion, candidates should be able to demonstrate the following:

    • A sound knowledge of the philosophical, scientific and ethical principles underlying the practice of clinical psychology and an ability to apply this knowledge as part of competent practice
    • A sound understanding of the legal framework surrounding practice as a clinical psychologist in New Zealand
    • A commitment to the principles of patient-centred practice and the scientist-practitioner model of practice
    • Knowledge of factors impacting on inequalities in health status and outcomes of Māori, Pasifika and other people groups
    • Awareness, knowledge and skills relating to working with diversity, including developmental differences across the life span; recognition that points of difference between themselves and patients affect the efficiency and effectiveness of clinical practice; and key corollaries arising from this recognition
    • Skills in eliciting, documenting and integrating information about a patient's current problem, including its history, formulating a parsimonious explanation for that problem and proposing efficacious and effective solutions
    • Skills in the design, evaluation, administration and scoring of standardised psychological and neuropsychological assessment instruments and interpretation of results from such instruments
    • Skills in negotiating, developing rapport and collaborating with patients and in negotiating with and working alongside family and other professionals to achieve optimal assessment, management and intervention results
    • Skills in identifying psychopathology and differential diagnosis
    • Skills in the identification, design, implementation and monitoring of effective and efficacious behavioural, cognitive and cognitive-behavioural treatment and management strategies for common behavioural and mental health problems
    • Skills in the assessment and management of risk of harm to individuals
    • An awareness of, and the skills to manage, uncertainty in clinical practice
    • Knowledge of ethics and ethical standards and the application of this knowledge to clinical and research practice and conduct in both professional and non-professional forums; dedication to appropriate ethical behaviour and awareness of their own moral values; and the ability to maintain proper boundaries between professional and non-professional roles
    • Awareness of their own needs as a person, how health needs may impact on competence to practise and an ability to access appropriate support, supervision or healthcare for themselves
    • A commitment to lifelong learning, with the ability to apply knowledge, develop existing skills, adapt to a changing environment and acquire new skills and the ability to evaluate their own professional functioning and to act to remedy limitations of knowledge, skills and attitudes throughout their career, including seeking help when these limitations are met
    • An awareness of their professional limitations and the willingness to seek help when these limitations are met

    Candidates should also be familiar with competency expectations identified and developed in PSYC 501 and the competency expectations published by the New Zealand Psychologists Board.

    Timetable

    1st Non standard period (8 January 2024 - 20 December 2024)

    Location
    Dunedin
    Teaching method
    This paper is taught On Campus
    Learning management system
    Blackboard

    Lecture

    Stream Days Times Weeks
    Attend
    A1 Wednesday 17:00-18:50 2-5, 7-13, 15-24, 29-35, 37-50
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