MSc Psychology in Clinical Practice: A Comprehensive Course in Clinical Psychology, Summaries of Psychology

Download MSc Psychology in Clinical Practice: A Comprehensive Course in Clinical Psychology and more Summaries Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! Nottingham Trent University Course Specification Basic Course Information 1. Awarding Institution: Nottingham Trent University 2. School/Campus: School of Social Sciences, City Campus 3. Final Award, Course Title and Modes of Study: MSc Psychology in Clinical Practice 4. Normal Duration: 1 year FT 5. UCAS Code: 6. Overview and general educational aims of the course The MSc Psychology in Clinical Practice is your opportunity to explore the ways in which the science of psychology is applied to alleviating human distress through the work of clinical psychologists. The course is designed to help you to develop: • A critical understanding of the theory and practice of clinical psychology, and the organisational and social context of clinical psychology services. • The academic skills to undertake novel research in a clinical setting • The experience of working within a mental health setting through six month placements with a local clinical psychologist This blend of research and practical learning is reflected in the course team, which consists of clinical practitioners and academics who have considerable experience working with or researching the experiences of people who access clinical psychology services across the UK. This course will provide an ideal launchpad for any student interested in pursuing a further career in clinical psychology. As a graduate of this course, you will be: • A clinical scientist, able to critically appraise and apply key features of clinical psychology research • A scholar of clinical practice, with an advanced understanding of key features of clinical psychology applications • A reflective academic, able to use an awareness of their own experiences and characteristics past and present to inform their knowledge and skills with regard to the science and practice of clinical psychology Taken together, these three elements will provide you with an ideal foundation for the next stages of the clinical psychology training process, a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy). Your reflective development on this course will ensure that you have the knowledge, skills, and attributes required to embrace and succeed in your further development and training as a reflective-scientist-practitioner, and an openness to learning from the practice of clinical psychology to be experienced on a DClinPsy. You will be prepared for training to be an independent, ethical practitioner, sensitive to diversity issues and prepared for the challenges and opportunities that present themselves working in any context which supports people through times of distress. Note: This course DOES NOT provide you with the accredited skills to register and practice as a clinical psychologist, which are only obtainable in the UK through completion of an accredited doctoral training. 7. Course outcomes Course outcomes describe what you should know and be able to do by the end of your course if you take advantage of the opportunities for learning that we provide. Knowledge and understanding By the end of the course you should be able to: • Demonstrate a critical understanding of the academic knowledge base associated with the context of practice in clinical psychology; • Critically appraise key debates regarding the application of psychology to clinical contexts and client groups; • Demonstrate an integrative and critical understanding of the ethical, cultural, political and legal issues arising in clinical psychological practice and research; • Synthesise theoretical knowledge with an experiential understanding of reflective practice and make theory-to-practice links; • Critically evaluate a range of research designs, methods and analytic techniques applicable to advanced scholarship in clinical psychology. Skills, qualities and attributes By the end of the course you should be able to: • Produce formulations to address clinical practice issues; • Produce a clinical psychological research project and plan for further research; • Demonstrate an ability to act as a reflective practitioner in relation to clinical practice; • Demonstrate a capability to work appropriately in a clinical psychology setting; • Communicate clinical psychological information effectively. 8. Teaching and Learning Methods A variety of teaching methods have been selected to enable you to learn the wide range of topics covered by the course. Contact time with lecturers might variously be provided in the form of lectures, workshops, seminars, via the virtual learning environment (VLE) or through laboratory or field work. In each module, you will be directed to appropriate web addresses, specialist texts and primary literature. You are also expected to undertake independent studies without direction from tutors as part of your independent learning time. This may involve, for example, revision of course material and independent reading in the appropriate subject areas. On this course, you will benefit from the Reflective Practice Group which will underpin the entire curriculum. This tutorial is based on an experiential learning strategy, in that you will be supported to develop a self-awareness regarding the practice of clinical Applications of Psychology or PGCert in Psychology are also available as interim awards for those students who do not progress through all stages of the course. Students achieving 60 credits will be awarded a PGCert, 120 credits are required for award of a PGDip (this may require the completion of further work dependent upon the circumstances leading to failure to complete the full MSc requirements). The time requirements of the placement - alongside the necessity of the teaching that runs parallel to the placement - mean that this course is only available with a full time option. You should expect to spend three days a week on campus in Term 1 attending lectures and tutorials. In Term 2, teaching on campus is reduced to 1 day a week, with 3 days on placement. After the Easter break, the placement remains with the same requirements, but with attendance at university reduced to reflective practice tutorials, optional lectures, and exam attendance. On the work-based placements, you are a representative of NTU and might be involved in complex and sensitive work. NTU has committed to only sending students who have engaged with the taught MSc content, providing assurances to our NHS partners that you will be appropriately competent in the required skills. In order to fulfil this assurance, attendance will be monitored, and you will only be able to commence or continue your placement if you are able to demonstrate a satisfactory level of engagement with the course and learning available. Failure to do so may lead to the you having to defer elements of their studies, or being awarded a lower classification (PGDip or PGCert) subject to the relevant assessment regulations. 11. Admission to the course For current information regarding all entry requirements for this course, please see the `Applying’ tab on the course information web page. 12. Support for Learning You will be assigned a personal tutor who will provide pastoral and academic support throughout your study. You will meet your tutor (and a range of other teaching staff) during an induction event which will be organised before the course begins. You will also be provided with a Course Handbook which will include a range of information about studying at Nottingham Trent University. Additionally, you will meet with the teaching staff from across the course team on a weekly basis at the reflective practice group. A weekly reflective session is akin with the support often available in clinical practice, and aims to provide you with the opportunity to reflect on practice and experiences. Work within a mental health setting can be challenging. The psychologist supervising your work on placement will meet with you for formal supervision at least once a fortnight. You will also have identified points of contact within your work setting for further support between these sessions. There will also be a working relationship between your work placement and the university, which will include a placement visit towards the start and end of the placement. 13. Graduate destinations / employability The course will be of particular interest to psychology graduates seeking to pursue a career in clinical psychology via doctoral training courses (DClinPsy). Admission onto such courses is highly competitive, and completion of this course will support you to demonstrate that you have both the academic grounding and experience of clinical research to be in a more favourable position for acceptance onto either training or further work as an assistant psychologist. You will also be in a favourable position to consider alternative careers in healthcare and health research – either within core health providers such as the NHS or within academic departments locally or internationally. The course has been designed by academic staff with previous careers in clinical psychology within the NHS and with the training of clinical psychologists, and also with ongoing clinical work in local mental health services. Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust – the largest provider of mental health services in the UK – have been alongside the university in the formative stages of the course development. The course design is therefore well aligned with the skills and qualities that are typically needing for the work of a clinical psychologist. The Division of Psychology has a proud record of enhancing employability for its postgraduate students, with 92% of our postgraduate students employed or engaged in further study six months after leaving (Latest DLHE survey postgraduate results 2014/15). 14. Course standards and quality Responsibility for the standards and quality of the course will rest with the course committee which meets once a term. Other groups that will input into the quality assurance for the course are the Psychology Learning and Teaching Committee and the Student Staff Consultative Committee (SSCC). The Psychology Learning and Teaching Committee meet several times each term to monitor and discuss quality issues across courses. The Student Staff Consultative Committee (SSCC) meets twice a term to discuss matters arising of concern or interest about particular modules, the overall course, Divisional facilities or beyond. This committee has been successful in effecting good communications between psychology students and staff, and consists of student reps (one of which will be a student enrolled in the MSc Psychology in Clinical Practice) and staff members. Issues raised by both students and staff are able to be addressed promptly, and proactive initiatives can be raised to improve the learning experience of all students. At a more local level, quality assurance and enhancement issues are monitored by module leaders, who are encouraged to position themselves as ‘reflective practitioners’, critically evaluating the quality of their modules. Part of this role involves their writing an annual report on their module, which requires them to reflect, on the basis of evidence, on the module’s strengths and potential areas for development. Psychology Module Leaders’ Reports in other postgraduate courses within the Division have been praised by External Examiners as ‘a model of good practice’ and as ‘refreshingly self-critical’.