| CODE | PSY5609 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Core Placement 1 Clinical Psychology - Children and Adolescents | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course | ||||||||||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 7 | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Psychology | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This is the first core placement for trainees that takes place in the first year, spread over 2 semesters. Trainees will have the opportunity to observe clinical psychologists and other professionals working with children and adolescents with various types of psychiatric disorders and/or disabilities, in the setting/s in which they are placed. They will also have the opportunity to work with these children and adolescents in these settings. The trainees will spend 9 hours a week, out of which 1 hour will be dedicated to individual supervision provided by the field supervisors. Trainees will also have 1 hour per week of group supervision from the stream coordinator or designated university supervisor. In addition they will also have 16 hours of group building and 35 hours consisting in a practical workshop dedicated to play therapy techniques. It is expected that the first weeks of the placement will include more shadowing and observation of a clinical psychologist or related professional working with children and adolescents, until the trainees begin to directly engage with 4 cases themselves - 2 children and 2 adolescents, in consultation with the supervisor. It is expected that the trainees' work will be live-supervised. Trainees are also encouraged to attend staff meetings and other meetings where appropriate and to take opportunities for collaborative assessment and intervention with their supervisor and other psychologists. They will be expected to complete the required agency case records in addition to the portfolio. Further details on the placement and assessment criteria may be found on the Department of Psychology website under MPsy/DPsy placement practice guidelines. Study-unit Aims: This study-units aims at enabling participants to acquire the understanding and skills in the practice of clinical psychology as related to children and adolescents with various types of disabilities and childhood disorders. Trainees will learn and practice various psychological skills pertaining to clinical psychologist's roles and functions, namely assessment and diagnosis with reference to the most commonly used diagnostic classification systems (DSM-V and ICD-10): Formulation - the trainees will learn the guiding principles of how to use clinical information to create an effective case formulation; Intervention - both through direct work with children and adolescents as well as consultation with their families and the relevant professionals involved. They will also learn how to benefit from individual and group supervision. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe and evaluate the different theoretical approaches to assessment, formulation, intervention and evaluation related to psychological work with children and adolescents with disabilities and childhood disorders; - Describe and evaluate the major challenges faced by children and adolescents and their families; - Critically evaluate the legislation, and social policies that guide the delivery of psychological services to children and adolescents with disabilities and childhood disorders; - Describe and critically evaluate the professional characteristics pertaining to the role of the clinical psychologist when working with children and adolescents with disabilities and childhood disorders; - Evaluate the most appropriate evidence based treatments for children and adolescents with particular forms of challenges; - Demonstrate a reflexive approach to working with children and adolescents and with other professionals in this particular context. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Conduct assessment whilst considering the major challenges faced by children and adolescents with disabilities and childhood disorders; - Formulate cases according to diagnostic and assessment information whilst considering developmental and neuro-psychological aspects as well as contextual information; - Conduct interventions with children and adolescents according to the research pointing to the most relevant updated therapeutic interventions that are recommended by international bodies (such as the National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines from the UK); - Conduct clinical interviews with children, adolescents and their significant others, including their carers where relevant; - Evaluate critically the assessment and intervention process in working with particular children and adolescents. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: No main texts: Various readings will be given through the placement according to the particular clients that the trainees will be following and according to the trainees' individual needs Supplementary readings: - Abela, A., Abdilla, N., Abela, C., Camilleri, J., Mercieca, D., & Mercieca, G. (2012). Children in out-of-home care in Malta: Key findings from a series of three studies commissioned by the Office of the Commissioner for Children. Malta: Office of the Commissioner for Children. Retrieved from http://www.tfal.org.mt/MediaCenter/PDFs/1_Key Findings.pdf - Anderson, R., Dartington, A. (1998). Facing it out. Clinical perspectives on adolescent disturbance. London: Karnac - Boyd Webb, N (1999). (Ed). Play therapy with children in crisis- individual, group and family treatment. London: Guilford Press - Carr, A. (2000). (Ed.). What works with children and adolescents? A critical review of psychological interventions with children and adolescents and their families. London: Brunner- Routledge - Lanyado, M. & Horne, A. (1999). (Eds). The handbook of child and adolescent psychotherapy. Psychoanalytic approaches. London: Routledge - Sattler, J.M. (2008). Assessment of children. San Diego, CA: Sattler Publishers |
||||||||||||||||
| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-Requisite qualifications: B.Psy Hons or equivalent | ||||||||||||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Placement | ||||||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||||||||||||
| LECTURER/S | Roberta Attard Daniel Mercieca |
||||||||||||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
|||||||||||||||||