• Offered for Year: 2024/25

• Module Leader(s): Dr Gavin Clark

• Owning School: Psychology
• Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

The aim of this module is to introduce students to a range of professional issues relevant across a wide range of applied psychology roles. Specifically, students will consider a number of issues relevant to evidence-based assessment, formulation and intervention in the work of clinical and health psychologists and cognitive behavioural therapists, building on content covered in Semester 1 compulsory modules. This module will enhance students’ skills in reflective practice (a key focus of the module), increase their working understanding of a variety of aspects of clinical practice (with a particular focus on clinical decision making and ethical practice) and will equip them with further knowledge to make reasoned choices about their future career plans. The module will be delivered by a variety of individuals with in-depth knowledge of clinical practice and applied psychology roles and will involve these individuals discussing specific areas of their practice. Therefore, it will directly address the course aims of helping students develop knowledge and skills “which will help you to enter the fields of clinical and applied psychology and research”.

Outline Of Syllabus

Module content will focus on a variety of different aspects of clinical practice. Across lectures, students will be encouraged to reflect upon a variety of issues pertinent to psychological practice, which may include the following:
Delivering clinical interventions
Clinical decision making
Clinical supervision
Risk assessment
Evaluating the impact of clinical interventions
The process and application of formulation
Considering systems/psychosocial context
Examples of specific therapeutic techniques
Ethics in practice
Cultural competence in clinical practice
Service users' input and perspectives
The NHS as an organization
Governance and the law
Personal and professional development

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The teaching methods outlined are designed to facilitate students’ understanding, conceptualisation and ability to apply knowledge and skills covered within the clinical seminars as well as the online materials and reflective activities. Introductory and concluding seminars will provide teaching on reflective practice which will shape students’ engagement with the module content. The content of the live workshops will involve students developing an in-depth understanding of pertinent clinical issues through brief teaching, reflective exercises, small-group problem-based learning tasks and illustrated case examples. The workshops will be arranged as timetabled PIP sessions. Online reflective learning activities will facilitate development of reflective skills and understanding of the concepts and issues covered within the module. The workshops and online activities and workshops will directly link to topics covered which will be the subject of the Module Assessments as well as facilitating reflective activities which will directly contribute to these.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The summative assessments for the module will involve the application and demonstration of knowledge and reflective skills related to a variety of professional issues relevant to the work of clinical practitioners, including clinical psychologists, health psychologists and cognitive behavioural therapists. The first module assessment (Reflective Video Essay) will involve the creation of a brief narrated video presentation which incorporates a narrative summary of clinical literature in relation to a specified area of clinical practice and which incorporates a personal reflective commentary on this topic and their experiences within the workshops. The Professional Issues Essay will involve students evaluating a specified clinical scenario, summarised in a case vignette, and will require them to consider what professional issues are raised by the scenario (e.g., ethical, risk, evidence-based decision making), utilising clinical and research literature to inform this commentary. The assessments therefore provide a clear demonstration of whether students have achieved module learning outcomes in a synthesised manner.

No formalised formative assessment submission will take place, but students will have multiple opportunities to complete formative learning experiences which will provide a solid grounding for completing both summative assessment tasks. For the Reflective Video Essay, students will engage in multiple reflective tasks (as well as receiving training on reflective practice) through online activities and associated workshops. Within workshops they will engage in group reflective activities and problem-based learning which will specifically form the basis of the academic content and areas of reflection that they will be asked to consider within the Reflective Video Essay. Students will also have the opportunity to discuss and receive peer feedback on planned content of their Reflective Video Essay within a workshop. Students will also practice and demonstrate skills involving critical appraisal of a variety of clinical and professional practice issues which will form the basis of their Professional Issues Essay. The learning experiences encountered in these workshops will fulfil the requirement of formative assessment feedback outlined in the University’s “Policy on Assessment and Feedback”.

Reading Lists

• PSY8088's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• PSY8088's Timetable