Mental Health Issues Across the Lifespan

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2012:

54 Hours

The following are prerequisite subjects:

None

Completion of APAC approved psychology studies to fourth-year (Honours) level.

None

For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.

The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements, Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

The objective of this subject is for students to develop an understanding of mental health issues at several distinct life stages; namely, infancy, adolescence, and older adulthood. Six seminars will address mental health in infancy and adolscence. Lectures covering infancy will focus on topics such as common mental health problems in infancy and early childhood, the attachment relationship and implications for mental health, and approaches to intervention with infants and their parents. Lectures on adolsecent development will focus on issues such as engagement, confidentiality, riks-taking, depression, personality disorders, self harm and suicide, and substance use. Six lectures will address topics of clinical relevance to older adults. These include life transitions, normal development and cognitive change in later life, theoretical models of ageing, models for psychological intervention with older adults and how intervention might be modified in light of maturational and contextual variables, and psychological intervention in people with demential and their families.

To provide students with an opportunity to:

1. gain an understanding of mental health issues at several life stages; namely, infancy, adolscence, and older adulthood
2. develop the skills and knowledge necessary to provide clinical assessment and interventio services to these populations
3. develop the skills necessary to critically evaluate theoretical approaches to assessment and intervention at these different life stages, and to select the most appropriate and evidence-based interventions

1. A mid-semester written assignment of 1250 words based on case material provided in class and related to work with infants/adolescents (50%)
2. An end-of-semester written assignment of 1250 words based on case material provided in class and related to work with older adults (50%)
3. A hurdle requirement of satisfactory class participation

Reading pack, available at the start of the lecture series.

Readings made availble through the LMS

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

1. Advanced information interpretations skills
2. Advanced analytic, integration and problem solving skills