Mental Health Issues Across the Lifespan

This subject is not offered in 2013.

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 across different stages of the lifespan, from infancy through to older adulthood. Six seminars will cover infancy, early and middle childhood, and adolescence. These lectures will focus on topics such as the developmental tasks of infancy, childhood and adolescence, the attachment relationship and implications for mental health, commonly presenting difficulties at different developmental stages, and approaches to engagement, assessment and intervention with young people and families at each stage. Six lectures will address topics of clinical relevance to older adults. These include life transitions, normal development and cognitive change in later life, theroretical 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 dementia and their families.

To provide students with an opportunity to:

• Gain an understanding of mental health issues pertinent to different stages of the lifespan
• 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
• Develop the skills and knowledge necessary to provide clinical assessment and intervention services to individuals and families at different developmental stages

• A mid-semester written assignment of 1500 words based on case material provided in class and related to work with infants, children, and/or adolescents (50% of final mark)
• An end-of-semester written assignment of 1500 words based on case material provided in class and related to work with adults (50% of final mark)
• Attendance at class is compulsory and an attendance rate of 80% or above is required for satisfactory completion of the subject.

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