Master of Psychology (Clinical Child Psychology)/Doctor of Philosophy

The Child Specialisation program is designed to prepare graduates for work in settings that provide clinical services to children, adolescents and their families. The training program is built on the core clinical stream and has been developed through partnerships with staff of the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at Melbourne's major paediatric service provider, the Royal Childrens' Hospital (RCH).

The staff of the program are senior clinicians with a breadth and depth of clinical and research experience in the child and adolescent area that is unique in Australia. RCH staff contribute core teaching at advanced levels, and provide placement opportunities covering experience in a range of agencies and units within the hospital and in community teams attached to the RCH. There are exciting opportunities for doctoral research in the child and adolescent area in mental health and medical psychological domains through collaborative programs with staff at the Murdoch Childrens' Research Institute, Orygen Youth Services, the Women's and Childrens' Heath Network and the Early Psychosis Intervention Centre.

The objective of this specialisation is to provide graduates with specialist expertise in those areas of clinical psychology that pertain particularly to child, adolescent and family adjustment and maladjustment. Graduates of the program should have a thorough knowledge of child development, developmental psychopathology, methods of assessment of cognitive, emotional, behavioural and family factors, and expertise in a range of treatment approaches appropriate for the particular problems and the developmental stage of child clients. They should acquire experience in all facets of work in this specialty area, including inpatient, outpatient and community based practice. They should also be expected to be able to generate and apply research knowledge in ongoing enhancement and evaluation of their professional work.

This course consists of the coursework and placement components of the Master of Psychology (Child Specialisation) together with a full PhD research thesis in Psychology.

Coursework consists of 14 classroom-based subjects taken over the first three years of this four-year course (see below) and 115 days of Placement (20 days in the first-year and 95 days spread over second and third-years).

PhD: A range of University policies and procedures apply to students enrolled in Higher Degrees by Research.

• Candidature (enrolment)
• Examinations
• Courses and course structures
• Academic progress
• Preparation of the thesis
• Selection and admission
• Management of research data and records

Master of Psychology (Clinical Child Specialisation)/PhD

Completion of an Australian Psychological Accreditation Council (APAC) accredited four-year undergraduate sequence in Psychology, namely a three-year major in Psychology as part of an undergraduage degree plus a fourth-year Honours specialisation in Psychology.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards of 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/

PhD

All candidates are required to complete the equivalent of at least six months full-time (12 months part-time) advanced study and research at the University unless studying at an outside institution approved by the Research Higher Degrees Committee (RHDC). The RHDC will not approve entirely distance supervision or entirely on-line supervision for research higher degree students.

Throughout their candidature candidates are expected to attend the University in order to benefit from planning, conducting and writing up their research within a University community and environment.

The residency requirement is deemed especially important during the first six months of candidature. During this time the student is expected to interact on a regular basis with the supervisor, the department (including staff and other research students) and the University, so as:

• to build the skills and knowledge necessary to carry out the proposed research program
• to acquire an understanding of the standards and requirements for a research higher degree awarded by the University
• to make use of support programs and facilities provided by the University throughout candidature.

The program aims to train graduates with the knowledge and skills requried for professional practice in agencies specialising in psychological difficulties across the whole developmental period - infancy to young adulthood. Graduates will be able to provide competent assessment, diagnosis, therapy and clinical managemetn for a range of commonly presenting disorders and will understand the intrinsic and extrinsic influences on the development of adjustment difficulties. They will be expected to generate research and to be skilled in accessing and applying current clinical research findings to enhance and evaluate their practice.

Accredited by the Australian Psychological Accreditation Council and recognised by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA)

• Written and spoken communication skills
• Analytic skills

There will be no intake into this program in 2012