Inherent requirements for Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology)
These inherent requirements apply to the following course: Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) (course code 1546).
Introduction to inherent requirements for the Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology)
The University of Western Sydney School of Social Sciences and Psychology (SSAP) strongly supports the right of all people who wish to pursue a Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) course in the SSAP to achieve their potential and career objectives. The School is committed to making reasonable adjustments to teaching and learning, assessment, clinical practice and other activities to address the impact of students' disabilities so that they are able to participate in their course.
To support potential and current students' decision making a series of inherent requirement statements have been developed. These statements specify the course requirements of the Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) for student admission and progression. The statements are clustered under seven domains consisting of ethical behaviour, behavioural stability, legal, communication, cognition, relational skills and reflective skills. Many of the activities associated with the professional practice of a registered psychologist are time sensitive, where the capacity to perform certain activities within specified time limits is required to reduce or avoid risks to patient safety and wellbeing. The safety and wellbeing of you and others is always of paramount importance.
Students are required to undertake placement activities in mixed gender environments which reflect the Australian health care context.
Successfully completing the course enables you to apply for registration as a registered psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA), which is a partner board of the Australian Health Practitioners Registration Authority (AHPRA).
The inherent requirements outlined below provide a guide for students and staff when deciding whether you are able to meet these requirements and the type of reasonable adjustments that could be put in place to allow you to complete the course without compromising the academic integrity of the course.How to read the inherent requirement statements
If you are intending to enrol in the Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) course in the School of Social Sciences and Psychology (SSAP), you should look at these inherent requirement statements and think about whether you may experience challenges in meeting these requirements. If you think you may experience challenges related to your disability, chronic health condition or any other reason, you should discuss your concerns with a campus Disability Advisor or the SSAP staff, such as the Director of Academic Program, Academic Course Advisor or School Disability Coordinator.
These inherent requirements should be read in conjunction with other course information and the codes, guidelines and policies of the PsyBA (opens in a new window) and the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council standards and guidelines (opens in a new window).
Each inherent requirement is made up of the following five levels:
- Level 1 - introduction to the inherent requirement
- Level 2 - description of what the inherent requirement is
- Level 3 - explanation of why this is an inherent requirement of the course
- Level 4 - the nature of any adjustments that may be made to allow you to meet the requirement
- Level 5 - examples of things you must be able to do to show you've met the requirement
Inherent requirement domains
There are seven domains of inherent requirements in the Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology). Some domains have a number of sub-domains.
- Ethical behaviour
- Behavioural stability
- Legal
- Communication
- Cognition
- Relational skills
- Reflective skills
Ethical behaviour
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Clinical psychology is a profession governed by the codes, guidelines and policies of the Psychology Board of Australia (opens in a new window) where clinical psychologists are both accountable and responsible for ensuring professional behaviour in all contexts. Students should demonstrate knowledge and engage in ethical behaviour in practice. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates knowledge and engages in ethical behaviour in practice. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Compliance with the codes, guidelines and policies facilitates safe, competent interactions and relationships with people to ensure their physical, psychological, emotional and spiritual wellbeing is not placed at risk |
| 4 | Adjustments must not compromise the codes, guidelines and policies of the Psychology Board of Australia or result in unethical behaviour. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Complying with conduct required to maintain provisional registration as a psychologist |
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Behavioural stability
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Behavioural stability is required to function and adapt effectively and sensitively in a demanding role. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates behavioural stability to work constructively in a diverse and changing academic and clinical environment, which may at times be challenging and unpredictable. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Behavioural stability is required to work in a diverse and changing environment. Students will be exposed to situations which are challenging and unpredictable, and will be required to have the behavioural stability to manage these objectively and professionally |
| 4 | Adjustments must support stable, effective and professional behaviour in both academic and clinical settings. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Being receptive and responding appropriately to constructive feedback |
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Legal
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Clinical psychology practice is mandated by specific legislation to enable the safe delivery of care. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates knowledge and compliance with relevant laws and professional regulations. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Knowledge, understanding and compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements are necessary pre-requisites to placements in order to reduce the risk of harm to self and others |
| 4 | Adjustments must be consistent with legal and regulatory requirements. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Complying with legal requirements regarding all aspects of practice |
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Communication
This course requires effective, verbal, non-verbal and written communication.
Verbal
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Effective and efficient verbal communication, in English, is an essential requirement to provide safe delivery of clinical psychology care. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » The ability to understand and respond to verbal communication accurately, appropriately and in a timely manner » The ability to provide clear instructions in the context of the situation » Timely clear feedback and reporting |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » The practice of clinical psychology depends on effective verbal communication with clients and members of the professional team |
| 4 | Adjustments for impaired verbal communication must address effectiveness, timeliness, clarity and accuracy issues to ensure safety. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Collecting information from clients by asking questions during assessments |
Non-verbal
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Effective non-verbal communication is fundamental to clinical psychology and needs to be respectful, clear, attentive, empathic, honest and non-judgemental. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » The capacity to recognise, interpret and respond appropriately to behavioural cues » Consistent and appropriate awareness of own behaviours » Sensitivity to individual and cultural differences |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » The ability to observe and understand non-verbal cues assists with building rapport with people and gaining the necessary trust and respect in academic, professional and personal relationships |
| 4 | Adjustments for non-verbal communication impairments must enable the recognition, interpretation and appropriate response to non-verbal cues as well as initiation of effective non-verbal communication in a timely and appropriate manner. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Recognising and responding to non-verbal cues indicating a change in the emotional state of a client during placements |
Written
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Effective written communication is a fundamental clinical psychology responsibility with professional and legal ramifications. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates capacity to construct coherent written communication appropriate to the circumstances. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Construction of multiple written assignments to the appropriate academic standard is required to demonstrate that the knowledge and understanding of relevant content has been acquired |
| 4 | Adjustments for written communication impairments must not compromise the necessary standards of clarity, accuracy and accessibility to ensure effective recording and transmission of information in both academic and clinical settings. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Constructing an essay to required academic standards including appropriate referencing of sources |
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Cognition
This course requires knowledge of theory and the skills of cognition, literacy and numeracy.
Knowledge and cognitive skills
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Consistent and effective knowledge and cognitive skills must be demonstrated to undertake safe and competent clinical psychology practice. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » The capacity to locate appropriate and relevant information » The ability to process information relevant to practice » The ability to integrate and implement knowledge in practice |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Satisfactory performance on placements requires identifying and accurately extracting and understanding information from a range of sources, which must also be applied appropriately |
| 4 | Adjustments for knowledge or cognitive skills impairments must not compromise or impede student's ability to demonstrate the minimum acceptable level of knowledge and cognitive skill required to practice safely. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Ability to apply academic knowledge to practice during placements, for example through developing and testing hypotheses, developing treatment plans and then conducting individual sessions for clients based upon this |
Literacy (language)
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Competent literacy skills are essential to permit safe and effective practice of clinical psychology during placements. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » The ability to accurately acquire information and convey appropriate, effective messages » The ability to read and comprehend a range of literature and information » The capacity to understand and implement academic conventions to construct written text in a scholarly manner |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » The ability to acquire information and to accurately convey messages is fundamental to ensure safe and effective assessment, treatment and delivery of care |
| 4 | Adjustments to address literacy issues must not compromise the student's ability to demonstrate the minimum acceptable capacity to effectively acquire, comprehend, apply and communicate accurate information. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Conveying a spoken message accurately and effectively in a clinical setting during placements |
Numeracy
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Competent and accurate numeracy skills are essential to provide safe and effective demonstration of clinical psychology practice skills. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates the ability to interpret and correctly apply numerical data, measurement and numerical criteria in the execution of clinical psychology practice while on placement. |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » As clinical psychology practice relies in part on collecting data in a numerical form, for example psychometric assessments, students must be able to accurately record and manage numerical data and to interpret their findings |
| 4 | Adjustments to address numeracy issues must not compromise the student's ability to demonstrate the minimum acceptable capacity to manage and interpret numerical data. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Accurately scoring and interpreting psychological test data while on placement |
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Relational skills
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Clinical psychology practice requires the ability to make and maintain strong relationships with a wide range of clients, often under stressful circumstances. |
| 2 |
Student demonstrates: |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Highly developed relational skills are a cornerstone of effective therapeutic relationships that permit effective assessment and intervention |
| 4 | Adjustments for relational skills impairment must not compromise the student's ability to demonstrate minimal acceptable level of effective relational skills across the range of tasks and clinical populations required to successfully complete their studies. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Rapidly building rapport with a client in order to engage them in a clinical assessment while on placement |
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Reflective skills
| Inherent requirement statements | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Clinical psychology practice requires self-awareness and a capacity for reflectivity in order to consider the effect of one's own issues, actions, values and behaviours on practice. |
| 2 | Student demonstrates: » The ability to accurately reflect on their professional performance » The ability to accept feedback on their professional practice and respond constructively |
| 3 |
Justification of inherent requirement: » Participation in supervision is a key teaching strategy in clinical psychology training which requires adequate understanding oneself in order to appropriately engage in this activity |
| 4 | Adjustments for reflective skills impairments must not compromise the student's ability to demonstrate an acceptable minimum level of capacity in this area. |
| 5 |
Exemplars: » Identifying when a clinical issue is outside one's scope or expertise, or when one's practice may be affected by an impairment. |
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*Developed from: Johnson, A., Allan,T., Phillips,K., Azzopardi,T., Dickson,C., Goldsmith,M & Hengstberger-Sims, C. (2011). Inherent Requirements of Nursing Education (IRONE), UWS School of Nursing & Midwifery and Student Equity & Disability Services.
