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Masters degrees by coursework

Master of Counselling Psychology – Melbourne (Bundoora) (HMCP)

This course is an Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC)-accredited fifth and sixth year of study in professional psychology.

With origins in humanistic and existential traditions this program embraces interpersonal process, core-conflictual-schema, psychodynamic, systems, communication and developmental perspectives of psychological distress and disorder and its treatment and resolution. The program aims to produce counselling psychology practitioners who can:

• Competently work psychotherapeutically with clients across the lifespan in group and individual settings with the full range of client problems and disorders;
• Engage in high levels of reflection and self-awareness in relation to their professional practice and make productive use of clinical supervision;
• Knowledgeably use and recognise the limitations of psychiatric systems of classification
• Knowledgeably use psychometric assessment in applied work settings;
• Interpret the implications of current research findings on empirically-supported therapy;
• Contribute to the practitioner/researcher literature in counselling psychology;
• Demonstrate general knowledge of contemporary pharmacological treatment relevant to psychological disorders.

The early stages of the program develop student competencies in interviewing, test administration, psychotherapeutic intervention, ethical practice and research. Students are encouraged to reflect on their developing practice through the use of reflective diaries, through active participation in role plays and other group learning situations, and through participation in seminar discussions. In the early stages of the program the emphasis is on humanistic, client-centred theory, and the importance of engaging with, understanding, and helping clients to explore their internal-frame-of-reference. With the development of competence in these areas, the focus shifts to effective therapeutic collaboration in problem formulation and goal-setting employing psychodynamic, interpersonal, communication, and core-conflictual schema theories, within the context of the development of a strong working alliance with the client/patient.

Initial training in the competent use of a standard array of psychometric instruments and introduction to psychiatric diagnosis (such as DSM & ICD) in the first year of the program is followed by an critical examination of psychiatric nosologies in the second year devoted to assessing their worth for clients, and examining their limitations in clinical practice. Attention is also given to biological and biochemical factors relevant to psychopathology, and a review of current pharmacological practices relevant to psychological problems. Individual, group and family-oriented approaches to psychological work are introduced in the program in the context of development across the lifespan. Depending on staff availability subjects developing students’ competence in group, systemic or family interventions are offered.

Students are expected to demonstrate competence in the skills-related subjects in the course through test administration and psychotherapeutic intervention in staff-supervised counselling sessions and roleplays, for example, which form part of the practicum component of the course.

Internship is designed to meet the requirements of both the Psychologists Registration Board of Victoria and the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council. The principal activity of the internship must be counselling/psychotherapy. Students are required to complete three distinct supervised placements during the course of their 2 year full-time enrolment (or equivalent). The cumulative total of supervised placement hours must reach 1000 hours (126 days). There must be a minimum of 252 hours of client contact in that cumulative total. Further details concerning placements can be found in the Counselling Psychology Internship Handbook issued to students at the commencement of their practicums.

Students are prepared through their participation in research seminars to conduct practitioner research in counselling psychology. By the end of the first year of full-time study (or part-time equivalent) students must complete a research proposal, an initial literature review, and must complete and submit an Ethics application to satisfy the requirements for Masters Research Seminars A and B. Following satisfactory completion of the first year requirements, students proceed to complete the data collection and field research, analysing data and writing up findings of their research and submitting the thesis in the required form. Further details concerning doctoral thesis requirements can be found in the Counselling Psychology Thesis Guidelines Handbook issued to students when they are accepted into the Doctor of Psychology in Counselling Psychology.

Admission requirements

Admission is restricted to people who have satisfactorily completed an APAC-approved fourth year in psychology at an Australian university at an A-B average, or equivalent. Overseas qualified graduates would need to have their qualifications ratified by the Australian Psychological Society. Applicants are ranked on the basis of documented evidence of past academic and professional performance/potential. Experience in the counselling field is valued and given consideration in the selection process. In addition, professional references, work experience and the likelihood of an applicant fulfilling the personal and professional requirements of a program are taken into consideration. All other things being equal, applicants with the best history of academic performance will take precedence in selection.

Course structure

The Master of Counselling Psychology degree is undertaken over two years of full-time study (or equivalent part-time). The degree requires 240 credit points and full-time students typically progress through the degree by enrolling in 60 credit points per semester over four semesters. There are three components of the course: professional seminars (37.5%, 90 credit points); practicums (25%, 60 credit points); and a research project (37.5%, 90 credit points). Students must achieve a satisfactory standard in all components to complete the degree. There is no provision for external study.

First year

Second year