Postgraduate - UnitCPS5005 - Principles of child psychotherapy

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 3, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

Level	Postgraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences
Organisational Unit	School of Psychological Sciences
Offered	Clayton First semester 2014 (Off-campus)
Coordinator(s)	Ms Jill Pullen

Synopsis

This unit will outline the principles of Child Psychotherapy from a developmental and psychoanalytic perspective. It will address the context and boundaries of therapy and explore ways the child communicates in therapy. It will also address issues of technique including the therapeutic use of the relationship between the child and the psychotherapist being the central tool in ongoing clinical work; the process of observing, hearing and interpretation in psychotherapy; issues of termination: and the structure, significance and dynamics of this process.

Outcomes

At the completion of this unit students will be expected to have an understanding and knowledge of:

the means by which the child communicates in therapy eg. through play, speech and other behaviours;
the significance and meaning of the way the child relates to the therapist ie. an understanding of the concepts of transference ( the way the child perceives and relates to the therapist) and countertransference (the way therapist reacts to the child) and the possible meanings of these concepts and their importance;
the use of interpretation in therapy - timing content and intention;
the significance and importance of boundaries and structure provided by the therapist;
termination - the process of bringing the therapy to a conclusion; and
the impact of working with the disturbed child including the disturbed child in special situations - understanding this in a way which furthers understanding of the child and the therapeutic process.

Assessment

Written assignment 1 (20%)
Written assignment 2 (20%)
Essay (40%)
On-Campus Workshop/Alternative Assessment (20%)
All assessments must be passed to pass the unit

Chief examiner(s)

Mrs Jeanette Beaufoy

Off-campus attendance requirements

Two day on-campus workshop