SUBJECT

Continuous Field-work in Clinical Psychology 3. (case study)

practical

master

Faculty of Education and Psychology

2

Semester 4

Spring semester

Aim of the course:

1. Observation of a child and his/her family - description from a developmental psychological perspective.

The aim of the case description is to get information about the developmental history of a child and to be able to give a description about the environmental effects that might play a role in the child’s development. The aim of this work is to observe the child in various situations and contexts and to prepare an interview with the parent and a teacher from the institute that the child is visiting (e.g., kindergarten teacher).

2. Observation and follow up on the age-specific characteristics of normal development

The aim of the thesis is to observe and to follow up on the age-specific characteristics of normal development (e.g., biological rhytms, cognition, emotions, and social interactions) as well as to examine how different environmental, social, and other related factors can influence the course of development.

3. Presentation of a (child) clinical case (case report)

The aim of the case report is to present a detailed description of a psychological diagnostic procedure of a child/adolescent aged between 4-18 years who was referred for psychological/psychiatric assessment/treatment to an institution.

Learning outcome, competences

knowledge:

• Observation of a child and his/her family - description from a developmental psychological perspective

• For this work students need to collect the necessary information about the child with the appropriate instruments. It is also important that a complex picture of the child should be formed by putting the different experiences based on the received information and observations in order to harmonise them with student’s knowledge of developmental psychology (e.g. theoretical frameworks).

• and follow up on the age-specific characteristics of normal development

• Through the completion of the thesis, students have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge in their fields of interest and to experience the practical relevance and applicability of different developmental theories.
• Further, being exposed to the significant variability characteristic of normal development helps students distinguish between normal and pathological development and to recognise specific pathologies. 

• Presentation of a (child) clinical case (case report)

• The described diagnostic procedure should lead to diagnosis/diagnoses based on the classification systems (DSM, BNO) and to a short therapy plan.

attitude:

• Respect of the children / patients and their relatives
• Considering ethical standards of clinical evaluation
• Viewing childhood mental disorders in a complex bio-psycho-social model
• Using current findings of evidence-based research and scientific standards in evaluating childhood mental disorders

skills:

• Communication with patients
• Communication with other members of the team
• Recognizing symptoms of childhood mental disorders,
• Generating a diagnostic hypotheses according to DSM-5
• Planning the evaluation
• Rapport building
• Using exploration and history taking
• Using structured interviews
• Using multiple methods for assessing symptoms of mental disorders in various age-groups
• Integration and interpretation of findings and report writing.

Content of the course

Topics of the course

• To get involved in practical work:
• Planning the evaluation
• Exploration and history taking, assessing family context
• Assessing psychopathology by structured interviews and rating scales
• Behavioural observation
• Projective tests
• The role of comorbidity
• Integrating and interpreting findings. Report writing

Learning activities, learning methods

• Students prepare their practical thesis during the field work.

Evaluation of outcomes

Learning requirements, mode of evaluation, criteria of evaluation:

requirements

• Praktical work

mode of evaluation: practical mark

criteria of evaluation:

Compulsory reading list

• Frick, P.J. et al (2010): Clinical Assessment of Child and Adolescent Personality and Behavior. Springer Science and Business Media, LLC.