Swinburne University of Technology - Melbourne Australia
Future Students - Courses
Duration
Contact Hours
Campus
Prerequisite
Corequisite
1 semester / teaching period
36 hours
Hawthorn
Admission to the Graduate Diploma of Science (Clinical Psychology), Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology) or Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) program.
Nil
Credit Points: 12.5 Credit Points
A unit of study in the Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology), Doctor of Philosophy (Clinical Psychology) and Graduate Diploma of Science (Clinical Psychology) .
Aims:This unit of study has two aims. First, it provides an overiview of critical ethical issues relevant to the practicing psychologist and encourages students to engage with the nuances of common ethical dilemmas. Second, it introduces neurobiological models of the major classes of mental disorder so that students can understand the neurobiology of disorders and the neurobiological targets of pharmacotherapy. Learning objectives:After successfully completing this unit, students should be able to: be familiar with the letter and intent of Australian Psychological Society ethical guidelines as they apply to confidentiality and informed consent, professional boundaries, report writing and record keeping, and cultural issues; be familiar with the major neurobiological pathways implicated in mental disorders and the pharmacological treatments that act on these pathways
Seminars
Ethics component: Two case studies (50%)Psychopharmacology component, Group presentation 50%. Further details of assessment requirements are contained in the Unit Outline provided to students upon enrolling in the unit.
In the ethics component, the topics covered will include: confidentiality and informed consent, professional boundaries, report writing and record keeping, and cultural issues. In the psychopharmacology component, topics covered may include: • Principles of chemical transmission, the action of disease and drugs on chemical transmission. • Neurochemical bases of bipolar depression, anxiety disorders, psychosis, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. • Specific neurochemical actions of mood stabilizers, anxiolytics and sedative hypnotics, antipsychotics and cognitive enhancers.
In the ethics component, the topics covered will include: confidentiality and informed consent, professional boundaries, report writing and record keeping, and cultural issues.
Koocher, G P & Keith-Spiegel,P, (Eds.), Ethics in psychology, Oxford University Press, New York,1998.Morrissey, S & Reddy, P (Eds.), Ethics and professional practice for psychologists, Thomson Social Science Press, Melbourne, 2006. White, J, Day A, & Hackett, L, Writing reports for court, Australian Academic Press, Queensland, 2007.
Ethics Australian Psychological Society, Code of ethics, 2007.Australian Psychological Society, Ethical guidelines (9th edition). Psychopharmacology Kaufman, DM, Clinical neurology for psychiatrists, 5th edn, Saunders, New York, 2001. Leonard, BE, Fundamentals of Psychopharmacology, 3rd edn, Wiley, London, 2003. Stahl, SM, Essential Psychopharmacology: Neuroscientific basis and practical applications, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2000.
Corey, G, Corey, M S, & Callanan, P, Issues and ethics in the helping professions (7th Ed.), Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, Pacific Grove, Calif, 2007.O’Donohue, W & Ferguson, K (Eds.), Handbook of professional ethics for psychologists. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, 2003.Tallent, N, Psychological report writing, (4th Edition), Prentice Hall, New Jersey,1993.
