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Unit of study_
PSTY5207: The Long Conversation 1A
2025 unit information
This unit provides teaching and supervision to support the clinical experience of running an intensive psychodynamic psychotherapy of 2 sessions per week in the Conversational Model. It is the first of 2 sequential units and is intended to be followed up by PSTY5208. Small group supervision will center on listening to audio-taped sessions of the psychotherapy of a patient brought from the student's workplace or allocated from an associated psychotherapy program, discussing the assessment and formulation and the establishment of the frame and contract, including a safety plan. Ongoing supervision will focus on the micro-processes of the interaction including attunement, affect, differentiate flowing from traumatic states of mind, language, transference, countertransference and cotransference and separation anxiety. The student will learn to identify initial, middle and ending phases of therapy. The aim is to develop student's skills in sensitive and responsive practice that will foster the conversational flow of the therapy, the development of the therapeutic relationship and the patient's self, facilitating higher levels of reflective capacity and coherence to allow the integration of trauma. The way the difficult past repeats itself in the therapy, known as working in the co-transference, will be explored and addressed. Formative assessments will scaffold learning towards the final assessments.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Brain and Mind Science |
| Credit points | 3 |
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Prerequisites:
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PSTY5201 and PSTY5202 and PSTY5203 and PSTY5204 and PSTY5205 |
|---|---|
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Corequisites:
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PSTY5206 |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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This unit assumes a working clinical knowledge of basic counselling and mental health, commensurate with a clinician having worked 2 or more years in a setting with general health counselling or mental health clients. |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Understand and be able to develop a clinical formulation emphasising psychodynamic/developmental principles within biopsychosocial framework
- LO2. Identify patients likely to benefit from longer term psychotherapeutic interventions
- LO3. Understand emotional development including biological and psychosocial factors, including complex trauma and dissociation, and apply this knowledge in understanding the presentation of individuals patients
- LO4. Identify potential risks of psychotherapeutic intervention as part of the assessment for psychotherapy
- LO5. Describe the relational factors that shape the development of self with a particular focus on the interactions of the proto-conversation
- LO6. Describe the major forms of attachment and their therapeutic implications
- LO7. Recognise the importance of the therapeutic framework and the need to maintain clear boundaries in all forms of psychotherapy
- LO8. Identify the ethical parameters for the conduct of psychodynamic psychotherapy
- LO9. Discuss the major principles of psychodynamic therapy including the role of feeling in mental life; trauma and dissociation and implications for development; the growth of self; transference and counter-transference
- LO10. Develop a flexible technique adaptable to a range of specific clinical presentations
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2024
|
Normal day | Westmead, Sydney | |
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Semester 1 2024
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Online | Westmead, Sydney |
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
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Semester 1 2025
|
Normal day | Westmead, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Semester 1 2025
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Online | Westmead, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
|
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
