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Unit of study_
PSTY5203: Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Practice A
2025 unit information
PSTY5203 provides a structured learning in short term psychodynamic interpersonal psychotherapy alongside a clinical experience supported by small group supervision. It will be followed by unit PSTY5204 in semester 2 which is similar in nature and will give you an opportunity to work with further structured learning and clinical experience, in short term psychodynamic psychotherapy. The initial focus is on assessment of presenting problems in the light of current and past relationship history, dynamic formulation, followed by the principles of intervention in initial, middle and end phases. Students will bring a suitable case from their work setting or an affiliated psychotherapy setting, whom they will audio-record and bring sessions for supervision - they will do an assessment and formulation, arrive at a mutually agreed goal/s to work on, and a contract of sessions. They will begin therapy with a second patient, during the second semester, on similar lines. They are required to see each patient for between 10 and15 sessions. Supervision will focus on the micro-skills of engagement, empathic attunement and use of language, when meeting the patient, forming a safe therapeutic relationship, conducting the assessment, arriving at a goal to achieve, developing the frame and contract, and if necessary, a safety plan when required. They will learn to be active and focused, keeping the goal of therapy in the forefront and not straying away from it. Students will gain skills in the following: working in an active, focused manner in developing the therapeutic relationship, doing a psychodynamic formulation, identifying and processing coping mechanisms, facilitating the expression of suppressed affect and emotion, identifying and working with the transference and being aware of their own countertransference; constructing the goodbye letter, and ending with the patient, taking care to appropriately refer those patients who need further therapy. Students will experience a grounding in reflective practice, ethical conduct and the importance of self-care, and develop the skill to determine the types of patients who will benefit from a short term dynamic interpersonal psychotherapy, and work with these patients.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Postgraduate |
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| Academic unit | Brain and Mind Science |
| Credit points | 3 |
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Prerequisites:
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None |
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Corequisites:
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PSTY5201 |
| 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. describe the essential principles of STDIP and be able to communicate it to patients
- LO2. discuss the key criteria for applying STDIP, taking into account trauma history
- LO3. demonstrate a good understanding of Self, the techniques, process and structure of STDIP
- LO4. be aware of therapist competencies required and patient suitability
- LO5. become familiar with a trauma-informed assessment and the phase approach
- LO6. recognise the importance of the therapeutic relationship
- LO7. recognise the role of anxiety and coping mechanisms in maintaining homeostasis
- LO8. be able to develop a succinct psychodynamic formulation
- LO9. identify problems, prioritize and arrive at a focus of work, and stay with the focus along with the patient
- LO10. have an ability to identify transference and countertransference
- LO11. develop the ability to utilize transference interventions and work with the transference
- LO12. recognise the role that coping mechanisms play, develop the capacity to facilitate affect expression and understand the role of relational difficulties in symptom formation
- LO13. to be able to apply the model to patients with depression, and to differentiate types of depression.
- LO14. identify and assess anxiety experienced by the patient and differentiate between different types of anxiety.
- LO15. Develop the capacity to work in a phasic manner – developing the work from beginning to end being aware of the tasks of each phase and be able to identify separation anxiety and manage it at different stages of STDIP
- LO16. be able to write a helpful, succinct, good-bye letter towards the end of therapy
- LO17. develop the capacity to end therapy appropriately and be aware of ethical standards
- LO18. develop an adequate knowledge of psychopathologies commonly encountered
- LO19. develop the required competencies in short term dynamic psychotherapy
- LO20. organise further/on-going treatment, review, or top-up of therapy appropriately
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 2025
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Normal day | Westmead, Sydney | |
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Semester 1 2025
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Online | Westmead, Sydney |
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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