The following are fictional case studies to illustrate a typical day in an intern’s life enrolled in our programs.
Joanne Calvert
Joanne completed a four-year full-time Bachelor of Psychology with Honours degree. She is a first-year intern in our 4+2 Psychology Registration Program.
Joanne is registered as a provisional psychologist with PsyBA and works as a child and family support worker at a non-government organisation. She is paid $53,000 per annum.
Placement (Psychological Practice)
Joanne works 38 hours per week in her job in Sydney. 32 of those hours are classed as psychological practice and go towards her requirement for registration. The remaining time is spent on administrative tasks that are not psychological in nature.
Direct Client Contact
At least 14 hours of her psychological practice are spent working directly with clients. This involves working face-to-face with high-risk and vulnerable families. Joanne’s work involves:
- developing a positive therapeutic alliance with the family
- providing an assessment of the needs of the children and the strengths of the family. These may involve semi-structured interviews, observations of the family and/or formal psychometric tests
- identifying other areas in which extra support is needed.
Interventions are delivered to the families and include programs such as:
- Parenting courses (123 Magic, Positive Parenting, Circle of Security)
- Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Depression/Anxiety
- Supportive counselling
- Relaxation skills for children experiencing anxiety.
Joanne may also be involved in making mandatory notifications to Family and Community Services in cases of risk of harm and may also work with other treating professionals such as speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and psychiatrists.
Client Related Activities
The remaining psychological practice hours involve client-related activities such as writing client case notes and reports, communicating with other professionals, discussing clients with colleagues and making notifications.
Individual Supervision
Each week, Joanne meets her supervisor online. She uses this time to discuss client issues, such as:
- possible assessment tools that would be appropriate
- how interventions are going
- any ‘stuck’ areas such as clients not progressing
- clients ‘resistant’ to change.
She also develops a learning plan with her supervisor about how and when she will complete the Board registration tasks, such as Ethical Dilemmas and Administration of Psychometric Instruments and case reports and works through these tasks with her supervisor. Any other aspects of the registration program, such as self-care and skills practice, are also covered.
Group Supervision
Each fortnight, Joanne attends group supervision sessions to share knowledge, ask questions and review clients with other interns and supervisors. Before the meeting, she prepares a short summary of a client or issue she would like to discuss.
Professional Development
Joanne also attends at least 60 hours across ten professional development days each year. These are held online. These cover topics related to the Board’s core competencies and exam curriculum.
John Ions
John, based in Western Australia, has completed five years of tertiary study in Psychology. He completed a four-year Bachelor of Arts (major in Psychology) with Honours degree plus an accredited 5th year in Psychology (Master of Professional Psychology). John is currently enrolled to do his final year at our 5+1 Psychology Registration Program.
John is registered as a provisional psychologist with PsyBA and is working as a Rehabilitation Consultant at an occupational rehabilitation provider in Perth. He is paid $65,000 per annum.
Placement (Psychological Practice)
John works 40 hours per week in his job, of which 30 hours per week are classed as psychological practice and go towards his requirement for registration. The remaining time is spent on administrative tasks that are not psychological in nature.
Direct Client Contact
At least 14 hours of his psychological practice are spent working directly with clients addressing their psychological barriers to returning to work after an injury. These include issues such as anxiety, depression, adjustment disorder, pain and post-traumatic stress disorder. He provides interventions such as Relaxation, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, Activity Scheduling, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy alongside helping his clients to job seek. He also conducts vocational assessments to help guide his clients if they wish to change careers.
Client Related Activities
He spends around 19 hours doing client-related activities in his work role, such as writing client case notes and reports, contacting other professionals and reviewing clients with colleagues.
Individual Supervision
John meets weekly with his supervisor online weekly. He uses this time to discuss client issues with his supervisor, such as appropriate assessments to use with his client, how to blend psychological intervention in with his other work tasks such as job seeking, and how to overcome difficulties such as client resistance and chronic pain.
Group Supervision
Each fortnight, John attends group supervision sessions to share knowledge, ask questions and review clients with other interns and supervisors. Before the meeting, he prepares a short summary of a client or issue he would like to discuss.
Professional Development
John also attends ten professional development days each year. These are held online. These cover topics related to the Board’s core competencies and exam curriculum. John also completes e-learning modules on the College portal, which deepen his understanding of the core competencies as well as his emerging professional identity as an early career psychologist.