The module is made of three main interrelated components: psychodynamic observation, placement experience and reflective practice with adults and/or children and young people. The module aims to provide you with a theoretical and practice-based understanding of psychodynamic observation and the skill and qualities involved. You will be asked to undertake your own observations initially in the community and later in your placement, to write these up and present them in seminars. You will also be developing professional skills involved in assessment, formulation and case presentation.
You will learn to apply their growing grasp of psychodynamic theory – studied in PA123 Becoming Human: Loss, Conflict and Development – to everyday events and encounters and to develop your appreciation of the role of unconscious and emotional communication in ordinary life with adults and/or children and young people. This will enable you to become more perceptive in terms of detail and more subtle in your understanding of the meaning of what you observe, what you yourself bring and the way your own self-awareness affects your capacity to understand and provide therapeutic support to others.
In addition, the module provides you with the opportunity to apply your learning to work-based practice at your work placement, which consists of a minimum 50 hours of placement experience. You will attend a placement for a 5-hour day once a week over 10 weeks. At Induction day, students will receive guidance and support from our Placements Team to identify placements, which will commence later in the Autumn term. You will be provided with a range of placement contacts but will be responsible for making contact, arranging to visit, and ensuring your Placement Agreement is signed. You will receive particular guidance in the module on the parameters for your placement and the groups (adults and/or children and young people) that you should seek to work with.
You will be undertaking your work placement during the from the mid to late Autumn Term. There, as an auxiliary member of an agency, abiding by the policy framework within which they operate, you will have the opportunity to experience the role of a professional therapeutic practitioner within your chosen sector. The agency will define your duties, and their expectation of your working day. Your supervisor within your placement will make arrangements for your work, and will review various aspects of your overall work experience.
Alongside the observation seminars and the work placement, students are also developing a psychodynamic approach to Reflective Practice. Reflective practice is represented by the following components: introductory teaching on Reflective Practice, attending Reflective Groups, maintaining a Reflective Journal and, as a specific end of year assignment, writing a Reflective Report. These activities encourage and support the conscious use of self (and self-awareness) in social and professional relationships, the experience of ‘learning from action’ and a recognition of oneself as a ‘participant observer’ in different contexts. The reflective components bring the theoretical learning into contact with the personhood of the student and thus more effectively into actual practice.
Note: Your placement supervisor will have the opportunity to provide a short report on your progress and development and your contribution to the organisation during the placement. This is not an assessment element of the course but will provide you with important feedback which can help you develop your employability skills and can be considered and discussed in your reflective report.