Course coordinator
Dr Tabinda Basit
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 2, 2025 (28/07/2025 - 22/11/2025)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Psychology School
The purpose of this course is to develop student understanding of the issues and counselling approaches associated with challenges as the result of health conditions or capacity changes. As such, it considers areas including acute health conditions and emergencies, chronic health conditions, terminal and life-limiting conditions as well as capacity issues associated with disability, chronic mental health issues, addiction, and ageing. It equips students to balance evidence-based health psychology approaches with an appreciation of the lived-experience of the person during assessment and case formulation.
This course is designed as a series of in-person workshops that include experiential skills activities. The course assessments are directly related to the skills that you will be learning and practicing in class. In-person attendance will ensure you are adequately equipped to succeed in this course and develop therapeutic skills that are important in working with people with health or capacity challenges.
Course requirements
Assumed background
It is assumed that students who enter the course have a four year degree within Psychology. As such it is assumed that students have a basic understanding of literature concerning human behaviour and a basic ability to communicate effectively with a variety of people. In addition, it is preferred if students have developed some basic interpersonalﾠskills and knowledge by having undertaken, or be undertaking, the basic course PSYC7801 Interpersonal Skills as well as the course PSYC7803 Foundations of Psycholgical Interventions.
Restrictions
Restricted to students enrolled in MAppPsych or with permission of Director of Applied Psychology programs
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Dr Tabinda Basit
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
Classes will be held in weeks 2-12.
Aims and outcomes
The course aims to build the knowledge and skillsﾠof students in working withﾠpeople in therapy who are facing challenges to their health or other aspects of their body functioning that reduces their capacity to live a life with few limits.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Identify issues that are particularly relevant to situations in which there are conditions or changes that challenge people on the basis of their physical and mental health
LO2.
Identify the factors that affect the intensity of peoples reactions to health and capacity challenges
LO3.
Recognise and understand how systems impact on a persons' experience of illness, particularly in the area of social determinants of health, access to services, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
LO4.
Explore the various roles of the psychologist and variety of approaches to various health and capacity challenges
LO5.
Enhance intersectoral co-operation within the care of those exposed to health challenges
LO6.
Recognise different approaches to therapy for those experiencing health and capacity challenges in various settings
LO7.
Critically analyse approaches to care and synthesise to inform behaviour change interventions and approaches to care
LO8.
Analyse concepts that affect the lived experience of health of people in an holistic approach to health
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation |
Development of Group Session Plan
|
60% |
9/09/2025 5:00 pm |
| Role play/ Simulation |
Clinical skills assessment
|
40% |
21/10/2025 12:00 pm
Students will complete this assessment during 8:00am -12:00pm on the 21st of October. |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
Assessment details
Development of Group Session Plan
- Hurdle
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- 60%
- Due date
9/09/2025 5:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L03, L04, L05, L06, L07, L08
Task description
Imagine that you have just been employed as a therapist to provide psychological services associated with an integrated health care program for a chronic or life limiting/threatening condition. The integrated clinic is to be associated with a local public tertiary hospital and will involve different health disciplines as required and serve a varied population group and catchment area. As part of the intervention program that is to be offered by the clinic, it has been determined that you are to provide a group format intervention to assist the psychological needs of the client population. Your role is to determine the approach that will be taken within your capacity as the provider of psychological services of the clinic. The group’s composition, organisation, format and content are totally under your control in its development.
This assessment seeks to see you develop the skeleton outline of the group session(s) that you will offer as part of your program. Your program is to be based on a clear evidence-based consideration of the needs of this population with this condition as well as good principles of health promotion and adult learning.
1. Identify your target group. Be specific. You can choose one from the areas below to work with or suggest one of your own (check with the course coordinator):
- Chronic Pain Clinic
- Respiratory Clinic associated with conditions such as COPD
- Gastrointestinal Clinic associated with conditions such as FGIDs (Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders)
- Diabetes Clinic
- Cystic Fibrosis Clinic
- Weight Management in relation to a health condition
- Substance Abuse Service
- Cancer Services (or a specific Cancer type)
- Palliative Care Service
- Acquired Brain Injury Service
2. Consider the broad literature and provide a summary of what are the specific needs of your target group (using BPSS framework) and what interventions may be beneficial to address their their psychological needs in a group setting.
3. Develop 6-8 group sessions that best fit the psychological needs and include interventions suited to this group based on the literature summarised. For the approach overall, and for each session/activity, provide sufficient rationale using the empirical and theoretical literature for what you have included. For each session, you should develop a clear and relatively brief plan and outline (including a skeleton session plans and activity examples) of what you intend to undertake within your group sessions. The session plans and activities should provide enough detail that another health provider with your skillset can use this session plan to run a session successfully.
4. You will need to demonstrate that you have considered the practical constraints of a hospital-based organisation with limited resources (such as staffing, budget, time, etc). You can assume that the clinic can allocate you three-four consulting rooms and a larger room as well as the support of administrative staff and access to technology through the hospital system.
5. Make note of how you will monitor and evaluate the success of your approach/intervention over the 6-8 sessions.
6. Ensure you consider group processes (dynamics, etc) when planning for your sessions. Make specific reference to this if needed.
7. You should include examples of resources that are tailored for your specific client group and adapted for your audience. Consider what is 'user friendly' - think about jargon, visuals, and how this resource would be used by a client. You may borrow these from other programs (referenced appropriately), but be selective, and provide a rationale for what you are including and why. You may also develop your own resources if you so desire - this is a good activity in itself. If you want to add resources but are concerned about going over the word limit, they can be attached in an appendix and made reference to throughout.
Note on the use of AI: This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Hurdle requirements
This assessment must be passed to pass the courseSubmission guidelines
All courses require students to submit an electronic version of their assignment via Blackboard. A link will be made available in the assessment area of your Blackboard course to allow you to submit your assignment electronically. The anti plagiarism software TURNITIN is being used at UQ. The electronic version of your assignment will be submitted via Blackboard, using the TURNITIN software. Work submitted will be subjected to a plagiarism detection process. As this process is used then copies of this work would be retained and used as source material for conducting future plagiarism checks. Please refer to the Library if you experience difficulties in submitting your assignments in Blackboard or using TURNITIN as instructed on the companion website. You should download a copy of the digital receipt from the Assignment Dashboard and keep this as a record.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
For full details please review the School of Psychology Student Guidelines - Extensions and Deferred quiz/exam.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Clinical skills assessment
- Hurdle
- In-person
- Mode
- Activity/ Performance
- Category
- Role play/ Simulation
- Weight
- 40%
- Due date
21/10/2025 12:00 pm
Students will complete this assessment during 8:00am -12:00pm on the 21st of October.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L06, L07, L08
Task description
During the period of 3 hours, students will undertake a number of time limited activities that will assess a number of aspects of your work as a health psychologist including case formulation and skills associated with needs of the clients affected by health or capacity challenges. Further details of the specific tasks and the criteria for assessment will be provided later in the the semester closer to the date of the assessment workshop.
Note on the use of AI: This assessment task is to be completed in-person. The use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT) tools will not be permitted. Any attempted use of AI or MT may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Hurdle requirements
This assessment must be passed to pass the courseSubmission guidelines
Deferral or extension
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
If students are unable to complete the assessment on the scheduled date they should contact the Course Coordinator directly.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 29 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 30 - 46 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 47 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: Received an overall percentage of 50% or more but failed one or more assessments. |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Additional course grading information
All items of assessment must be passed for a student to be eligible to pass the course. Percentage marks will be rounded to the nearest whole number ie. 84.4% will round down to 84%ﾠand 84.5% will round up to 85%. This will apply to all grade cut-offs apart from a grade of 4. The minimum pass mark is 50% and a pass cannot be achieved with 49.5%.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Library resources are available on the UQ Library website.
Additional learning resources information
Announcements, learning resources, assessment FAQs and access to Turnitin assignment submission portals are available on the course Blackboard/Ultra site. Students should access this site regularly throughout the semester.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 2 (04 Aug - 10 Aug) |
Workshop |
Introduction to health and capacity challenges Introduction and course admin Population health in Australia The experience of illness Biopsychosocial-spiritual (BPSS) framework Clinician skills: Reflections
READINGS: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/burden-of-disease/australian-burden-of-disease-study-2023/ https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports-data/australias-welfare/ Saad M, de Medeiros R, Mosini AC. Are We Ready for a True Biopsychosocial-Spiritual Model? The Many Meanings of "Spiritual". Medicines (Basel). 2017 Oct 31;4(4):79. doi:10.3390/medicines4040079. PMID: 29088101; PMCID: PMC5750603. Hatala, A.R. (2013).Towards a Biopsychosocial Spiritual approach in health psychology: exploring theoretical orientations and future directions. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 15(4), 256-276. Michie, S., West, R.& Spring, B. (2013). Moving from theory to practice and back in social and health psychology. Health Psychology, 32( 5), 581 585. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L08 |
Week 3 (11 Aug - 17 Aug) |
Workshop |
Holistic assessment and formulations in health Individual models of health behaviours Case formulations in health Case study: 5Ps and biopsychosocial-spiritual framework Clinician skills: Questioning using the BPSS framework
READINGS: Selzer, R. & Ellen, S. (2014). Formulation for beginners. Australian Psychiatry, 22(4), 397-401. https://www.psychdb.com/_media/teaching/selzer_r_2014_formulation_for_beginners.pdf Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L04, L05, L06, L07 |
Week 4 (18 Aug - 24 Aug) |
Workshop |
Chronic illness Chronic illness Pathology, treatment, diagnosis Working example: Diabetes Self-management models Clinician skills: BPSS formulation
READINGS: http://www.wimmerapcp.org.au/wp-gidbox/uploads/2014/03/Guidelines-for-General-Practitioners.pdf https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/national-strategic-framework-for-chronic-conditions https://sasw.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/A-Bio-Psychosocial-Spiritual-Assessment-Guide-for-Health-and-Social-Work.pdf Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L06, L08 |
Week 5 (25 Aug - 31 Aug) |
Workshop |
The mind and the body History of health and body therapy Embodied therapeutic approaches Case study: A mystery presentation Clinician skills: BPSS formulation - priorities and interdisciplinary care
READINGS: https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/7/7/e014533.full.pdf https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10880-017-9490-2 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-024-10468-y Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L04, L05, L06, L07 |
Week 6 (01 Sep - 07 Sep) |
Workshop |
Motivational Interviewing for Health Behaviour Change I Motivational interviewing for health behaviour change Spirit and principles Clinician skills: Rolling with resistance and collaborative partnership
READINGS: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11920-020-01158-z https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ppc.12161?casa_token=sDUnE0rrWMcAAAAA%3A9k_OkYGXa1xXArBYukZqgs8AG95zRBRSGwZzQ3ivXNgfm-SZwyUvC2R27LDex7cAxp5-HS8lF1E2UXk https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-017-9857-6 Learning outcomes: L02, L04, L06, L08 |
Week 7 (08 Sep - 14 Sep) |
Workshop |
Motivational Interviewing for Health Behaviour Change II Motivational interviewing for health behaviour change Clinician skills: navigating ambivalence and change/sustain talk
READINGS: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11920-020-01158-z https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ppc.12161?casa_token=sDUnE0rrWMcAAAAA%3A9k_OkYGXa1xXArBYukZqgs8AG95zRBRSGwZzQ3ivXNgfm-SZwyUvC2R27LDex7cAxp5-HS8lF1E2UXk https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10608-017-9857-6 Learning outcomes: L02, L04, L06, L08 |
Week 8 (15 Sep - 21 Sep) |
Workshop |
Renegotiation of the self I Perceptions of illness Meanings of illness Clinician skills: Renegotiation of the self
READINGS: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10261981/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38487058/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37391994/ Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L06, L08 |
Week 9 (22 Sep - 28 Sep) |
Workshop |
Renegotiation of the self II Perceptions of illness Meanings of illness Clinician skills: Renegotiation of the self
READINGS: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10261981/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38487058/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37391994/ Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L06, L08 |
Week 10 (06 Oct - 12 Oct) |
Workshop |
Persistent pain Mechanisms of pain Behaviours in pain The pain cycle Psychological approaches to pain management Clinician skills: meditation for pain management
READINGS: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11019-004-9033-0 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/09638288.2014.923522 Zajacova, A., Grol-Prokopczyk, H., & Zimmer, Z. (2021). Sociology of Chronic Pain. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 62(3), 302-317. https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465211025962 Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L08 |
Week 11 (13 Oct - 19 Oct) |
Workshop |
Bringing it all together The mind and body Identity and the self Holistic approaches to health challenges Clinician skills: Case studies and working examples Learning outcomes: L06, L07, L08 |
Week 12 (20 Oct - 26 Oct) |
Workshop |
Final Workshop Final Workshop
Final thoughts and reflections Clinician skills: Final case study and considerations Learning outcomes: L02, L03, L06, L07, L08 |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments for Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
You'll also need to be aware of the following policies and procedures while completing this course:
School guidelines
Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course: