Psychology is a complex and demanding profession. It requires appropriate behavioural, cognitive and emotional skills to ensure the delivery of safe and effective care and/or professional services. The inherent requirements for the Master of Psychology programs at Adelaide University identify the core abilities and competencies needed to become a Registered Psychologist.
Master of Psychology students are required to demonstrate these abilities and capacities in order to complete their course of study – which includes coursework and substantial practicum experience. On completion of the program, Master of Psychology students are judged to be able to practise as an independent, registered psychologist.
They are consistent with the principle of inherent requirements that guide other externally accredited and AHPRA-registered health professions programs and they also align with those of other equivalent, nationally accredited Master of Psychology programs.
There are eight categories of inherent requirements that Master of Psychology students must satisfy. Please note, Adelaide University’s Inherent requirements for Master of Psychology students have been adapted from:
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Ethical behaviour
Psychology is a profession governed by the codes, guidelines and policies of the Psychology Board of Australia where psychologists are both accountable and responsible for ensuring professional behaviour in all contexts.
To meet this requirement, students must endorse the Master of Psychology Code of Conduct and demonstrate knowledge of, and engage in, ethical behaviour in practice.
Students demonstrate:
Behavioural stability
Behavioural stability is required to function and adapt effectively and sensitively in a demanding role.
To meet this requirement, students must demonstrate the ability to work constructively with clients, colleagues, managers, and supervisors, in diverse and changing academic and practice environments – which may at times be challenging and unpredictable.
During your studies (and professional careers) you will be exposed to a range of unexpected and emergency situations. Responding appropriately to these situations, and providing safe and effective care, will require personal resilience and a consistent, sustained level of physical and mental performance.
As a student, you will need to demonstrate the:
- ability to be receptive, and respond appropriately, to constructive feedback from clients, managers, and supervisors
- ability to effectively cope with your emotions and behaviour when dealing with individuals in the clinical setting
- capacity for self-awareness to monitor your own health and wellbeing, and the ability to seek appropriate assistance as required.
Legal and regulatory requirements
Professional psychology practice is conducted in the context of specific legislation and professional regulations, to enable the safe delivery of care and professional services.
In order to meet this requirement, students must demonstrate knowledge of and compliance with relevant laws and professional regulations. This requirement includes, specifically, meeting and maintaining standards for provisional or full psychologist registration with AHPRA.
As a student, you will need to demonstrate:
- knowledge and compliance with Australian federal and state legislation, professional regulations, and scope of practice, as required.
- compliance with requirements set out by placement providers.
Communication
Effective and efficient verbal communication, in English, is an essential requirement to provide safe delivery of psychological care. Effective non-verbal communication is fundamental to psychological practice and needs to be respectful, clear, attentive, empathic, honest and non-judgemental. Effective written communication is a fundamental professional psychology responsibility, which has professional and legal ramifications.
Students must demonstrate an ability to communicate and work constructively, in both academic and clinical settings, as part of a group as well as in one-on-one scenarios with other people, including other students, University staff, supervising practitioners, clients and other community members.
As a student, you will need to demonstrate:
- ability to understand and respond to verbal communication accurately, appropriately and in a timely manner
- ability to provide clear instructions relevant to the context of the situation
- timely and clear feedback and reporting
- capacity to recognise, interpret, and respond appropriately to behavioural cues
- consistent and appropriate awareness of one’s own behaviours
- sensitivity to individual and cultural differences in verbal and non-verbal communication
- capacity to construct coherent written communication, appropriate to the circumstances and intended audience.
Cognition
Consistent and effective knowledge and cognitive skills must be demonstrated in order to undertake safe and competent psychology practice.
Competent literacy skills are essential to permit safe and effective practice of psychology during placements.
Competent and accurate numeracy skills are essential to provide safe and effective demonstration of psychology practice skills.
As a student, you will need to demonstrate:
- capacity to locate appropriate and relevant information
- ability to process relevant information
- ability to integrate and implement knowledge in practice
- ability to accurately acquire information and to convey appropriate, effective messages
- ability to read and to comprehend a range of literature and information
- capacity to understand and implement academic conventions in order to construct written text in a scholarly manner
- the ability to interpret and correctly apply numerical data, measurement and numerical criteria in the execution of psychology practice.
Relational skills
Psychological practice requires the ability to make and maintain strong relationships with a wide range of clients, often under stressful circumstances.
As a student, you will need to demonstrate:
- ability to make and maintain rapport with clients
- ability to engage in effective counselling skills
- accurate empathy
- strong communication skills.
Reflective skills
Psychological practice requires self-awareness and a capacity for reflection in order to consider the effect of one's own issues, actions, values and behaviours on practice.
As a student, you will need to demonstrate:
- the ability to accurately reflect on their professional performance
- the ability to accept feedback on their professional practice and to respond constructively to feedback received.
Sustainable performance
Psychological practice requires both physical and mental performance at a consistent and sustained level over time.
As a student, you will need to demonstrate:
- consistent and sustained physical energy to complete a specific task in a timely manner, and over time
- ability to perform repetitive activities with a level of concentration that ensures a capacity to focus on the activity until it is completed appropriately
- capacity to maintain consistency and quality of performance throughout the designated period of duty.
