The Graduate Diploma in Mental Health Sciences (Child, Adolescent and Family Therapies) is offered by the Department of Psychiatry within the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne. The Graduate Diploma is designed to teach therapeutic skills to professionals working in the child, adolescent, and family mental health field.

The course builds a foundation knowledge in cognitive-behavioural, psychodynamic, and family systems therapies.  Significant attention is directed towards engagement, and skills and strategies used in therapeutic work with children, adolescents, and families.  Course participants are encouraged to explore an eclectic mix of techniques, use these in their clinical work, and to discuss this work in the clinical supervision sessions.  These sessions create an ideal method by which the trainee learns therapeutic concepts/techniques, applies them in practice, and then refines and extends these in the clinical practicum.

On completion of this course participants will have:

• acquired an advanced knowledge of the theoretical principles of the most commonly employed effective clinical treatment modalities, so as to enable conceptualisation of presenting problems from a variety of perspectives;
• enhanced their skills in the appropriate application of specific interventions which are employed within the most commonly used effective clinical treatment modalities;
• developed a sound understanding of the rationale for deciding upon a specific treatment from a range of possible treatments.
  

The course is conducted on a two year, part-time basis - one half day per week over four twelve-week semesters.  The course is held on Wednesdays according to the University semester timetable.  It requires the completion of four coursework subjects and four clinical practicums.

Coursework Subjects

Coursework subjects comprise seminars combining didactic teaching with discussion and experiential learning.

The four coursework subjects are:

• Foundations of Working with Children
• Foundations of Working with Adolescents
• Foundations of Working with Families
• Foundations of Parent and Liaison Work

Clinical Practicums

Clinical practicums comprise closely supported training in the application of various forms of clinical work through close supervision with well-experienced clinicians. The four clinical practicums are:

• Working with Children
• Working with Adolescents
• Working with Families
• Conducting Parent and Liaison Work.

Whilst participating in each of these clinical practicums, students must work with the relevant population, eg., during the “Working With Children” practicum, trainees must have direct therapeutic contact with children aged 0-12 years. Applicants who do not have the required access to children, adolescents, or families are helped to seek opportunities for access through other services.

Seminar Component

• A written assessment of between 3,000 to 5,000 words for each of the four coursework subjects 
• Attendance at a minimum of 80% of sessions

Clinical Component

• A written case assessment of 2,500 to 4,000 words for each of the four clinical practicums
• A log of 20 clinical contacts for each of the four clinical practicums 
• Attendance at a minimum of 80% of sessions

Prerequisites

The course assumes a working knowledge of normal/abnormal development, child, adolescent, and family assessment, and clinical formulation skills.  Participants who do not have this experience are encouraged to undertake the Developmental Psychiatry Course offered at mindful.

Students are expected to develop familiarity with the three major perspectives (cognitive-behavioural, systemic, and psychodynamic) prior to their entry into the course.  This is achieved via pre-requisite readings which are supplied to the student prior to commencement of the course.

Selection Criteria

1. Graduates with a relevant undergraduate degree (eg. psychology, occupational therapy, speech pathology, general or psychiatric nursing, social work, medicine, education, or other similar disciplines).

2. Sufficient experience and/or prior training in conducting assessments with children, adolescents, and families with a variety of social, emotional, behavioural, and developmental difficulties. The completion of the Developmental Psychiatry Course is highly recommended.

3. Employment (full-time or part-time) within a service that provides access to children and/or adolescents, and/or families. 

Mindful draws on the services of well-experienced clinicians to contribute to the theoretical and clinical components of the course.

Download an application form
Applications close at the end of June and November each year.

Acting Course Coordinator
Dr Katherine Wilson

Course Administrator
Toni Langley

Mindful - Centre for Training and Research in Developmental Health
Building C, 50 Flemington St, Flemington Vic 3031
Phone:  (03) 9371 0220   Fax:  (03) 9371 0250
Email: mindful-info@unimelb.edu.au