School: Arts and Humanities

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Couples and Family Therapy Practice 1
  • Unit Code

    COU6428
  • Year

    2025
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    2
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
  • Unit Coordinator

    Ms Karen DARE

Description

In weekend intensive workshops within an agency context, this unit aims to develop student skills and roles relating to the assessment of presenting situations involving couples, dyads or families. Choice of appropriate interventions and evaluation of the outcome of the session is considered. There will be an emphasis on the application of recent theoretical developments in therapeutic work. This unit has a compulsory attendance requirement. In keeping with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA) stipulations, students need to have practiced necessary skills/competencies in the classroom to a satisfactory level before going out into the field. A minimum of 80% class attendance is therefore required.

Non Standard Timetable Requirements

Intensive Weekend Workshops

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass 5 units from COU5210, COU5303, COU6113, COU6324, COU6403

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded COU6423

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Apply systemic theoretical frameworks to develop an assessment process, intervention, goals and evaluation plan, considering interprofessional collaboration and/or referrals.
  2. Conduct a systemic assessment interview with a dyad, couple, or family and apply theory to justify the process and evaluation.
  3. Evaluate ethical factors and social contextual, cross cultural, international and gender variables as they impact on client engagement and outcomes.
  4. Generate possible interventions, drawn from recent clinical and theoretical developments, and link these to observations about the client and the process of the therapy session.
  5. Illustrate therapeutic skills specific to systemic practice with couples, dyads or families and a critical understanding of the structure of the therapeutic process.

Unit Content

  1. Application of current approaches and interventions for clinical practice specific to the systemic and psychodynamic theoretical approaches taught in the course to the clinical context with attention to ethical principles and employing cultural humility.
  2. Engagement, assessment and the development of a therapuetic alliance with couples and families.
  3. Inclusion of client perspectives in collaborative goal setting and evaluation.
  4. Key clinical skills, techniques and processes critical to systemic practice with couples and families.
  5. Observation, analysis and critical reflection skills applied to clinical supervision.
  6. Recent theoretical developments and their clinical applications within the field of couple and family therapy.
  7. Skills in reflective practice applied in groups and clinical teams, peer evaluation and feedback.
  8. Social contextual, cross cultural, international, and gender factors impacting engagement and outcome.

Learning Experience

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 14 x 7 hour seminarNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

Additional Learning Experience Information

The emphasis of the unit will be on clinical supervision and reflective practice rather than didactic content. Students will work with recording their own sessions and the use of the one-way screen as tools enabling focussed supervision. Students will conduct simulated interviews, including role play and experiential exercises, to develop both their clinical skills and their capacity to critically evaluate processes of engagement and intervention. Students will work with reflecting and observing teams.

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Due to the professional competency skill development associated with this Unit, student attendance/participation within listed in-class activities and/or online activities including discussion boards is compulsory. Students failing to meet participation standards as outlined in the unit information may be awarded an I Grade (Fail - incomplete). Students who are unable to meet this requirement for medical or other reasons must seek the approval of the unit coordinator.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
Essay ^Application of skills with clinical vignettes40%
Assignment ^Critique and analysis of clinical session40%
Practicum ^Basic systemic skills report20%

^ Mandatory to Pass


Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

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