Overview

Cairnmillar’s Placement Coordinators assist students across all courses with the placement component of their course. Placement units at Cairnmillar provide ‘hands-on’ learning with a structured education program. Placements provide the opportunities to develop professional knowledge and gain workplace experience. It enables students to put their academic knowledge to practice, gain confidence, and become competent to practice in the field. Cairnmillar has a long history of providing students with a variety of placements, including schools, private practice, psychiatric hospitals, and student counselling centres. Some placements are available within Cairnmillar Clinical Services and Student Clinics. Cairnmillar has a long history of providing students with a variety of placements.

Placement Opportunities Would you like to have a Cairnmillar psychology intern in your workplace or practice at no cost? Please visit our Partnership Page.

Benefits

Cairnmillar provides comprehensive insurance including professional indemnity insurance to  cover students at Cairnmillar and on external placement. A student mentor is also available to assist with study and other personal issues.

Graduate Opportunities

Placements have been known to lead to career opportunities with a range of organisations, including but not limited to: CentaCare, Connections Unitingcare, Centrelink, Mission Australia, Anglicare, Cairnmillar, Private Psychological Practice, Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Providers, Family Relationship Centres, Southern School of Natural Therapies.

Individual Supervision

Individual supervision involves a review of cases under treatment, management of the case, the therapeutic relationship and students own anxieties and conflicts. A close monitoring of professional boundaries, competencies, and ethical professional practice is addressed. Each supervisor has extensive experience in the various fields of psychology and is specifically accredited and experienced in supervision.

Group Supervision

Group supervision provides an opportunity for students to gain additional supervision and support of their cases, learn  from the experiences of others and gain an understanding of group dynamics. The group process builds on the counselling and clinical skills gained in individual supervision. It provides peer review and support, and greatly assists in individual, personal and professional development.

Pre-placement Competencies

It is strongly recommended that students prepare for their course and their placements by undertaking one of our short courses in counselling skills run by the Short Course Centre.
All students who are required to go on placement will be assessed for “readiness” for placement prior to being allocated a placement. To assess “readiness”, students attend six training workshops on issues related to placement and counselling skills. Students will be expected to submit a recorded role play interview and a written commentary. The DVD will be rated either as a “counselling” session or as a “first interview”. Students will be advised of the requirements during the workshop. The DVD and commentary will be assessed using a rating scale. In addition, the course coordinator may use a professionally accredited rating scale of competencies as recommended by APAC or the Australian Psychological Society. Students who demonstrate “readiness” will be offered either an internal or external placement, or both depending on the course.