ENGAGEMENT AND ASSESSMENT OF COMMON MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS - 2025/6
Module code: PSY3110
Module Overview
This module provides trainees with the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge of undertaking patient centred assessments with adults who are presenting with mild-moderate mental health difficulties in NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression contexts. Throughout the module, trainees are supported to develop themselves as resilient, reflective and professional practitioners who can engage with the literature that informs their practice.
Skills developed in this module (e.g. interpersonal skills, use of empathy) will be fundamental in supporting trainees through subsequent modules (PSY3111 and PSY3113) where they will be required to carry out treatments with diverse individuals suffering with anxiety and depression.
Module provider
Psychology
Module Leader
OTTLEY-PORTER Adam (Psychology)
Number of Credits: 15
ECTS Credits: 7.5
Framework: FHEQ Level 6
Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A
Overall student workload
Independent Learning Hours: 50
Lecture Hours: 27.5
Tutorial Hours: 1
Practical/Performance Hours: 30
Guided Learning: 37.5
Captured Content: 4
Module Availability
Semester 2
Prerequisites / Co-requisites
None
Module content
Indicative content includes:
- Engagement skills
- Common mental health difficulties
- Diagnosis
- Patient centred assessments
- Psychoeducation
- Record keeping
- Digital capabilities
Assessment pattern
| Assessment type | Unit of assessment | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Practical based assessment | OSCE | Pass/Fail |
| Coursework | CRITICAL REFLECTION | 100 |
Alternative Assessment
N/A
Assessment Strategy
The programme’s assessments are intended to be authentic. This means that they are designed to assess (and to support the development) of the skills and competencies that Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners require in real clinical practice. As such they should enhance trainees’ employability. This includes their capacity to work digitally because the OSCE is undertaken online and their ability to work with diverse populations because trainees should reflect on this area in their essay. The use of formative feedback also aims to develop trainees’ resourcefulness and resilience. It does this by requiring trainees take responsibility for engaging constructively with feedback and using this to strengthen their subsequent practice.
Summative assessment
The summative assessment for this module consists of:
- Practical based assessment, pass-fail, an observed structured clinical examination (OSCE) of a patient centred assessment assessed according to predefined criteria (addresses learning outcomes: 2-16, 20)
- Coursework, 100%, a reflection on my OSCE performance and how this was informed by theory and research (addresses learning outcomes 1-4, 6-10, 12-13,17-20
Both assessments must be passed within 2 attempts to pass the module. The graded assessment (the essay) is marked at FHEQ level 6 and has a pass mark of 40%. The OSCE is a pass-fail assessment.
Formative assessment
Trainees learning and success on the OSCE is supported through the module’s self, peer and tutor led formative assessments. The rationale for using extensive assessment and feedback is to help trainees to develop their resourcefulness and resilience. Specific formative opportunities include ongoing feedback from peers and tutors during clinical skills sessions and a practice assessment session prior to the summative assessment.
There is no formative assessment for the essay.
Feedback
Trainees are provided with verbal and / or written feedback on their assessment skills from their peers and tutors on an ongoing basis during clinical skills sessions. They are also provided with verbal and written feedback from an appropriately qualified member of staff on their formative and summative OSCEs. Some of this feedback will help trainees with their module PSY3111 audio because many of the skills this requires are the same as the PSY3110 OSCE.
Trainees are given written feedback on their summative essay. The feedback highlights areas of strength and development that can be used to enhance their PSY3111 exam, PSY3112 reflective account and PSY3113 case report and viva
Module aims
- Equip trainees with the skills and knowledge needed for them to be able to safely and effectively engage and assess adult patients who are presenting with mild-moderate common mental health difficulties in NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression contexts.
- Begin to develop trainees as resourceful, resilient and reflective practitioners.
Learning outcomes
| Attributes Developed | ||
| 001 | Demonstrate knowledge, understanding and critical awareness of concepts of mental health and mental illness, diagnostic category systems in mental health and a range of social, medical and psychological explanatory models. | KCP |
| 002 | Demonstrate knowledge of, and competence in applying the principles, purposes and different types of assessment undertaken with people with common mental health disorders (across in person, telephone and video-based modes of delivery). | KCPT |
| 003 | Demonstrate knowledge of, and competence in using 'common factors' to engage diverse patients; gather information; build a therapeutic alliance with people with common mental health problems; manage the emotional content of sessions and the impact of this on both themselves and the client and hold boundaries. | KPT |
| 004 | Demonstrate knowledge of, and competence in ¿patient-centred¿ information gathering to arrive at a succinct and collaborative definition of the person¿s main mental health difficulties and the impact this has on their daily living. | KP |
| 005 | Demonstrate competence in assessing and understanding the world view of patients, with a focus on the here and now, including cognitive patterns and biases that link to specific conditions and the implications of these to shape low-intensity working. | KCP |
| 006 | Demonstrate knowledge of, and competence in recognising patterns of symptoms consistent with diagnostic categories of mental disorders (according to ICD 11) from a patient- centred interview, and by doing so correctly identify the correct primary problem descriptor. | KP |
| 007 | Demonstrate understanding of the complexity of mental disorders and competence in conceptualising comorbidity, including how to decide the primary target problem for intervention in the context of comorbidity of mental and physical health problems. | KP |
| 008 | Demonstrate critical knowledge of, and competence in accurate risk assessment with patients or others to ensure practitioners can confidently manage this effectively in accordance with NICE Guidance. | KP |
| 009 | Demonstrate knowledge of, and competence in the use of standardised assessment tools (which may be digital) including symptom and other psychometric instruments to aid problem recognition and definition and subsequent decision making. | KCPT |
| 010 | Demonstrate knowledge, understanding and competence in using the COM-B behaviour change model to identify intervention goals and choice of appropriate interventions. | KP |
| 011 | Demonstrate the ability to set agreed goals for treatment which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely (SMART). | KPT |
| 012 | Demonstrate knowledge of, and competence in giving evidence-based information about treatment choices and in making shared decisions with patients. | KPT |
| 013 | Demonstrate knowledge of, and competence in selecting an appropriate mode of delivery in partnership with patients. If digital modes of delivery are considered, competence to assess a service user's suitability for online interventions (and to discuss the pros and cons of this mode of delivery with them) revising this as necessary on an ongoing basis. | KCPT |
| 014 | Demonstrate competence in understanding the service user's attitude to a range of mental health treatments including prescribed medication and evidence-based psychological treatments. | KPT |
| 015 | Demonstrate competence in clinical decision making in terms of choosing the appropriate pathway for a service user after assessment. | KPT |
| 016 | Demonstrate competence in identifying patients at assessment who do not fit the criteria for treatment at Step 2 (e.g. those with PTSD, social anxiety disorder or severe mental health problems) and facilitate appropriate stepping up or onward referral. | KCPT |
| 017 | Demonstrates an understanding of some of the limitations of the literature related to patient engagement and assessments including research involving minoritised groups e.g. small sample sizes. | KCT |
| 018 | Demonstrates a capacity to critically reflect on the self in relation to others e.g. values, beliefs, reactions, assumptions and to take responsibility for subsequent actions (including tolerating ambiguity in relation to diversity) in assessment contexts. | KCPT |
| 019 | Demonstrates knowledge, competence and commitment to eliminating all forms of discrimination from the experience of staff and in relation to patients' mental health assessments and care planning. This includes reducing patient inequity of access to assessment and assessment outcomes of mental health services (across all protected characteristics and other characteristics associated with inequity). For example, by making reasonable adjustments and undertaking culturally informed assessments. | KCPT |
| 020 | Demonstrates knowledge of (and competence applying) relevant professional and ethical guidelines (such as the BPS's ethical framework, the professional and ethical guidelines of UCL's CBT competencies framework, HEE¿s Health and Care Digital capabilities framework, and Digital Health Skills' digital competency) to in-person and digital assessments. This includes managing consent to record and managing risks such as those associated with digital working. | KCPT |
Attributes Developed
C - Cognitive/analytical
K - Subject knowledge
T - Transferable skills
P - Professional/Practical skills
Methods of Teaching / Learning
Reflective capacity is an essential attribute for PWPs given that it has been associated with enhanced decision making, better patient care and improved health service delivery. The importance of reflection is evident in the module’s learning outcomes because many of these require trainees to draw on this meta-competence. Given this, trainees are supported to develop their reflective capacity, knowledge, and skills relevant to the module’s learning outcomes through reflective methods of teaching and learning. This is consistent with the approach taken in modules PSY3111, PSY3112 and PSYM3113.The specific methods used to support reflective learning include:
- Clinical skills practice session (at least 50% of taught days)
- Self-practice and self-reflection.
- Observation and feedback
- Case-based learning.
- Interactive lectures
- Group discussion
- Independent study
Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.
Reading list
https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: PSY3110
Other information
In line with the 5 pillars of the University of Surrey’s Curriculum Framework, the module aims to support trainees to develop strengths in the following areas.
Resourcefulness and resilience
The module actively supports trainees to develop themselves as resourceful, resilient and reflective practitioners. It achieves this through promoting trainees’ capacity to constructively engage in ongoing assessment and feedback and through requiring trainees to assume responsibility for independent autonomous learning and decision making. The module strengthens these attributes through its extensive use of reflective dialogue, case-based learning, peer observations and self-assessment. These competencies are assessed through the module’s reflective essay which requires trainees to have undertaken independent study and the OSCE which needs trainees to have implemented prior feedback.
Digital capabilities
Trainees’ digital capabilities are promoted in this module through requiring them to engage with learning resources on the University’s virtual learning environment and research databases. These skills are also developed on some taught days during which trainees must attend using web-based conferencing systems and interact via interactive apps. Trainees’ digital capabilities are assessed as part of the module’s OSCE during which they must use video conferencing to assess a mock patient. Equally, the module’s essay necessitates trainees effectively source literature using online research databases. Within this module Trainees will also be encouraged to take an evaluative stance of different assessment modalities including telephone, video conferencing and computerised CBT.
Employability
Throughout this module, trainees’ employability skills are progressed. For example, the skills and knowledge that trainees require to assess and engage patients in clinical practice are taught via lectures and clinical skills practice sessions. Equally transferable skills (such as communication skills, teamwork and time management) are improved through group-based learning activities and practice clinical sessions. Some of these transferable skills (such as time management and communication skills) are assessed as part of the module’s OSCE and essay. The feedback from these assignments is designed to enhance trainees’ future practice.
Global and cultural capabilities
The module helps trainees to begin to develop the skills and competencies that they require to work with diversity from an inclusive, anti-discriminatory values base. These areas are deepened in module PSY3113 (values, diversity and context) and via supervised clinical practice when they are the primary focus of teaching and learning. The module achieves this using case-based learning and group discussions that support trainees to reflect on their engagement and assessment practices in relation to the diversity and inclusion agenda. An ability to reflect on diversity and inclusion is assessed as part of the module’s essay which requires trainees to critique their practice and the evidence base that informs this.
Sustainability
The module supports trainees to begin to engage with sustainability. Trainees are supported to explore this area through case-based learning which is designed to support them to reflect on the relationships between patients’ psychological wellbeing and sustainability issues like health inequalities. Trainees’ capacity to engage with this area is deepened on module PSY3113
Programmes this module appears in
| Programme | Semester | Classification | Qualifying conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Practice in Psychological Wellbeing Grad Cert(CORE) | 2 | Core | Each unit of assessment must be passed at 40% to pass the module |
Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.