CORE ETHICAL, PROFESSIONAL AND CLINICAL SKILLS - 2026/7

Module Overview

This module aims to equip students with the understanding of how to develop therapeutic relationships and undertake biopsychosocial assessments and formulations. The module will provide students with an opportunity to gain an understanding of the role and function of reflective practice and to engage in self-practice. A key aspect will be listening to others, eliciting information, and making sense of the material in the context of the lifespan, and relevant social, political, and cultural issues. The content in this module will be grounded in core ethical and professional practice considerations important for those who are considering a future career in clinical psychology or other mental health professions.

Module provider

Psychology

Module Leader

CROUCH Emma (Psychology)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): 50

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content:

• Ethical and professional guidance available to support practice.
• The development of therapeutic relationships.
• Engagement, assessment and formulation roleplays with peer and facilitator feedback. 
• Psychological Processes to support the ending of therapeutic relationships.
• The role and models of supervision and reflective practice.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

None

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to:The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their awareness of the ethical, theoretical, and practical challenges of undertaking clinical practice. Listening to others, eliciting information, and making sense of the material in the context of the lifespan, social, political, and cultural contexts, and research evidence that frames the biopsychosocial model.Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Critical evidence-based reflective account following undertaking a formative clinical skills role play with a peer.

Learning outcomes 3, 4, 5, 7.

• Short answer examination

Learning outcomes 1, 2, 6.Formative assessment:

• Clinical skills role-play - Core therapeutic skills

In the classroom students will be asked to interview one another. They will share observations of the experience with one another alongside gaining feedback from the academic staff. The student will interview their peer, having opportunities to demonstrate core therapeutic engagement skills, active listening, communications skills, empathy, ability to summarise, questioning and rapport building.

• Engagement with self-reflection

Students will be asked to keep a reflective log of their engagement with the lectures and workshops. Students will be asked to write a summary to bring along to a workshop where their narratives and verbal reflections will be shared in small groups with peers and lecturers. Verbal feedback will be provided supporting the development of the process of providing constructive feedback as well as enhancing relational skill development and self-awareness.FeedbackAll students will be provided with feedback in several ways through formative and summative assignments, class discussion and workshops. Feedback will be provided in written and verbal form from lecturers and peers.

Module aims

• To introduce the concept of mental health, wellbeing, and mental ill health, including the symptomology of a range of mental health disorders
• Develop a critical awareness of professional and ethical frameworks that underpin psychological practice in the context of multicultural societies.
• Develop awareness, understanding and basic skills in the core conditions, psychological assessment and formulation. critiquing how they direct intervention and affect change.
• Introduce and develop reflective practice skills through self-practice and self-reflection.
• Provide students with opportunities to be effective communicators across diverse audiences through the development of communication skills in visual, oral, and written formats.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:Foster the students¿ engagement with the literature to enable them to critically evaluate it to make informed decisions. Support students¿ awareness of the need to be contemporary and multiculturally focused, fostering their global and cultural capabilities. The module will also consider the wider engagement in psychological processes and the interpersonal/ inter-relational requirements needed to be a therapeutic practitioner, supporting students¿ employability. To achieve this, the students will have opportunities to attend lectures from clinical psychologists and systemic and cognitive behavioural therapy experts, read peer-reviewed material on best practice. The interpretational skills will be developed through peer working and engaging in reading and reviewing videos of experts showcasing therapeutic practice.Teaching will be delivered over six full days. Each of these days will include the following learning and teaching opportunities: self-directed study and lectures to develop knowledge and critically evaluate this, directly followed by workshops and seminars to support the application of this knowledge to real world clinical scenarios. These teaching days will be delivered over four weeks in semester one. This condensed teaching will support students to make direct theory practice links as well as support the development effective and trusting working relationships with peers to enable them to develop confidence to try new skills and gain direct feedback from lecturers to address their learning and development needs.The block teaching will allow the students to embrace the material and engage in a collective learning environment. It aims to support sustainability as well as campus presence so that they can benefit from engagement with the diverse cohort. These experiences will provide the students with the opportunity to become more resourceful and build their resilience to uncertainty, supporting a key employability driver.The learning and teaching methods include:The learning and teaching strategy includes a combination of lectures, teacher- and student-led discussions, and group work in class to support diverse learning needs whilst fostering resourcefulness and resilience. Lectures and discussions support students to understand and critically engage with the key concepts, with the practical workshops encouraging students to work together to develop skills and share their reflections on the lectures and workshops. These will foster their development and ability to evaluate practice and consider what works for whom. These discussions will provide students with an understanding of differing perspectives on mental ill health and how this influences treatment decisions. Additionally, the importance of considering individuals¿ values and how this intersects with their communities to support inclusive practice will be foregrounded. These interactive sessions will bring to life material the students have read in personal study time to enable them to critically engage with contemporary evidence for psychological and mental health disciplines as well as receiving peer feedback on their ideas.

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: PSYM181

Other information

The School of Psychology, and the Clinical Psychology and Mental Health programme are committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas:

Digital capabilities:

This module encourages students to critically reflect on how digital technology has been and can be used to form therapeutic relationships and work psychologically. They will have opportunities to engage with the evidence base for the effectives of online clinical work across modalities. Students must engage with multiple digital skills throughout the module, such as using: the University¿s Virtual Learning Environment (Surrey Learn) to access course materials and key content; online search engines to identify appropriate sources for their assignments; and software for appropriate communication and presentation of ideas (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Prezi).

Employability:

The students will develop an understanding of ethical dilemmas and challenges, what good practice is and ways to address poor practice. The module will provide opportunities to enhance communication skills through discussion, debate, and within assignments. The module will provide opportunities for collaborative working as well as problem-solving. Students will have opportunities to gain insights into psychological problems, their inception and maintaining factors providing for understanding when working with colleagues who are challenged by their mental health. The capacity to reflect and gain an understanding of personal assumptions and motivations will also be transferable to the workplace.

Global and cultural capabilities:

Teaching will be provided to support students to gain knowledge about access to psychological assessment and formulation models across diverse cultural groups, and diverse populations. They are encouraged to consider knowledge about access to psychological assessment and formulation models across diverse cultural groups, and diverse populations. They are encouraged to consider the implications for clinical practice when they reflect on each of the teaching sessions and in the assignments.

Resourcefulness and Resilience:

This module particularly focuses on students' resilience and resourcefulness. The self-reflection requirements directly help support students' well-being and coping skills and help them to identify and work with beliefs and or behaviours that might be unhelpful or unhealthy for them. The reflection-sharing sessions provide opportunities for the students to appreciate alternative perspectives and learn that there is no one way to engage with life opportunities and learning experiences, helping to reduce the impact of social comparison.  Students also demonstrate and apply resilience when they review and revise their work and change their position following further evidence and discussion with peers and lecturers. Together, these activities should instill students¿ confidence in their own abilities, and their beliefs and values.

Sustainability:

The module covers a range of contemporary issues in clinical psychology and psychotherapeutic practice to support health and wellbeing, which maps directly on to multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals (Good Health and Wellbeing and Reduced Inequalities). Practically, all coursework is now submitted in digital form rather than as a hard copy. All session resources are posted on Surreylearn. The knowledge and skills developed in tis module support a student in their future career when working in the health and social care sector.

Programmes this module appears in

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 2026/7 academic year.