Module: Professional Practice Portfolio 4

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Professional Practice Portfolio 4
Module Code	PST1014 (ITS: NS5034)
Faculty	Nursing, PsyT & Comm Health	School	Science & Health
NFQ level	9	Credit Rating	10

Description

This module builds on the personal and professional development modules in previous years of the MSc in Psychotherapy. The purpose of this module is to facilitate continued development of students' personal and professional growth as integrative psychotherapy practitioners. In addition to addressing skills practice, topics such as professional hazards related to the practice of psychotherapy, developing a career following graduation, and critical issues in the field of psychotherapy this module provides advanced exploration of the therapeutic process, enhances critical and ethical decision-making capacity, and promotes personal and professional reflexivity. Delivered in a blended format—with six full days of in-person learning and two days of online teaching—the module offers the student direct experience of the opportunities, differences, and challenges involved in both face-to-face and online clinical work. This experiential element enables the student to reflect on the impact of each format on the therapeutic relationship, professional presence, and engagement with clients. Students are expected to continue to attend personal therapy and group awareness sessions, engage in clinical practice and clinical supervision on a one-to-one and group basis, and participate in class-based discussion and online self-directed learning activities. This work will be recorded in their portfolio which provides a record of their personal and professional development over the duration of the course.

Learning Outcomes

1. Critically examine the therapeutic process, therapeutic relationship and therapy outcomes by using and integrating different theoretical positions including humanistic, cognitive-behavioural, psychodynamic and systemic approaches.
2. Demonstrate increased capacity in personal / professional reflexivity and integration.
3. Demonstrate advanced integration of theory, practice and research.
4. Demonstrate critical contextual and ethical sensitivity and decision-making capacity in managing the complexity of the psychotherapy endeavour.
5. Demonstrate advanced competency in clinical practice with complex cases in a range of therapy settings.
6. Utilise individual and group clinical supervision appropriately for personal / professional development needs.

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Seminars	28	Tutor lead seminars and psychotherapeutic skills practice
Group work	16	Group supervision
Clinical placement	100	Direct Client Work (minimum 80 hours, range 80-120 hours)
Clinical placement	20	Individual Supervision Ratio 1:5
Independent Study	18	Self-directed learning –Critical reading and review of literature, assignment and portfolio development, preparation for individual and group supervision, regular review of case work and supervision outcomes, maintaining personal / professional reflections and updating logs
Directed learning	20	Personal Therapy
Group work	16	personal awareness groupwork
Portfolio Preparation	32	Self directed learning - prep for and review of case work and supervision, maintaining personal/professional reflection journal and assignment, portfolio building
Total Workload: 250

Section Breakdown
CRN	11442	Part of Term	Semester 1 & 2
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Stephanie Finan	Module Teacher	Nigel Mulligan

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Assignment	Session Analysis Assignment	35%	Sem 1 End
Assignment	Submit a 15-minute Audio Recording which provides both a critical evaluation and in-depth discussion, grounded on a key encounter/experience that has evoked a core question/concern/ resistance/learning for your personal development and professional formation. Centre and organise your recording around this anchoring concern, while considering it through the different lenses of DCU MSc in Psychotherapy 2024/2025 PPP 2, 3 &4 Assignments your psychotherapeutic formation (personal work/supervision/clinical work). While staying focused on this key issue/question, you may potentially explore this in or across the domains of: a) Your Personal Awareness Groups and Personal Therapy/Development, b) Your Integrative Psychotherapy Practice with clients, c) Your Engagement in Individual and Group Supervision. As this is a personal reflective 15 minute Audio Recording there is less demand/expectation to include referencing to theory or core texts, but it is critical that your work argue and stay focused to this key question/concern that is emerging for you through your psychotherapeutic formation, and that you evidence your process, thoughts, and feelings on both this concern and how you have integrated knowledge and applied theory to your personal development and clinical practice.	25%	Sem 2 End
Portfolio	1. Work Logs - confirmed logs of clinical practice, clinical supervision and personal development work. 2. Reports - student preparation for group supervision reports, individual and group supervision meeting records, reports from internal and external clinical managers and supervisors and from facilitator of personal awareness group work.	5%	Sem 2 End
Assignment	PAG Engagement is assessed through a process involving all members of the PAG. After Block 5 (December 2024), each PAG member will complete a PAG assessment form in relation to both themselves, and assessment forms in relation to each of the other members of their PAG. Each PAG member will then be given the group assessment forms relating to them for their consideration and reflection, particularly when placed alongside their own self-assessment. After Block Nine (March 2025) each student records an audio of 10–12 minutes of speaking in which they reflect on their PAG work across the year, making specific reference to their responses and reflections to their PAG peers’ feedback/assessments forms, particularly in terms of how they have viewed themselves. They should speak to what they did with this feedback between Blocks six and nine, and how has this informed their own psychotherapeutic formation as one who speaks, one who listens, and one who observes. This recording will be assessed by the PAG facilitator, with the marks awarded for PAG engagement being informed by the student’s reflections on how the assessment forms directed and expanded their psychotherapeutic formation through their deliberate engagements with PAG.	15%	n/a
Participation	1) In class presentation of case at 2 points, tracking the trajectory of therapy across at least 6 sessions. 2) End of Year Group Supervision Report and Student Reflection	20%	Sem 2 End

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Professional & Personal Development
Through continued personal and interpersonal experiential inquiry and engagement the student will enhance their critical awareness of self-other relationships, and their appreciation of the sensitive and attuned use of self in psychotherapy practice. The student will also demonstrate appropriate attention to self care and awareness of professional / personal boundaries.

Clinical Practice
The student will continue to engage in direct work with clients presenting with emotional and psychological problems of increasing complexity in different practice placement settings.Students will demonstrate their enhanced capacity to integrate humanistic, cognitive-behavioural, psychodynamic and systemic therapeutic approaches in the best interests of clients. This work will be carried out under the guidance of experienced supervisors in contexts that are student-friendly and aware.

Clinical Supervision
The student will continue to engage in formal supervision of their clinical practice in one-to-one and group formats. This will involve presentation of case work and demonstration of increasing competence in integrating theory and practice, which can involve retrospective reflection in relation to the student's work in a range of ways, such as written reflective notes, audio / video recording etc. Supervision will be conducted with an accredited supervisor who is clinically competent in the particular area of work in which the student is engaged.

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Bond, T.: 2015, Standards and ethics for counselling in action, 4th ed., Sage, London,
Mary Creaner: 2014, Getting the best out of supervision in counselling and psychotherapy: A guide for the supervisee, Sage, London,
Michael Carroll: 2014, Effective supervision for the helping professions, Sage, Los Angeles,
Carroll, M., Tholstrup, M. (eds): 2001, Integrative Approaches to Supervision., Jessica Kingsley Publishers, London,
Dallos, R. & Stedman, J.: 2009, Reflective practice in psychotherapy and counselling, McGraw-Hill/Open University Press, Maidenhead,
European Association of Psychotherapy: 2013, Framework of core competencies in practising psychotherapy, http://www.europsyche.org/download/cms/100510/Final-Core-Competencies-v-3-3_July2013.pdf,
Hawkins, P. and McMahon, A.: 2020, Supervision in the Helping Professions, 5th, McGraw- Hill/ Open University Press, London,
Feltham, C., Hanley, T., & Winter, L.A. (Eds.): 2017, The Sage handbook of counselling and psychotherapy, 4th, Sage, London,
H. ten Have,MichÃ¨le Jean: 2009, The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, UNESCO, 370, 9789231040887
Hawkins, P., & Shohet, R.: 2012, Supervision in the helping professions, 4th, McGraw-Hill/Open University Press, Maidenhead, 9780335243112
Ladany, N., Friedlander, M.L.,: 2005, Critical events in psychotherapy supervision, American Psychological Association, Washington DC,
Lane, D.A., Corrie, S.: 2012, Making Successful Decisions in Counselling and Psychotherapy, All, McGraw Hill, England,
Steve Page & Val Wosket: 2015, Supervising the counsellor and psychotherapist, 3rd, Routledge, London,
Wosket, V.: 2017, The therapeutic use of self: Counselling, practice, research and supervision, 2nd ed., Routledge, London,
Norcross , J.C., Popple, P.M.: 2016, Supervision Essentials for Integrative Psychotherapy, 1st, All, American Psychological Association, Washington, 978-1-4338-26

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None

2025-26 Module Co-ordinator : Stephanie Finan, stephanie.finan@dcu.ie