Our Program
COPP's program meets the requirements of the Psychology Board of Australia (PBA) for registration as a psychologist. The program is designed to ensure interns are able to demonstrate proficiency in the Board's eight (8) core capabilities and attributes:
- Knowledge of the discipline
- Legal, ethical and professional matters
- Psychological assessment and measurement
- Intervention strategies
- Research and evaluation
- Communication and interpersonal relationships
- Working within a cross-cultural context
- Practice across the lifespan.
The program is conducted over a minimum of two years (up to a maximum of four years ) and has been geared around the needs of fulltime employment. To meet the Board's requirements, the key learning elements of the program include:
| Component | Time Commitment |
| Placement | Either fulltime (35 hours) or half time (17.5 hours) to meet a total of 3080 hours. |
| Supervision | 180 hours total supervision comprising 120 hours individual supervision and 60 hours group supervision. |
| Professional Development | 60 hours per fulltime year. |
COPP provides pre-placement support to prospective students to assist them gain a suitable job role/placement. This support is tailored to the individual's needs and may include reviewing resumes, job search techniques, interview practice and coaching.
COPP also distributes a regular bulletin of vacant positions to assist students find a suitable job role/placement.
Whilst COPP cannot guarantee every student will be successful in finding a paid position, (due to employment market and individual factors), our experience does indicate the majority of our students are successful in gaining paid positions.
Qualification attained at the end of the program
On successful completion of the program, provisional psychologists will be awarded COPP's Diploma of Psychological Practice and will be eligible to apply for full registration with the Psychology Board of Australia.
Components
1. Placement
This entails the applicant securing psychological work (paid or unpaid) for a minimum of 17.5 hours per week. In order to ensure the position is approved by the Board, COPP will support applicants in identifying a suitable job role/placement
2. Supervision
Supervision enables an experienced supervisor to mentor, guide and support the professional development of provisional psychologists. Over the course of the program, the provisional psychologist will be given the opportunity to work with a variety of COPP supervisors who have a diverse range of specialities and areas of interest, providing a rich learning experience.
3. Professional Development
COPP provides a range of practically oriented, skills based activities including workshops, lectures, class room activities and role plays to ensure provisional psychologists develop and meet the Board's key competencies. These activities are conducted in St Leonards.