A new ANU Master of Professional Psychology program developed in conjunction with Canberra Health Services (CHS) will, at full capacity, double the psychology workforce graduating in the ACT.
Having launched this year, at full enrolment capacity the program will see 25 students graduate per cohort.
The two-year program offers a more practical route to a career for post-grad students and is an alternative pathway to pursuing a more research-intensive Honours degree.
The entire second year of the program is devoted to practical placement experience โ allowing students to apply their knowledge earlier than in a clinical program.
CHS clinical psychologist Connie Galati said the ANU psychology program trains students well so theyโre given the tools and experience required for a successful career.
โPsychologists have some really unique skills. Other than psychiatry, weโre the only other profession that graduates as a recognised mental health professional,โ she said.
โWe can work in lots of different areas โฆ we need to make sure that our Canberra community continues to have access to the full range of psychological services.
โIn a way, itโs both about having psychologists in CHS but also a more community-oriented perspective of training psychologists well so they can work anywhere in the sector.โ
Masters student Rhiannon Brophy, who was born in Canberra but grew up in northern NSW, is one of 12 students in this yearโs ANU Master of Professional Psychology program cohort.
With plans to remain in Canberra and start her career here upon completing her studies, Ms Brophy said having attended three universities, her experience so far in the program has influenced her decision to stay.
โItโs very practically based, so itโs getting us ready to be immersed in psychology as a profession rather than still just carrying all the theoretical.
โWe have to do an internship after next year and weโre all hoping that we will do that through CHS โฆ itโs a bit of job security for us as well.
โMaking connections with people in CHS is going to set us all up really well, too.โ
Ms Galati said โitโs absolutely criticalโ Canberra can develop its own psychologists who are local or from the surrounding regions.
โEven though Canberraโs a city, itโs a got a regional feel to it so itโs probably quite common that people grow up here and leave,โ she said.
โI think thatโs a real loss when it comes to psychology.
โWhen it comes to community recovery, having psychologists from that same community has been shown to be more effective than bringing in psychologists.โ
And as the local community recuperates from the turbulent year thatโs been 2020, Ms Galati said bushfires and COVID-19 have thrust mental health into the spotlight for many.
โWe hadnโt yet recovered from the smoke and the bushfires before we were thrust into a pandemic,โ Ms Galati said.
โCanberra, compared to other states and territories and internationally, weโve got off quite easy but having said that weโve still felt the effects of a pandemic.
โAll these community disasters really impose a sense of instability, unpredictability and humans by nature love predictability.
โThereโs a huge cognitive load weโre all carrying and thatโs the effect of stress on the brain,โ she said.
