Unit of Study PSYC2002 Understanding Psychological Diagnoses (2025)

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Unit Snapshot

Unit type

UG Coursework Unit
Credit points

12
Faculty & College

Faculty of Health
Placement

No

Pre-requisites

PSYC1001 - Psychology Foundations: Brain and Cognition

Unit description

Explores the evolution in conceptualising mental health and psychological diagnoses, including historical, theoretical, scientific, and cultural perspectives. The unit examines the boundary between normal experiences and clinically significant symptoms and incorporates lived-experience perspectives. Biopsychosocial factors that create and maintain psychological symptoms, the strengths and limitations of diagnoses, and evidence-based therapeutic approaches to improve mental health and wellbeing for specific diagnoses are considered throughout.

Unit content

Understanding mental health challenges
Childhood and adolescence
Depression and anxiety
Stress, trauma, and psychosis
Food, substances, sleep, sex, and screens
Personality and cognition

Availabilities

Location	Domestic	International
Coffs Harbour	Term4	Term4
Gold Coast	Term4	Term4
Online	Term4	Term4

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

On completion of this unit, students should be able to:

describe developmental and psychological diagnoses and how these are distinct from normal experiences and expected behaviours in a cultural context

examine psychological diagnoses from a historic, theoretical, scientific, and lived-experience perspective

collaborate to convey contemporary ideas about psychological diagnoses and approaches that improve mental health and wellbeing

discuss how psychological diagnoses are conceptualised and defined in the DSM and ICD and limitations of these classification systems, including cultural bias

Teaching and assessment

Teaching method

Workshop 1 hour (Weekly)

Tutorial 2 hours (Weekly)

Assessment
Presentation	30%
Report	50%
Quiz	20%

Teaching method

Workshop 1 hour (Weekly)

Tutorial 2 hours (Weekly)

Assessment
Presentation	30%
Report	50%
Quiz	20%

Teaching method

Workshop 1 hour (Weekly)

Tutorial 2 hours (Weekly)

Assessment
Presentation	30%
Report	50%
Quiz	20%

Prescribed learning resources

Prescribed Texts

Prescribed text information is not currently available.

Prescribed Resources/Equipment

Prescribed resources/equipment information is not currently available.

Prescribed Learning Resources may change in future Teaching Periods.

Fee information

Domestic

Commonwealth Supported courses
For information regarding Student Contribution Amounts please visit the Student Contribution Amounts.

Fee paying courses
For postgraduate or undergraduate full-fee paying courses please check Domestic Postgraduate Fees OR Domestic Undergraduate Fees.

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