SOWK13012 - Professional Practice and Mental Health

Showing: 2026 HE Term 1
General Information

Unit Synopsis

You will critically evaluate the dominant and alternative models of mental health through a lens of diversity and inclusion, placing a strong emphasis on lived experience perspectives. You will be encouraged to engage with a range of theoretical frameworks and consider the ways in which different models can impact service users. The unit will also cover a range of assessment and intervention strategies in mental health, exploring the role of social work in this context. You will consider the values and ethics that underpin professional practice, as well as human rights and social justice principles. This unit offers a comprehensive and critical exploration of mental health within a social work context. Through engagement with theory and practice, you will develop the knowledge and skills required to work effectively in this complex and evolving field.

Details

Level Undergraduate
Unit Level 3
Credit Points 6
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 4
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.125
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites

Successful completion of 48 credit points in any course.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

Class Timetable View Unit Timetable
Residential School No Residential School

Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2026

Term 2 - 2026 Profile
Online

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 95.65% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 40.35% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source:
Feedback:
This subject exceeded my expectations with the assignments providing the basis to develop practical skills with the use of the case study. This course was enjoyable and practical.

Recommendation:

Action Taken:
Continue to use case studies and meaningful learning opportunities in the curriculum design.
Source:
Feedback:
More support to understand clinical formulation, had to write about it but did not really know what I was writing about, so it was hard to do.

Recommendation:
Have a stronger focus on developing clinical formulation as part of the mental health assessment.

Action Taken:
A change in the ASWEAS (2020) indicates less focus on clinical assessment and increased focused on alternative mental health discourses and critical practice. Aspects of clinical formulation can be addressed in tutorials to strengthen student confidence however, the changes will support a more holistic understanding of mental health social work practice.
Source:
Feedback:
Face to face required - hard to learn online

Recommendation:

Action Taken:
This is an online unit however, increased tutorials and online Zooms will support greater engagement in the content.
Source: Student feedback
Feedback:
Students consistently reported that they valued the involvement of mental health clinicians in the unit, particularly the use of real-world practice examples. This contributed to a more applied and authentic learning experience, helping students connect theoretical concepts to contemporary social work practice.

Recommendation:
Maintain and, where possible, expand the involvement of practicing mental health clinicians in the unit to further strengthen the integration of real-world perspectives and enhance student engagement and applied learning.

Action Taken:
In Progress
Unit Learning Outcomes
This information will not be available until 8 weeks before term.
To see Learning Outcomes from an earlier availability, please search via a previous term.