The utility of threshold concepts for clinical psychology education programmes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background The 2019 Australian Psychology Accreditation Council’s Accreditation Standards for Psychology Programs require clinical psychology education providers to focus on building and assessing competencies. There is limited evidence regarding the most effective methods of teaching competent practice. Threshold concepts are those which change the way a learner views a topic once understood. Threshold concepts comprise a novel approach to teaching and learning in higher education which have not yet been applied to clinical psychology education. Objective The identification and application of threshold concepts in other practice-based health care education was reviewed to assess their utility in clinical psychology education. Method A search of published articles related to threshold concept theory and practice-based health care disciplines was conducted and those papers which used empirical methods to identify threshold concepts were reviewed. Results Nine articles where threshold concepts were identified in five practice-based health care disciplines including occupational therapy, medicine, physiotherapy, paediatric surgery and prosthetics, were found. A number of threshold concepts found in other disciplines had relevance to competencies required by the standards for clinical psychology practice, predominantly with reference to competent application of psychological interventions. Conclusions The literature suggests that threshold concepts are a promising area of educational innovation with strong potential to improve clinical psychology education. Identifying these concepts could assist clinical psychology educators to develop curriculum to meet the Australian standards and facilitate learners’ movement through the essential learning thresholds.