The University of Tasmania’s new psychology clinic has expanded and relocated to a larger fit-for-purpose facility, which will increase opportunities for Tasmania’s future mental healthcare professionals, while delivering increased mental health services to the community.
The new premises has three times the capacity of the former clinic, allowing the university to train more psychologists and provide more psychological services to the community in the future.
The new clinic is now located in the former commerce building at the university’s Sandy Bay Campus, and offers general and clinical psychology services for general mental health issues like anxiety and stress.
There are also strategies for parenting and child behavioural issues, the Cool for Kids program and some specialised assessments like neuropsychological assessments.
The Tasmanian community can access the clinic with a referral from their GP and will receive care from Masters of Psychology Students under the supervision of experienced registered psychologists.
The clinic will provide both face-to-face services and some telehealth services, which can be delivered to people right across the state.
This increased capacity for psychological services will boost mental health services in Tasmania and support the university’s commitment to increasing the supply of psychologists in Tasmania.
The university is also growing the number of psychology courses available to study in the North and North-West, and for the first time, psychological sciences has been offered in the North-West, with students able to complete the degree on campus by 2023.
Currently, the school is piloting strategies to make the clinical psychology postgraduate courses more accessible for students in the North and North-West of the state, where previously they had to travel to Hobart to undertake postgraduate options.
The next few years will see significant reform arising from the Tasmanian Mental Health Reform Program which will result in significant growth in clinical positions across mental health services.
As a Government we are very pleased to be expanding the ranks of our mental health staff, and this clinic will be important for the development of our workforce.
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