Cannizzaro, Alexandra (2021) The Inclusion of Common Factors in Australian Postgraduate Psychology Programs. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Common factors are the primary vehicles that achieve change in psychotherapy. They include client factors, therapist factors, the therapeutic alliance, and hope and expectancy. Previous research indicates that only 60% of Australian Masters level Psychology programs included rapport, an element of the therapeutic alliance, in their online program information, compared to 100% of Master of Counselling programs. Two research questions and hypotheses were developed based on these findings. First, whether Australian Masters level Psychology and Counselling programs included references to common factors and the prediction that 60% or less of the Psychology programs would include mentions of common factors. Second, whether any differences existed between which Masters level programs included references to common factors and the prediction that the proportion of Counselling programs that included references to common factors would exceed the Psychology programs. A desktop audit of Australian Masters level Psychology and Counselling programs was conducted. Publicly available online program information was reviewed, including program summary and learning objectives and course names, outlines, and learning objectives. Research question one and hypothesis one were supported. However, research question two and hypothesis two were not. Results indicated that 20% of Psychology programs and 10% of Counselling programs included mentions of common factors in their online program information. However, the programs did not demonstrate statistically significant differences regarding their inclusion of common factors. The implications of this research reflect the lack of emphasis tertiary institutions place on training common factors and the potential incongruence between Australian and international Psychology training programs.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Crystal McMullen |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 23 Jul 2025 04:08 |
| Last Modified: | 23 Jul 2025 04:08 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | common factors ; psychotherapy ; Australian postgraduate psychology education ; Australian Masters level psychology curriculum |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52196 |
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