Learning objectives | Social and clinical applied psychology

The overall objective of the degree course in Social and Clinical Applied Psychology is to meet the growing demand for the design, management and evaluation of psychological interventions. This demand comes from numerous contexts and institutions that operate in the field of education (children's services, schools, training agencies, psycho-educational centres), that respond to social needs (family centres, youth centres, private social services, services for immigrants, intercultural centres), or that operate from the perspective of health psychology (local health authorities, hospitals, rehabilitation centres).

The training plan of the course will be oriented towards the consolidation and deepening of theoretical knowledge in the psychological disciplines, which will be supplemented with adequate training in the tools of research methodology and intervention, necessary for the effectiveness of professional action.

In particular, the course will train graduates capable of formulating primary and secondary prevention interventions, as well as taking care of emotional, relational, social and cognitive problems in the different areas mentioned and throughout life.

Specific learning objectives

At the end of their training, graduates must be able to:

apply appropriate and rigorous methodologies to understand and analyse the complexity of psychological processes in educational, social and health contexts;
know psychological tools and techniques (questionnaires, interviews, observations) and use them in a manner appropriate to the requirements;
design, implement and monitor interventions aimed at promoting the resources of individuals, families, groups and organisations in the identified fields;
assume responsibility for interventions, exercising professional autonomy and the ability to work collaboratively within teams.

Training activities to achieve the objectives

In order to achieve these objectives, the following types of training activities are envisaged:

classroom classes;
guided practical exercises;
individual or small group study;
in-depth seminars held by professionals working in the services;
internship activities in external facilities;
study stays at other European universities (as part of the Erasmus programme) or non-European universities (as part of bilateral agreements between the University of Parma and foreign partners).

In addition, each student will be supported, throughout the entire study period, by one of the course professors who, acting as tutor, will accompany the undergraduate in the choices relating to the course of study (elective exams, internship, dissertation).