Psychology Faculty Conference: Learners are becoming more and more practical

The Faculty of Psychology, Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities is the leading Psychology training institution in the country, training at all 3 levels from bachelor to doctorate. The Faculty currently trains 02 Master's majors: Research-oriented Psychology and Applied Clinical Psychology and 01 Doctoral major in Psychology.

At the Conference, with the aim of contributing ideas to further improve the quality of training and remove difficulties that the Faculty's postgraduate training is facing, delegates discussed issues related to increasing internship and practical training time in Clinical Psychology Master's training; further strengthening the connection between training facilities and practice facilities such as hospitals and centers; opening more master's majors in an application-oriented manner suitable to the Faculty's strengths as well as market demand...

Associate Professor, Dr. Truong Thi Khanh Ha - Head of the Department of Psychology presented a report on the training situation of the Department's postgraduate students.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam (University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi) believes that training a Master of Clinical Psychology in an application-oriented manner should focus on practical activities and specific treatment of each case, so it is best to study full-time and continuously. However, this causes difficulties for students because they are working people. Evaluation of students' practical activities is not only based on the number of hours and cases, but more importantly, the results of each case: how to supervise, what are the results, whether each case is completed, how to support the client, the patient, etc.

Assoc.Prof.Dr. Tran Thanh Nam - University of Education, Vietnam National University, Hanoi speaking at the Conference

Doctor Cong Huan (Bach Mai Mental Health Institute) said: The Institute has established the Department of Clinical Psychology for 3 years and is the place to welcome students and PhD students of the Department to practice and intern. However, the practice period of only 1-2 months is too short, the PhD students do not have time to get familiar with the work and do not have time to build medical records for each case.

Ms. Ha (Institute of Research on Drug Addiction Psychology) also agrees with the view that it is necessary to increase the time for students to practice at facilities, so that they not only grasp psychological counseling techniques but also "absorb" issues of professional ethics through the process of practicing counseling for subjects. Ms. Ha also suggests that there should be a closer connection between the internship facility and the instructor and suggests that the Faculty should open more narrow training majors according to the real needs of the facilities.

Prof. Dr. Nguyen Huu Thu (Faculty of Psychology) said that the Faculty should evaluate and summarize the training activities of postgraduates, combined with reference to Psychology training in advanced countries in the world to build training programs that are imbued with the identity of the Faculty, in line with world trends and attract learners. Some majors can be built on the basis of training cooperation with hospitals, research institutes, counseling centers, psychological treatment centers, etc. such as Psychology for the elderly - a very necessary training direction for the future. On the other hand, the Faculty should have measures to attract the participation of businesses and employers in the training process.

Associate Professor, Dr. Le Van Hao (Deputy Director of the Institute of Psychology) spoke at the Conference

At the end of the Conference, Vice Principal Hoang Anh Tuan, on behalf of the school's leaders, spoke highly of the dedication shown by teachers, students and postgraduates of the Faculty of Psychology at the Conference.

The Vice President emphasized the fact that in recent times, postgraduate training of the University, VNU in particular and of other universities has tended to be saturated, leading to a decrease in the number of undergraduates and postgraduates in all majors. This has caused difficulties and considerable pressure for training institutions. One of the main reasons is the trend of learners focusing on the substance. Learners are aware that going to school is to invest in the future, learning to work, so they increasingly demand higher levels from training institutions. That puts pressure on training institutions to innovate teaching and learning and improve quality. In that context, the fact that the Faculty of Psychology organized a conference with the participation of many parties is a very commendable thing, demonstrating the Faculty's constant efforts to innovate to meet practical requirements.

Vice Principal Hoang Anh Tuan speaks at the Conference

The University of Social Sciences and Humanities pays special attention to postgraduate training and orients postgraduate training to meet practical needs. Psychology is a field that is both closely linked to research theory and highly applicable in practice. The school supports the Faculty in making adjustments to increase applicability, increase the amount of internship and practical training in the curriculum.

Regarding the organization and operation of the training program, the School has been improving the postgraduate training process to be flexible, meeting the specific training characteristics of application-oriented majors, including internship time and the connection mechanism between training facilities and practice facilities.

For PhD training according to new regulations, the School has had many solutions to support and promote international publication, improve research capacity for staff and PhD students such as supporting up to 250 million for a publication published at a foreign publishing house.

Regarding the development of new majors, Vice Principal Hoang Anh Tuan shared the school's viewpoint: in addition to maintaining the quality of training in traditional basic sciences, the school will develop new majors with high applicability and in line with social trends. The Department of Psychology can consider the idea of ​​combining with other majors in the school such as Social Work, Anthropology, etc. to develop new majors.

Finally, Vice Principal Hoang Anh Tuan expressed his hope that the Faculty of Psychology - one of the units with a team of highly qualified and experienced staff - will be one of the pioneers in innovating postgraduate training activities, maintaining its position as the leading institution in the country in psychology research and training.